WINDHOEK - The workshop for media practitioners on nutrition and food security on Wednesday indicated there is poor access to nutritional food in informal settlements compared to suburbs close to towns.
The interactive workshop on nutrition from a civil society perspective held in Windhoek was organised by Scaling up Nutrition in partnership with Synergos Namibia.
Nutrition is fundamental to human development, impacting not only the quality of health and livelihoods but intellectual and attainable cognitive competency levels.
According to Ben Schernick, the project director at Synergos, since 2009, Synergos Namibia supported the Namibia Alliance for Improved Nutrition (Nafin), and subsequently actively involved in the establishment of the Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia (Nafsan), which is part of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement.
Schernick said that the media plays an important role in increasing awareness amongst various segment of the population, which can improve decision-making on nutrition in Namibia.
“It is against this background that we are bringing together journalists, editors and other practitioners from different media houses and institutions to share practical information on some important interconnected aspects related to nutrition and food security, as well as how these are linked with the everyday life of Namibians and our overall development as a nation,” stated Schernick.
Sandie Tjaronda from Nanaso explained that one cannot talk about nutrition without talking about food security.
“Young mothers have now resorted to dropping off their children to the grandmothers in the villages just after a short time of breastfeeding. The food that the grannies are feeding the children does not have more nutrition, as a result, the children will be affected by various diseases,” said Tjaronda.
The various journalists who are mostly women explained that nutrition information is not so viral and as a result, they hardly report topics on nutrition.
They have acknowledged that with this kind of workshop, they will be able to spread the information further since they are now equipped with more knowledge.