gender informed nutrition agriculture (gina … · gina gender informed nutrition agriculture ......

GGEENNDDEERR IINNFFOORRMMEEDD NNUUTTRRIITTIIOONN AAGGRRIICCUULLTTUURREE

((GGIINNAA IIII)) PPRROOJJEECCTT

“Meeting the Challenge of Ending Extreme Hunger and Poverty”

Summary of Achievements Report

ii

Executive Summary

The goal of the GINA project is to improve the nutritional situation of vulnerable

groups, particularly children under five years of age by delivering integrated

agriculture and nutrition interventions. The project was designed to deliver these

interventions directly to vulnerable, food-insecure populations through field-based

activities that build the capacity of community members to better address and

manage their nutritional needs. This report sets out to highlight key activities

implemented in the GINA II project from January 2006 to July 15th 2007.

The implementation of GINA II ended on July 17 2007 while GINA III took off only in

Akwa Ibom State to fully integrate core priority nutrition and agriculture activities

such as the GMP and ENA sessions, formation of production groups and provision

of new varieties of seeds for both dry and raining season farming. The

implementation will also adopt new strategies based on lessons learnt in GINA II to

meet the project goals. FBFI organized a re-orientation meeting for all stakeholders

on the GINA III project which was held on the 28th of August 2007 in Ikono LGA, as

well as a series of follow-up meetings on the 30th of August 2007, in the three GINA

communities. The meetings afforded all the stakeholders and the community

members the opportunity of having a common understanding of the activities under

GINA III. In addition, FBFI advocated to the LGA leadership through a proposal

forwarded to the LGA to secure their commitment for the project. Although, the

proposal was acknowledged nothing concrete has been carried out by the LGA

which was attributed to the current political transition going on in the LGA which has

brought in three transition Head of Council within the last 6 months.

The implementation of objectives two and three which comprised the PD Hearth

sessions, GMP and ENA sessions, under BASICS III in Akwa Ibom and Nasarawa

States continued, while COMPASS continued to do the same in Kano State. The

outcome of all these GINA activities led to an average reduction of underweight by

6% during GINA II.

Prof I.O. Akinyele GINA Project Director

iii

Contents

Executive Summary ii

Table of Contents iii

List of Tables iv

List of Acronyms v

Introduction 6

Preparatory Activities 7

Technical Activities 8

Challenges and Opportunities 18

Achievements 20

Pictures of Some of the Achievements recorded in GINA II 23

Winding up of GINA II 24

GINA III 24

iv

List of Tables Table 1:Summary of Projects’ Proposals Submitted by the 9 GINA II Communities12 Table 2: Frequency of Weighed GINA II under 5 Children According to State 17 Table 3: Weight for Age across the GINA II States 18 Table 4: Reduction in Malnutrition across the GINA II States 18

v

Acronyms

ADP Agricultural Development Project

BASICS III Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival

COMPASS Community Participation in the Social Sector

ENA Essential Nutrition Action

FBFI Food Basket Foundation International

GINA Gender Informed Nutrition Agriculture

IEHA Initiative to End Hunger in Africa

KNARDA Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Agency

LGA Local Government Area

LGCFN Local Government Committee on Food and Nutrition

NCFN National Committee on Food and Nutrition

PIC Project Implementation Committee

SCFN State Committee on Food and Nutrition

SPO State Project Officer

US United States

USAID United States Agency for International Development

6

Gender Informed Nutrition Agriculture (GINA II) Pro ject “Meeting the Challenge of Ending Extreme Hunger and Poverty”

Introduction. The Gender Informed Nutrition and Agriculture (GINA) Project directly supports

USAID’s multi-sectoral response to combating hunger in sub-Saharan Africa,

officially titled “The Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA) which is designed to

coordinate the US government’s response to the first Millennium Development Goal

(MDG): to cut hunger in half by the year 2015. Given the fundamental role of

agriculture as a livelihood option for Africa’s rural poor and as an engine of

economic growth, the primary objective of the Initiative is to rapidly and sustainable

increase agricultural growth and rural incomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

The goal of GINA III is the same as for GINA II: to improve the nutritional situation of

vulnerable groups, particularly children under five years of age by delivering

integrated agriculture and nutrition interventions GINA III was designed to deliver

these interventions directly to vulnerable, food-insecure populations through field-

based activities that build the capacity of community members to better manage

their nutritional needs. Areas of focus include but are not limited to improve

agricultural practices, enhance the care-giving capacity of mothers to children,

building the nutrition-related capacity of local service providers, and sensitizing key,

local government officials on the importance of nutrition in rural development.

These activities are being carried out in the three GINA III communities (Afaha

Ediene, Itak Ikot Akpandem and Nung Ukim communities) of Akwa Ibom States.

As part of the end of GINA II activities in Nasarawa and Kano States, funds were

released to the PICs GINA II accounts to finish ongoing projects on Objective 1

which is the implementation of priority nutrition and agriculture activities using a

ranking system developed with the community PIC/CBMEC in the respective states.

This report sets out to highlight key activities implemented in the GINA II project

from January 2006 to July 15th 2007.

7

(1) Preparatory Activities

GINA II Project Review /Design Meetings INCEPTION VISITS/MEETINGS a) First, were the visits to the nine GINA communities spread across three local

governments located in three states of the federation - Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa

and Kano States. The basic objective of the visits was to re-mobilize and

assure the communities of the commitment of USAID to the GINA project under

the new facilitating organization - Food Basket Foundation International

(FBFI). It also provided an opportunity for the Project Manager from

Washington DC – Ms Cheryl Jackson to see the communities first hand.

b) There was a meeting of Partners in the GINA II project comprising of FBFI,

COMPASS and LINKAGES. The meeting was called to seek a common

understanding and to draw a road map for collaboration under the GINA II

project in Nigeria.

c) The first biannual meeting of GINA II took place from January 25-26, 2006 at

the USAID Nigeria Mission Office, Abuja. The meeting centered on the

presentation of the proposal for the GINA II project by FBFI and it took into

considerations suggestions and inputs from stakeholders present and as well

looked into possibilities of linking GINA II to other programmes and projects of

USAID in Nigeria.

d) The visit of Ms Hope Sukin to Nasarawa State and Wache community (one of

the GINA communities) and the PROFILES presentation for Ms Hope Sukin

attended by the GINA II Project Director – Professor I.O. Akinyele forms part of

the report. She showed keen interest in the area of improved seed varieties and

improved production in the focused communities. She also showed concern in

the area of food fortification in order to tackle the challenges of micronutrient

deficiencies in the communities however; there has been no new development

to her visit.

e) Field officers were recruited for the three States to co-ordinate GINA II activities

at the State level. The FBFI Officers for Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa and Kano States

were identified and recruited. They include Messrs: Victor Amuwah for Akwa –

Ibom State, Adamu Sarki for Nasarawa State and Auwal Ishiyak for Kano State.

8

It was not possible to recruit any female Project Officer since the LGA refused

to release the female Health Officer identified for Kano State. All the three

Project Officers have an agriculture background.

f) Internet connectivity was formally made functional at the FBFI project

headquarter on the 3rd of April 2006 to facilitate communications. This was

made possible with funds received from USAID through the University of

Missouri.

2. Technical activities

Objective 1 Implement priority Nutrition and Agriculture activities using a ranking

system developed with the community PIC/CBMEC.

Activity 1.1 Review of PAPNA documents

The PAPNA manual developed for State and LG facilitators were distributed and

discussed with the aim of familiarizing FBFI Program Officers with the PAPNA

methodology as well as initiate review activities that will lead to update of the

document.

Activity 1.2 Development of a Ranking system for Co mmunity Action plans

A new ranking system for identified community needs was developed by the Food

Basket Foundation International as it became necessary to review the range of

needs identified by the communities under GINA I.

Five criteria were used as the basis of ranking and reclassification which included:

time of implementation, cost of implementation, potential for reduction of child

underweight, availability of resources and level (in the conceptual framework for the

causes of malnutrition) at which a given activity addresses the problem of

malnutrition. A scale of 1-3 was used in evaluating each criterion where 1 represents

the least rating with 3 representing the highest rating. The highest score is assigned

to the most favoured attribute in the context of the present phase of the GINA project.

Actions that can be easily implemented and measured within project time frame, that

9

cost less, that have high potential for reduction of child underweight, that have

needed resources available, and address the problem of malnutrition at the

immediate and underlying levels in the conceptual framework have higher scores

than other attributes.

Activity 1.3 Training of Communities on the ranking system and training of

PIC/CBMECs and finalization of community project pr oposals

The development of the ranking system was followed by preparations for the

training of the communities in the ranking system and the Food Basket Foundation

Team developed a manual for the training of members of the PIC /CBMEC on the

ranking system and on project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The manual comprised five modules, which included:

• Overview of GINA II

• The Ranking System for Identified Community Needs

• Writing a Development Project Proposal

• Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation

• Keeping Records and Leadership Considerations in Project Implementation

As a follow-up to the development of the new ranking system and a PIC/CBMEC

training manual, a team of six was formed per state comprising of members drawn

from State/LGA GINA team inherited from GINA I. In each state, the team was

trained in the new ranking system as well as the PIC/CBMEC implementation

manual. Each team of five later facilitated the training of the PIC/CBMEC members

in the new ranking system as well as the project implementation trainings. The

training session was rounded up with an agreed to do session with all stakeholders

present having a common understanding of the things to put in place in the next

phase of the project. The highlights of the discussions here are:

• Call community meeting to debrief and take input on the way forward.

10

• Register the PIC.

• Open a new account for GINA II activities

• Write community proposal on the top four ranked projects.

• Nominate volunteers for the GMP training.

• Formation of groups (a) women group for micro-credit (b) men group for

agric input

• Assessment of the volume and types of agric input needed by

the communities

Activity 1.4: Implementing the priority nutrition a nd agriculture activities to

meet project goal

A total of thirty five proposals were received from the nine GINA II communities.

These proposals were assessed for possible funding by FBFI while the nine

communities got their PICs registered under various bodies within their respective

States and LGA. In addition, the PICs opened their bank accounts to facilitate transfer

of funds under GINA II.

A preliminary appraisal of the proposals was carried out by the Project Director,

Project Manager and Senior Project Officer for GINA II. This was followed by a

roundtable appraisal meeting, which was called to assess the 35 proposals received

from nine GINA II communities across the three States. The major objective of the

meeting was to make recommendations on the proposals submitted by the

communities. Criteria for assessment included:

� Relationship of projects to GINA II Objectives. Attention was drawn to the

Ranking System earlier developed under the project and used to

generate priorities.

� Feasibility of project within the lifespan of GINA II

� Costing and Market realities

� Understanding of the components of the projects and its process and

authenticity of attached documents

Although some communities were slow, the table below shows a summary of each

community’s ranked needs.

11

The communities received funds for the implementation of the 4 highest ranked

priority nutrition and agriculture projects. In response to concerns on the ability of

the communities to judiciously use project funds without FBFI playing a major role in

the day to day administration and use, the FBFI Project Director decided that the

FBFI Field Officer in each State would be the main signatory to the PIC accounts as

well as the authorizing officer for disbursement of funds.

12

Table 1: SUMMARY OF PROJECTS’ PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY THE NINE COMMUNITIES

AKWA -IBOM NASARAWA KANO Afaha Ediene

Itak Ikot Nung Ukim Gunki Ungwa Mallam/

Pawa

Wache Hagagawa/ Zango

Hagawa Tinki

Agric Input Agric Input Agric Input Water Borehole (Rehabilitation)

Agric Input Bore Hole Bore Hole Micro Credit for agric. input

Bore Hole/wells

Bore Hole Bore Hole Bore Hole Micro credit for agric. Input

Food Processing

Dry season farming input

Micro credit for income

Wells Micro credit for income

Food Processing

Food Processing

Food Processing

Micro Credit/Income Generation


Micro Credit/ Agric Input

Micro Credit for agric. Input


Micro credit for agric. input

Micro-credit

Micro -Credit Micro -Credit Dry season farming input.

Borehole Repairs

Micro Credit/ Income Generation

-

Dry season farming input (wash bowl)

Water harvester

*CBGMP runs across all the communities under objectives 2 & 3.

13

Activity 1.5 Commencing planning for community quar terly roundtables to review GINA II progress and link activities with LGA and S tate actions Round table meetings were conducted once in each of the GINA LGAs. The meeting

succeeded in bringing various stakeholders together to dialogue on the objectives of

GINA as well as to chart new course for the sustainability of the benefit of the project.

Round table meeting in Bichi LGA of Kano State

Round table meeting in Nasarawa LGA of Nasarawa State

Round table meeting in Ikono LGA of Akwa Ibom State

Objective 2: Develop appropriate linkages between G INA and existing donor, civil society, and government supported activities in the project States. Some linkages developed under GINA I have been consolidated while new ones were

developed. Of note here is the linkage currently consolidated with the Federal Ministry

of Water Resources. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has given its

commitment, in principle to provide one borehole per State.

Activity 2.1: Review of on going development activi ties in the GINA States and LGAs to document who, what, where and how of the ac tivities and developing a matrix for all stakeholders’ in the three States. A consultant was employed to document development activities in the GINA states. The

consultant, Dr M Amosu worked in two of the GINA states (Nassarawa and Akwa Ibom

States). The consultant has since submitted the report to BASIC III, the financiers of this

activity.

Objective 3: Implement Activities That Best Comple ment the Integrated community based projects Baseline surveys were carried out in all the GINA communities. Also, volunteers were

trained on CBGMP and PD/Hearth in all the GINA States which led to the conduct of the

CBGMP and PD Hearth on a monthly basis.

14

Training of volunteers in Akwa Ibom State

Training of volunteers in Nasarawa State

Training of volunteers in Kano State

Activity 3.1 Support the activities of NCFN that st rengthen the SCFN in the 3 States and establish LGCFN in the 3 LGAs and facili tate regular meetings of SCFNs and LGCFNs Action under this activity was stalled due to the inability of COMPASS and BASICS III to

initiate these activities in the GINA States. Efforts are however being made to find

solutions to the various challenges stalling implementation.

Activity 3.2 Participate actively at the Nutrition Partners meetings to institutionalize the GINA project and ensure its su stainability GINA II participated fully at various activities of Nutrition Partners, with regular

attendance of its meetings by the GINA II Project Director, Prof I.O. Akinyele.

Activity 3.3 Promote dissemination of appropriate c rop and micro-livestock production packages to increase food production, co nsumption, and income among the vulnerable groups in the 9 communities. The manual for this activity was developed by FBFI and the FBFI agric officer visited

communities in Akwa Ibom and Nasarawa States for consultation with farmer groups.

Similarly, dry-season farming activities took place in communities of Nasarawa and

Kano states.

15

Dry season farming in Gunki community of Nasarawa State

Dry season farming in Wache community of Nasarawa State

Dry season farming in Mallam/Pawa community of Nasarawa State

In Kano state, farmers in Hagawa community were provided 7 shallow tube-wells meant

for micro-irrigation activities during dry-season and times of irregular rain-fall. Each of

the tube-wells was equipped with petrol-engine pump. This farming technology was

newly introduced to the Hagawa community; even the state implementing agency

initially had not thought it possible until GINA II facilitated it. Also, rain-water harvesting

facility was provided in Tinki community of Kano through the technical assistance of

KNARDA.

In Nasarawa state, each of the 6 farmers’ groups (2 farmers’ group per community) was

provided with a petrol-engine pump and accessories for farm irrigation purposes; with

one of the groups receiving a soft-loan of eighty-thousand naira (N80, 000) for crop-

production during dry-season. Furthermore, an amount of Three-hundred and Thirty-

Thousand Naira only (N330, 000) was received as micro-credit for agric-inputs by each

of the 9 communities across the 3 states. The micro-credit was effectively utilized by

farmers of the various communities.

Activity 3.5: Undertake nutrition education program s on essential nutrition actions and create awareness on the importance of f ood and environmental hygiene at the household level .

The nutrition education programs employed during GINA II was used to create

awareness, increase knowledge, and improve attitudes and practices of target groups

on nutrition issues that enhanced child survival, particularly the essential nutrition

actions, key household practices, and IMCI. The nutrition education also took into

consideration the issue of food safety and hygiene, personal hygiene of both care giver

16

and the child, environmental and water sanitation. The counseling materials used and

which were provided by BASICS III focused on;

� Exclusive Breastfeeding for the first six months of life

� Adequate Complementary Feeding (in both quantity and quality) at about six months with continued breastfeeding for 2 years

� Appropriate nutritional care of sick and severely malnourished children

� Adequate intake of Vitamin A by children 6-59 months

� Adequate Intake of iron for women and children

� Adequate intake of iodine by all members of the household.

Nutrition education in Gunki community of Nasarawa State

Nutrition education in Mallam/Pawa community of Nasarawa State

Nutrition education in Nung Ukim community of Akwa Ibom State

PD Hearth session in Gunki community of Nasarawa State

PD Hearth session in Ungwan Mallam/Pawa community of Nasarawa State

PD Hearth session in Wache community of Nasarawa State

Activity 3.6: Strengthen capacity for community-bas ed growth monitoring centers in all the 9 project communities. Monthly CBGMP were held in all the GINA II communities. A comparative of the

baseline result to the last GMP result held in July/August was carried out and the result

is presented in table 2 below. Table 3 shows the average weight for age of the under

five children with average weight during baseline and post GINA II compared. Table 4

17

shows the cumulative impact of GINA II activities with a reduction of underweight by

6%.

Table 2: Frequency of Weighed GINA II Under 5 Children Akwa Ibom State Nutritional Status December 2006 (Baseline) July 2007

Normal 49 17 Mild 30 21 Moderate 16 11 Severe 5 5

Total 100 54A

Nasarawa State Nutritional Status November 2006(Baseline) August 2007 Normal 61 175 Mild 35 46 Moderate 21 4 Severe 5 2

Total 122 227B

Kano State Nutritional Status December 2006 (Baseline) July 2007 Normal 71 43 Mild 41 28 Moderate 26 24 Severe 26 15

Total 164 110

A A total number of 54 children were followed up from the baseline survey till the last GMP of July 2007. The reduction in the number of children was due to the custom of the people of Akwa Ibom State. Most of the children assessed during the December survey were brought to the communities during the survey but taken back to the cities after a period. B 83 children were followed from the baseline to the last GMP of August 2007.

18

Table 3: WEIGHT FOR AGE ACROSS THE GINA II STATES Akwa Ibom State Nasarawa State Kano State Average weight at baseline

8.3kg 7.1kg 9.2kg

Average post weight 9.5kg 9.8kg 10.8kg Average difference between baseline and post weight

1.2kg 2.7kg 1.6kg

% weight gain 14.5% 38.0% 17.4% Average % weight gain of all states or districts

23.3%

Table 4: REDUCTION IN MALNUTRITION ACROSS THE GINA II STATES Akwa Ibom

State Nasarawa State Kano State

Percent of underweight children at baseline

21.0% 21.3% 31.8%

Percent of underweight children at post

29.7% 2.6% 35.4%

Percent difference between baseline and post

-8.7% 18.7% -3.6%

Average reduction in prevalence of underweight between baseline and post

-3.3% 7.9% 0.2%

Average % reduction in malnutrition in all districts or states

1.6%

Challenges and Opportunities Challenges The following challenges were faced during the period under review:

(a) Initial suspicion/inertia from community members

(b) Slow response from communities in submission of proposals

(c) Some of the trained State and LG persons in the GINA States and LGA were

transferred to other LGAs leaving the project with the challenge of ensuring they

were retained to ensure continuity in the GINA project. This problem was more

pronounced in Ikono LGA of Akwa-Ibom State where five members had been

transferred out of the LGA

19

(d) Non-clarity of responsibilities with regards to partners under objectives 2 and 3

(e) Withdrawal of LINKAGES from the GINA II project.

(f) Some national programs/activities affected logistics

(g) Gender issues especially in Kano state

(h) Resignation of the Senior Project Officer Dr Victor Ajieroh, which led to some

administrative re-structuring especially in the CBGMP sector of the project.

(i) Financial report from the communities for follow-up tranches in activity

interventions from the communities was slow in coming which was responsible

for the delay in follow-up releases.

(j) Paucity of women volunteers for the baseline survey in Nasarawa state

(k) Accounting/transparency in project finance management at the community level.

(l) Conflict of interest especially at the community level.

(m) Capacity of PIC to handle integrated project.

(n) Delay in construction by local contractors.

(o) Tense political situation in Akwa Ibom State

(p) Uncompromising attitude of some of the community members in Akwa Ibom

State

Opportunities

i. Facing the above challenges has been made easy by the commitment of all

stakeholders at all levels.

ii. Mothers ready to learn and adapt new changes

iii. Involvement of more partners (BASICS III and COMPASS) in the GINA II project

20

ACHIEVEMENTS AKWA IBOM STATE Nung Ukim Itak Ikot Afaha Ediene

Construction of one water

borehole facility


borehole facility


borehole facility

Micro-credit for income

generation for women





Micro-credit for agric input Micro-credit for agric input Micro-credit for agric input

CBGMP and PD Hearth

sessions by FBFI/ BASICS

III

CBGMP and PD Hearth


III

CBGMP and PD Hearth


III

Construction of one food

processing facility (cassava

and palm oil)


processing facility

(cassava and palm oil)


processing facility

(cassava and palm oil)

Built capacity of members

of the PIC on project

implementation



implementation



implementation

Built capacity of women in

community project planning

and implementation



and implementation



and implementation

Enhanced capacity of

mothers to ensure the

survival of their children







21

NASARAWA STATE Gunki Wache Angwan Mallam/Pawa

Repair of 4 hand pump

water borehole facility


hand pump borehole facility

Construction of two

groundnut processing

facilities








CBGMP and PD Hearth


III



implementation



implementation



implementation



and implementation



and implementation



and implementation

Provision of two pumps for

dry season farming


dry season farming


dry season farming










CBGMP and PD Hearth


III

CBGMP and PD Hearth


III

22

KANO STATE Tinki Hagawa Hagagawa/Zango

Construction of three wells

and one water borehole

with hand pump

Construction of 3 wells Construction of 2 hand-

pump fitted boreholes








CBGMP and PD Hearth

sessions by FBFI/

COMPASS

CBGMP and PD Hearth

sessions by FBFI/

COMPASS

CBGMP and PD Hearth

sessions by FBFI/

COMPASS



implementation



implementation



implementation



and implementation



and implementation



and implementation

Construction of rain-water

harvester in Tinki

community

Provision of 7 tube wells

and pumps Enhanced capacity of









23

Pictures of some of the achievements recorded in GI NA II

Empowerment of rural women through the micro-credit scheme

Provision of potable and safe drinking water to all the GINA communities

Enhanced the capacity of farmers to cultivate during the dry season

24

Provision of food processing facilities

Enhanced capacity of community members especially women in the community decision making process

WINDING-UP OF GINA II

A memo was received in July 2007 which directed GINA II to wind-up according to the terms of agreement signed by FBFI and USAID which was immediately complied with. The various micro credits given under GINA II was to be treated as seed grant and FBFI is to see to its continued revolvement. In addition FBFI will continue to see to the sustainability of the goals of GINA II. GINA II activity close outs were carried out in Kano and Nasarawa States to inform the members of the PICs and communities of the end of the GINA II funding from USAID and need for them to ensure that the goal and objectives and also the achievements recorded during the GINA II project lingers on. The PICs accounts were looked into to ensure proper documentation and utilization of the funds earlier released to them.

GINA III

Following post GINA II discussions with Washington, FBFI was invited to put up a proposal for GINA III. The proposal for GINA III received the approval of USAID Washington and GINA III has commenced only in Akwa-Ibom State for another 9 months (August 2007 – April 2008). GINA III is focusing on the proper integration of both the nutrition and agriculture activities to meet project objectives in Akwa Ibom State. GINA III is also affording the communities and their contractors to finish some

25

uncompleted GINA II projects in the three communities of Ikono LGA of Akwa Ibom State. A new baseline data for Akwa Ibom was generated and children that fell into the -2 to -3 underweight category were organized together and formed into production groups. All interventions/activities during GINA III would be directed at this production groups. In all, 10 production groups comprising of 5 members each had been formed across the three GINA III communities namely, Afaha Ediene, Nung Ukim and Itak Ikot Akpandem in Ikono LGA of Akwa Ibom State. The breakdown of these production groups show that Afaha Ediene has 4 production groups (20 women), Itak Ikot Akpandem has 4 production groups (20 women) and Nung Ukim has 2 production groups (10 women). Funds has already been released by the GINA management team at the FBFI headquarters to the communities for the purchase of 100 goats (1 male and 1 female per each member of the production group) for the 50 members of the production groups across the 3 GINA communities. Funds has also been released for the purchase of 1 50kg bag each of improved variety of melon, maize, cowpea and soya beans for cultivation by members of the production groups. Pumpkin production is also being encouraged during the GINA III project. More partnerships are being formed in order to achieve the GINA III objective. The Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP) is helping in the purchase of the agric inputs (seedlings) and goats for the production groups. The HOD Agric of Ikono LGA and a representative of AKADEP are helping the State project officer of GINA III in coordinating the agric component of the GINA III project. Agric extension services with teachings of new agricultural techniques and practices are also being provided. BASICS III still has a mandate for the coordination of the nutrition component of the GINA III project in Akwa Ibom State till the end of February 2008. The nutrition components involve the PD Hearth sessions, the GMP and ENA sessions. GINA III has facilitated the visit of the secretary of NCFN Dr B.D Omotola on an advocacy visit to the Akwa Ibom State Committee on Food and Nutrition and Ikono LGA. This is to facilitate the strengthening of the SCFN and the formation of the LGCFN in Ikono LGA which is going to form the basis for the institutionalization of the GINA project at the LGA level. This will also provide the needed sustainability for the GINA achievements and activities after USAID support.

gender informed nutrition agriculture (gina … · gina gender informed nutrition agriculture ......

Documents