USAID FtF Monthly Report: Improving Nutrient Supplies and Diet Diversity with Vegetables in Mali, Phase I

The project, funded by USAID, aims to enhance knowledge among women of the importance of healthy diets, particularly for children under five years in the target region. Key objectives include increasing skills among women in vegetable food production and processing, and increasing the use of nutritious and seasonally available vegetables in household diets. Implementation of the project involves various activities, including the production of 1200 vegetable seed kits at Samanko station. The seed kits contain okra, tomato, African eggplant, pepper, and amaranth, which are at different stages of development. Additionally, training modules on nutrition, such as paw peanut sauce with amaranth and tomato sauce, are being finalized and new modules, including vegetable soup and mashed eggplant and onion, are being developed. The project also involves the recruitment of a Food and Nutrition Specialist, who will join the AVRDC office in Bamako on May 1, 2014. The specialist will work on the elaboration of training manuals on healthy diets, basic nutrition, and health practices by the Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health in Mali. Partners' contracts have been signed, and fund transfers are ongoing. The project has also received visits from scientists from AVRDC Headquarters, who met with partners and visited research infrastructures at Samanko station. Upcoming activities include pursuing vegetable seed production, producing pamphlets of nutrition messages, and conducting training of trainers in the communities for food preparation, processing, and nutritional awareness in the Sikasso region. The project aims to integrate agriculture and nutrition topics in the training schedule and manuals elaboration. The project's geographic focus is on the Sikasso region in Mali, where training on food preparation, processing, and preservation is being carried out as part of the implementation of two USAID-funded projects. The project's timeframes are not explicitly stated, but the report mentions activities and events that took place in April 2014 and upcoming activities for the forthcoming reporting period.