Turkana communities empowered to embrace home-grown foods to tackle malnutrition

Communities in Turkana County are being empowered to utilise locally available resources and food to address the high rates of malnutrition affecting children in the region.

The Positive Deviance (PD) Hearth programme conducts 12-day sessions where families are trained to prepare nutritious meals for their children using produce from kitchen gardens established through the initiative.

According to the County Health Department, implementing the project in collaboration with SAPCON, the programme has so far benefited 968 children, including 457 under the age of five who were enrolled during the first phase of the initial assessment.

The department noted that the initiative targets areas with a high prevalence of underweight children, specifically in Lopur, Korinyang, Lokapel, Kalemung’orok, and Kaputir within Aroo Sub-county.

Janerose Tioko, the County Chief Officer for Promotive and Preventive Health Services, spoke during a meeting on the initiative and outlined the programme’s unique approach. She said it empowers communities to make use of local resources to implement sustainable nutrition practices at the grassroots level.

“This will effectively address severe and acute malnutrition cases among children across the county,” she said.

“The intervention is unique because it equips the community with lasting nutrition strategies using available and nutritious foods such as groundnuts, eggs, and kale to mitigate the severity of malnutrition,” she added.

Tioko called upon stakeholders, including local communities, NGOs, and government agencies, to collaborate in sustaining and scaling up the nutrition programme.

She also emphasised the need for increased resource allocation and deeper community engagement to ensure long-term impact.

The Chief Officer assured the implementing partner that the County Government would support the initiative to strengthen nutrition practices and improve health outcomes for vulnerable and impoverished families.

SAPCONE Nutrition Coordinator, Nickson Omuse, noted that the programme has strengthened the capacity of 24 healthcare workers from 16 facilities and trained 100 Community Health Promoters who are now cascading home-based nutrition education at the household level.

County Director of Health, Dr Joseph Lolepo, commended the programme’s effectiveness in harnessing community-led solutions to improve child health outcomes.

Dr Lolepo also acknowledged SAPCONE’s grassroots mobilisation efforts and the World Food Programme’s logistical support, which he said had been instrumental in the initiative’s success.

The term 'Hearth' in this context refers to a communal setting, often a home, where nutrition practices are shared, demonstrated, and passed on.

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• nutritious foods
• Turkana communities empowered to embrace home-grown foods to tackle malnutrition
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