By Laliana Mahumane and Tapera Júnior, from Children and Youth with Vision
We are members of Children and Youth with Vision (Crianças e Jovens com Visão), a group of volunteer activists in Mozambique that works to promote the participation and voices of children in our country. In partnership with World Vision Mozambique, we have facilitated more than 30 Nutrition Dialogues, aimed at gathering the experiences of children and vulnerable families.
Convening these dialogues was a great experience. We learned that in some communities there is no food balance, as families consume caracata in every meal. Caracata is a thick corn porridge (xima) made from dried cassava. Although caracata is nutritious, a healthy diet requires diverse foods, which the families we heard from struggle to access, due to lack of resources.
In Mozambique, the participation of young people in Nutrition Dialogues has proven to be very important, even essential. We observe that young people, especially those who have access to digital platforms, are more likely to be influenced by public figures who provide nutrition advice that is sometimes inaccurate. This advice can cause young people to alter their way of life and change their diet in harmful ways, gradually leading to malnutrition.
One of the solutions proposed by children and stakeholders to the problem of malnutrition was the provision, by organizations as well as the government, of diversified seeds and fertilizers to grow different crops. One of the causing factors of malnutrition seems to be the lack of crops and fertile land for sowing.
Young people, as the proactive majority, have the responsibility to engage other age groups, disseminate information in a creative way, and design strategies to eliminate malnutrition.
With the Nutrition Dialogues, we developed a better understanding of local nutritional needs. We identified some untrue myths and beliefs about food (for example, that pregnant women and children should not eat eggs) and we discussed how to adapt solutions to local conditions.
Stakeholders including members of social accountability programmes, religious leaders and teachers, were among the groups with the highest engagement. They discussed in detail the challenges faced by local communities and proposed solutions where each participant had a role to play.
We learned that malnutrition is not someone else’s problem, it is everyone’s problem. It is not just governments who should intervene to solve it; we are all part of the solution in different ways.
Finally, we have some advice for other Convenors of Nutrition Dialogues:
- Always be ready to adapt to the participants;
- Whenever possible, communicate using day-to-day experiences;
- Listen more than you speak;
- Capitalize on the presence of all participants;
- Equip yourself with dynamic activities and creativity.
Credit: World Vision
Read more about the Nutrition Dialogues convened by Crianças e Jovens com Visão, and others by checking out the Explore Dialogues page on the Portal.
