NaNA encourages consumption of diversified food to boost immune systems

Ousman Dem was speaking in a recent interview with The Point during the ongoing Nafa Cash transfer programme currently being rolled out in various districts across the regions.

The National Nutrition Agency in collaboration with the Directorate of Social Welfare (DSW) and the Department of Community Development (DCD) are implementing The Gambia Resilience, Inclusion, Skills and Equity (RISE) project.

The ongoing Nafa pay points include Sangajor and Bantanjang in West Coast Region, Jataba in Kinag West in the Lower River Region and Balangarr-Jalato in Central River Region-North.

Jointly funded by the World Bank and the Gambia government, the project is poised to offering a foundation for providing sustainable livelihoods to the poor and vulnerable.

As a sub-component of the RISE project, this initiative which is being implemented in 20 poorest districts, involves a bi-monthly cash transfer of D3000 and behavioral change activities provided to approximately 17, 000 extreme poor households (beneficiary households) for a period of 36 months.

“We are encouraging people even though it is during Ramadan, to diversify and eat from all the four classes of food, the carbohydrates, the proteins, the fats and oil and the vitamins and minerals.”

Dem also outlined the need for people to consume carbohydrates as it helps with energy, further calling on people to always limit consumption of fatty and oily foods.

“We have to incorporate hygiene into every aspect of food preparation to the consumption level,” he urged.

He also explained that for every cash transfer cycle, NaNA officials identify a topic for discussion, saying the topic in the current Nafa program is centered on health and nutrition where officials talk about dietary diversification and hygiene.

The Nafa component, he added, is currently at cycle 13 in some areas and cycle 17 in some other areas, while their target is to reach at 18 cycles within the 36 months.

He also revealed that the project was initially piloted in the 3 poorest districts in the country namely; Foni Bintang, Wulli West and Nianija before being subsequently rolled out to the remaining seventeen districts.

He assured that the RISE project is due to expand to other additional districts to enable them expand their coverage, thereby targeting 42 districts and 2 municipalities.

Dem also spoke about the six different modules in the project, which he said includes project enlightenment, health and nutrition, early childhood development, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, sexual and gender based violence and the recent Positive Playful Parenting (PPP).