FCT and JICA collaborate to promote nutrition in local councils

To enhance the nutritional quality of rural residents in the FCT, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has teamed up with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Agricultural Development Project (ADP) FCT Desk Officer Mrs. Aishat Abubakar described the project as a multi-sectoral approach to nutritional enhancement during the green field day event in Gwagwalada.

She claims that the project is a pilot project for improving nutrition in six communities from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Gwagwalada area councils.

She clarified that the project’s three key focus areas were agriculture, nutrition, and improving standard of living.

The five-year initiative, which began in 2019 and will end in 2024, is a technical collaboration between FCT and JICA.

“There are two phases to the project; the first phase, which began in 2019 and ended in 2022, was quite successful. Three communities from two area councils were involved in the initial phase, she said.

She claimed that although communities from the six area councils were targeted in this second round, Abuja saw significant levels of insecurity during the screening process.

AMAC and Gwagwalada, which were first employed in the project’s first phase, were the only options, according to Abubakar, who also stated that the aim was 20 homes from each of the six communities.

“In this project, we focused on six villages, four from Gwagwalada and two from AMAC, and in each neighbourhood, the model group of 20 households received training in these three areas.

These model groups are anticipated to return to their own areas and share whatever information they have gained from the project with other locals.

Although young children under the age of two are our primary focus, we also help mothers, expectant mothers, and their families, she added.

She claims that the green field day is the project’s agricultural component, when a demonstration site is planned out in each of the six towns to instruct the model group in proper planting methods.

She said that eight different types of crops were employed in the initiative to teach the participants about fertiliser application, crop spacing, and various other topics.

According to Abubakar, the primary goal of the agricultural component is to ensure that rural residents have access to food throughout the year. He also mentioned that the model group will receive three crops of their choice after the training.

She mentioned that some of the crops include maize, which she said symbolises food that is high in energy, soy beans or cow peas, which symbolise protein, and pumpkin or jute leaves (Ewedu), which symbolise vegetables.

“These three dietary groups—foods that provide energy, protein, and vegetables—are the focus of our attention. We don’t just plant things; we plant what the body actually needs.

We are examining the nutritional content of the crops they intend to grow because some of them have extremely large plots of land but only plant one crop, leaving them short on another.

But thanks to this training, they will be able to produce crops that will provide them with enough food throughout the year.

After the training, the model group would be given a list of crops from which to select three, taking into account the three food groups. They would also be provided fertiliser and insecticide.

She clarified that towards the end of the project’s expiration, FCTA was expected to upscale the initiative to additional local councils.

The project’s goal, according to Ms. Khadijah Adebayo, Technical Project Staff, JICA, was to create a successful food-based nutrition improvement strategy in rural areas.

“Through training on nutrition, agriculture, and livelihood enhancement, we are strengthening the capacity of FCT workers in our chosen areas.

The project includes two parts; the first phase involved training participants from three villages, and the current phase involves training participants from six communities,

These people will instruct other community members, according to Adebayo.

Mr. Innocent Ajeafobi, Director of the FCT Agricultural Development Project (ADP), who was present in person by Mrs. Justina Ogumelen, gave the participants advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle by putting all they had learned from the project into practise.

The project’s lead farmer, Mr. Usman Galadima, praised FCTA and JICA for their efforts in providing rural residents with a wonderful opportunity to raise their nutritional and agricultural standards.

Galadima claimed that the programme will provide them with enough healthy foods to last the entire year.

“Under this programme, we learned how to manage our money, our food, our hygiene, and our environment.