The communities of Mecuburi district, along with 12 other communities in Nampula province, are benefiting from the Transform Nutrition project which aims essentially to improve the nutritional status of 118,000 pregnant and latent women, 260,000 teenage girls and 165,000 children under the age of 2.
Despite having started in the end 2019, the results of this USAID project, implemented by a consortium led by ADPP Mozambique in cooperation with h2n Association, Lúrio University (UniLúrio) Viamo and the Global Alliance for Nutrition Improvement (GAIN), has results that are already being felt within the beneficiary communities. Amélia José, is a young woman living in Mecuburi district and beneficiary of the project.
For Amélia, the Transform Nutrition project, brought her valuable information about Nutrition, which in a certain way is improving her health and that of her children. According to her, and even considering that before the intervention of the project she had some knowledge about healthy feeding, her feeding has changed a lot, due to the fact that she made a vegetable garden in her house, which makes her acquire some food directly from her house, a fact that allows more diversification of food, what did not happen before.
“Thanks to the project, I was able to overcome some taboos related to the prohibition of the consumption of some foods due to the fact that I am pregnant, such as the cassava leaves and eggs”. – Amélia tells us.
In these 5 months of participation in the project, Amélia managed to build a pantry and a vegetable garden. And even so, her desire is to continue to implement the suggestions left by her mentor, and at this time they have been thinking about animal husbandry.
According to the project, so many others who, seeing the success of its implementation, decided to adhere to the teachings in order to improve not only their food, but also their quality of life replicate what happens in Amélia’s house.
It is important to note that the project goal is to reduce stunting and improve nutritional status of Pregnant and lactating women, children under age two and adolescent girls.