Empowering Communities Through Nutrition Education in Kenya
Nutrition Teaching Jobs in Kenya
Nutrition is an important factor in the development of chronic non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Poor dietary habits are usually formed during childhood and can continue into adulthood.
ICRISAT’s Smart Food program integrates cooking and nutrition education into community activities. The educational materials are locally adapted and aimed at empowering communities to adopt healthier cooking, feeding and farming practices.
Education Requirements
Applicants for a nutrition teaching job in Kenya must have an appropriate degree, certification, and/or licensing from a recognized university. They should also have significant experience working with food, nutrition and dietetics issues in developing countries. These skills include research, analysis and assessment, preparing policy and instituting relevant interventions.
The nutrition teaching jobs in kenya offer students a diverse and exciting learning environment. Students are taught to identify dietary problems and develop appropriate dietetics interventions. The program also teaches students how to manage patients with eating disorders and the effects of malnutrition.
The medicine team lead serves as an ambassador, driver and guide of the clinical and educational missions in internal medicine between the North American and European institutions of the AMPATH consortium and Kenyan partners in Uasin Gishu, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. The position resides in Eldoret, Kenya full-time and requires a minimum of 2 years of service. Beware of employment scams circulating via text messages, emails and social media in the name of USAID and AMPATH!
Teaching Experience
A teaching certificate is not enough to land a nutrition lecturer job, you also need to have years of experience in the classroom. Although you can gain teaching experience while still pursuing your teacher training, this is usually not sufficient to meet the minimum requirements of most schools.
In the meantime, you can volunteer with youth groups and after-school clubs to get hands-on experience. This will help you develop the skills necessary for the role, while also showing your enthusiasm and dedication to the profession.
For example, Kenyan entrepreneur Wawira Njiru founded Food for Education to tackle malnutrition in school children. This organisation sources and prepares subsidized meals for 9 million Kenyan children each year. Its model is based on the fact that poor nutrition in childhood is linked to lower school attendance and performance. It is also a major contributor to obesity and other health issues in adulthood. The organisation also provides nutritional education, to improve the knowledge and attitudes of the target audience.
Teaching Methods
Nutritional education requires a multi-disciplinary approach involving different sectors and levels of learning. Traditionally, the responsibility for imparting nutrition knowledge has been vested in health workers and, to some extent, in the agriculture sector. However, many professionals lack basic knowledge of human nutrition and training in how to engage communities in participatory problem assessment.
A recent FAO needs assessment found that professional training in food and nutrition is urgently needed across Africa. The training should go beyond the promotion of good dietary habits to include a focus on food security and production.
In a Kenyan study, the ACTION project employed a people-centred approach in its nutrition education programme. Participants were asked to discuss the problems they faced with their food security and what they could do about them. The educational activities were conducted through seven video pillars each lasting for 15 minutes. A similar, shortened course was also used in another study. It was administered at a publicly managed ECD centre for caregivers of preschool children.
Teaching Resources
A nutrition education programme needs a team of qualified professionals to design, develop and implement the communication process. These include nutrition specialists, communication technicians, and people with knowledge of agriculture, health and education. The nutrition specialist carries out the research and analysis and prepares educational materials that are tailored to specific communities. These include posters, leaflets and videos.
The goal of nutrition communication is to create motivation to change behaviours that contribute to poor health. People are helped to learn new information and gain the skills and confidence to establish desirable food and nutrition habits that promote good health.
This involves identifying and examining the causes of malnutrition among the community members, including social, economic and cultural factors. It also involves educating households on improving family food security and better use of household resources. For example, advising on how to select and prepare food for optimum nutritional value, how to improve traditional methods of cooking to preserve the food, storing foods and allocating foods between different family members.