By Caroline Chiimba
Under the EU funded Enhanced Resilience in Vulnerable Households in Zimbabwe (ERVHIZ) project, Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) with support from UNICEF has been creating nutrition awareness in six Matebeleland districts through cooking demonstrations.
Cooking demonstrations play a crucial role in generating nutrition knowledge in vulnerable communities. The demonstrations are part of care group activities that women practice as a way of passing and circulating knowledge. In these care groups, women are also encouraged to establish backyard nutrition gardens with various crops that are used for household consumption.
“Showcasing recipes that incorporate locally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains, individuals can learn how to make healthy and affordable meals using ingredients that are readily available in their community, Thus, sharing knowledge and skills through cooking demonstrations enables communities to reduce malnutrition and promote a healthy lifestyle,” said one nutritionist from NAZ.
She added that cooking demonstrations are a fun and interactive way to teach individuals, especially women, different nutritional recipes that can help improve their overall health and well-being.
“It is through these cooking demonstrations that we were made aware that we don’t need expensive food to prepare nutritious dishes for our families. The misconception we had, that only expensive fruits and food are nutritious, was cleared. We learnt that our very own wild fruits and locally cultivated food can be prepared and be very nutritious and improve our health as a family,” lead mother Agnes Mangena from Mangwe district said.
Agnes added that she also established a backyard nutrition garden where she planted vegetables, onions, tomatoes and carrots for household consumption, and that she is happy and grateful for the knowledge she acquired from care groups that were conducted by Nutrition Action Zimbabwe.
“Cooking demonstrations were very helpful in assisting us acquire new unique cooking skills along with more nutritious dishes we didn’t know before. For example, we didn’t know the recipe of mixing various vegetables, mopane worms and eggs in porridge. This porridge is very nutritious and audible, now our children are very healthy,” said Sibusisiwe Moyo, a mother of three from Mapholisa village in Mangwe.
Thus, in communities where access to healthy foods may be limited, cooking demonstrations can empower individuals to take control of their own health and well-being.