Tanager, a non-profit firm, today launched “e-Wadi program” an initiative to digitize Anganwadi Centres and spread awareness on importance of nutrition in Srikakulam and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh as part of their ongoing Andhra Pradesh Farmer Market Readiness Program II (APFMRP II) supported by Walmart.org.
As part of the initiative, 16 Anganwadi Centres are adopted in the project area. They are given a facelift with interesting wall paintings and messages on nutrition and IEC materials are provided to attract children and parents to these centres.
These Anganwadi centres are further digitized with the availability of computer and internet connection, nutrition and educational videos for women and children. This initiative will provide a platform for the dissemination of nutrition messages to adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers. The team further intends to impart training to the women farmers to grow crops with high nutritive value in their kitchen gardens and provide trainings on cooking simple nutritive recipes using minimal ingredients in the second phase of the initiative.
Talking about this initiative, Amit Kumar Singh, Country Representative, Tanager said that, “Nutrition plays an important role in growing children and pregnant mothers for overall development. So as part of the program, it is essential for us to educate our project beneficiaries on the importance and inclusion of nutritive food in their diet. This activity will not only educate the community on nutrition but benefit the generations to come”.
The team has conducted a Food Environment Analysis to understand and analyze the food eating habits, dietary diversity, accessibility, affordability, availability, and food security in the program area for developing a Social Behavior Change strategy for improved nutrition amongst program participants.
The results of the survey indicated several parameters ranging from accessibility, affordability, convenience, lack of nutrition knowledge, food availability & acquisition affect their ability to include nutritious food in their daily diet. The households under survey showed eagerness to know more about nutrition and learn through actors in their agricultural work.
