Introduction
At least one in three children under 5 is affected by malnutrition in its most visible forms: stunting, wasting, and being overweight. Good nutrition is a basis for child survival and development. Knowing that Alora is working with teenage mothers, issues of malnutrition are bound to come up.
Children affected by stunting – some 144 million under the age of 5 – are too short for their age, and their brains may never develop to their full cognitive potential, hindering their ability to learn as children, earn as adults, and contribute fully to their societies.
Undernutrition is responsible for four in 10 deaths of children under five and costs Uganda 1.8 trillion annually. Yet today many children are not getting the nutrition they need to survive and thrive.
The role that urban agriculture can play in pursuing the Millennium Development Goals and more specifically MDG 1 and 7, related to poverty reduction, food security, and environmental sustainability. Reference is made to urban agriculture in relation to the recent and important issues affecting the world economy and the environment, regarding climate change, soaring food and energy prices.
Poverty and food insecurity have been considered for decades to be rural problems. Some analyses have shown, however, that urban poverty is not only growing rapidly but has tended to be underestimated in the past. Figures on levels of urban poverty for nations or for particular cities are much lower than the proportion of people living in very poor-quality housing, lacking basic infrastructure or services.
Vulnerable groups in cities often have fewer informal safety nets (community networks). Their dependence upon purchased food is further compounded by their incapacity to access and use natural resources to produce their food. Most authors on urban poverty agree that poverty is clearly becoming more urban.
With that basis, the Alora Nutrition program was born, seeing that teenage mothers are children raising children and need all the support they can get. Alora’s main aim is to increase access to food through urban farming and the growth of household incomes in the Naguru go down slum. (Level of malnutrition in both mothers and children)
Objectives of the activity
- To increase food security for the most vulnerable.
- Provide the community with opportunities to get income from selling their produce.
- Create awareness about proper nutrition and growing food.
- Educate on malnutrition signs in women and children under 5.
- Reduced financial burden due to malnutrition-caused deficiencies, diseases, and death.
Methodology:
The activity will be implemented by demonstration and technical/hands-on skilling of the women groups formed by the Alora team. We shall expect them to use part of the crops for subsistence use at home and the rest used commercially. One of our business models is social enterprises. We operate social enterprises that generate revenue while advancing our missions and goals. We shall be creating in-house groups of those who can grow the produce and those who can buy it to sell to pre-selected buyers or in market stalls.
Target:
This program’s target are women (Youth) of the Naguru go down slum. We plan on working with a total of 50 households.
Expected outcome:
- Improved financial muscle of the women.
- Increased knowledge on nutrition and urban farming.
- Reduced malnutrition levels.