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The Nairobian

KTDA rolls out bid to boost good eating habits among tea farmers

Smart Harvest

By Lydiah Nyawira | Apr 13, 2019

Alice Wangui a tea farmer shows her counterparts on how to prepare vegetables,on April 10,2019, at chinga Tea Buying Cente,r in Othaya.The Global Alliance Nutrition and Hygiene has partnered with Kenya Tea Development Authority to create demand for safe and nutritious foods through behaviour change. [Kibata Kihu/Standard]

Over 35,000 small holder tea farmers will benefit from a nutrition programme to tackle stunted growth and non-communicable diseases prevalent in tea growing areas.

The programme by Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) foundation and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is undertaking nutritional programmes that will include cooking demonstrations after a research carried out by both organisations revealed that stunting rates in tea growing zones range from 15.1 per cent to 36 per cent in tea growing counties.

In addition, Bomet, Nandi, Kericho, Kakamega and Embu counties have higher stunting rates compared to the national figure of 26 per cent. In terms of women’s nutritional status, Embu has the highest proportion of undernourished women 15-49 years, higher than the national prevalence.l James Gatheru, GAIN project officer said one of the reasons why tea farmers were vulnerable was because their diets tend to be monotonous consisting largely of staple foods.

He said the burden of non-communicable diseases especially in these areas could be managed or prevented through good nutrition. T