Description

Abdtract: The use of participatory and qualitative information gathering and sharing during the planning grant phase of the Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management (ENAM) project, allowed for context-specific and multidisciplinary analysis of the constraints to animal source foods (ASF) in children’s diets in Ghana. This process led to the development of a demand-driven problem model specifying the causal links to the constraints that limited use of ASF in children’s diets and to the interventions to address these constraints. To improve the capacity of future nutrition professionals in the use of extension principles that incorporate the sustainable livelihoods strategy for diagnosing community nutrition problems and designing appropriate interventions, the ENAM project management team proposed that training in nutrition extension should be incorporated into the nutrition curriculum offered through the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Ghana. A step-by-step process was undertaken, which included consultations with an international nutrition extension specialist, consensus-building discussion sessions, a workshop with stakeholders working in governmental and non-governmental programs and at the university, the development of a course description and Outline, and the submission of a course proposal to the University of Ghana Academic Board. This resulted in the approval of an interdisciplinary course entitled “Nutrition, Sustainable Livelihoods and Extension,” as a third year undergraduate elective course offered through the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Ghana. Stakeholder recommendations for the future included the development of a nutrition extension short course to upgrade the skills of current nutrition practitioners.