Outline and discuss strategies of improving health and nutrition in Kenya

• The government through the sector of basic education, can include health and nutrition in the in curriculum and the subject be made compulsory. This will enable the population to access knowledge on health and nutrition at early years and this will decrease the ignorance on the issue of health and nutrition. Since not all people proceed to high school and only a few reach institution of higher learning, teaching this subject under basic education will help improve health and nutrition in the country since it is a subject that many will be able to learn if provided as from at primary levels. Most people at least attend and finish primary school and therefore providing it at this level can be a best strategy towards improving health and nutrition.
• The government can also engage non-government organization providing livelihoods and health services in different parts of the country to engage the population on the issue of health and nutrition and how best they can put into practice. We have seen NGOs such as UNICEF support communities in areas of health and nutrition and this has helped transform the lives of many children in Kenya and the rest of the world. NGOs always have their own funds to carry out their projects and all the government need to do is to strengthen ties with them and give them the total support such organizations need so that they can be able to reach and support a larger population.
• Mass campaign through media on the importance of health and nutrition should be intensified. This strategy enables information to reach mass populations across the country. This should involve a massive campaign through all media channels including vernacular radio channels and television. This will help populations to learn about what health and nutrition entails and it is believed that often mass campaigns should transform the lives across the country. This strategy works and a good example is the polio campaign that is always done through mass and social media and most people are reached for vaccination.
• The government through the ministry of agriculture and government administrators such as chiefs and assistant chiefs at the grassroots, can reach small scale farmers in their areas of administration and encourage them to engage in farming whereby they are able to produce variety of food for their families. They should be encouraged to practiced mixed farming whereby they are able to produce different food that provides different nutrients. For instance farmers at family levels can be encouraged to plant different types of crops such as beans, ground nuts, green grams, maize, potatoes, cassavas, millet, sorghum, vegetables, bananas among others food crops. They can also at the same time rare few chicken and several cows for milking. From these combination of farming, the family is able to access different types of food such as grains, eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits from the small piece of land that they own.
• It can be done at the hospital level through mothers who attend both prenatal and postnatal clinics. Another strategy could be to engage mothers in such topics through the health providers. Most mothers’ access health facilities for both postnatal and prenatal services and the government through the ministry of education can use this opportunity to pass the knowledge on health and nutrition. This will be able to apply this knowledge at home and be able to raise healthy children. By making this a compulsory topic during clinic visits, it can be a good strategy of reaching significant populations and educating them on the issues of health and nutrition.

---

Smwenje answered the question on November 16, 2018 at 16:28