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Adolescent Girls Nutrition Programmes in Tea Gardens of Assam

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Programme – Improving Adolescent Girls Nutrition through Promotion of Kitchen Garden Programmes in Tea Gardens of Assam
Duration – 2012 to 2016
The Project Contextual Background:

Dibrugarh is situated in the eastern part of Assam and southern bank of the river Brahamaputra in the northeastern region of India. Tea is the major agro industry in the state Assam. Assam is the highest tea producer state in India which contributes immensely to the state’s economy. Dibrugarh, the hub of tea industry is situated in the eastern corner of the state. Poor socio economic conditions, ignorance due to illiteracy, overcrowded and unhygienic living condition in the residential colonies situated within the tea estates make the tea garden people vulnerable to various communicable disease and malnutrition. In addition to that health and low nutritional status is considered as biggest emerging issue of tea garden community. Considering health and malnutrition as contemporary problem of adolescence girls, NEADS in partnership with UNICEF aimed at developing this intervention to ensure the availability and use of quality local food that would help the tea garden communities specially the adolescences maintain good health.

The Objectives:

  • Imbibe a sense of nutritious food among the tea garden communities.
  • Ensure effective use of the activities as initial learning to the adolescent girls through the Adolescent Girls’ Group already existing in the tea estate.
  • Move the tea garden communities towards self reliance in the matter of nutritional intake and its role in keeping good health.
  • Enhance capacity of the girls’ group to participate in the development process
  • Improve quality cooking in order to retain nutritional value to the maximum extent possible for maintaining good health.
  • To make the meal more salutary.

Targeted Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are the approximately 21,000 adolescents’ girls of 42 tea gardens. In addition to this mothers club members and community members are being considered as the other targeted beneficiaries.

Key Project Activities Undertaken

  • Mobilization and Strengthening of Kishori Sangh (Adolescent Girls club) and Mothers Club in 42 Tea Estates
  • Support for Sustenance of 51 Community Kitchen Gardens in 42 Tea Garden
  • Capacity Building Training on Kitchen Garden Preparation, Development and Maintenance
  • Mobilization of Adolescent Girls for Individual Kitchen Garden
  • Orientation cum training to Adolescent girls clubs and mothers’ clubs members for improving dietary diversity through kitchen gardening practice in the newly adopted 27 TG of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia
  • Organized Annual cooking and Kitchen Garden Competition

PROJECT OUTCOME / ACHIEVEMENTS

  • 68 kitchen gardens at community basis have been nurtured and prepared in 42 Tea estates collectively and 227 kitchen gardens at individual basis under the project. 227 individual kitchen gardens were developed by the adolescent girls of total targeted 42 tea gardens with the technical support of NEADS.
  • Members of Kishori Sangh have learned the concept of Kitchen garden development as well as management. Awareness is being generated among them to prepare kitchen garden units at household level at individual basis.
  • Throughout the entire yearlong project period, NEADS built up rapport with the tea garden management, ABITA and MCH Cell of Assam Medical College as joint partner initiative towards effective implementation of the programme.
  • Adolescent Girl club members are setting role play as method of awareness generation and mass information dissemination on importance of health and nutrition in form of demonstration and cultural events.
  • Individual kitchen gardens at own household level are being initiated by the girls club members.