Assessing Food and Nutrition Training in Burkina Faso Using the “Auditing Instrument for Food Security in Higher education (AIFSHE)”

Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa the food supply, determined by the performance of a largely subsistence and poorly structured agriculture, remains dependent on the climatic conditions. In such situation, the training on food and nutrition and the need of curricula review processes in agricultural higher education is an important issue. The present study aimed to assess the embodiment of the concept of food security in the agricultural department of the NAZI BONI University. The department was audited using the AIFSHE tool, and a total of fifty persons attended the audit. A survey was also carried out at university and research levels where three hundred and twenty eight persons responded, and a focus group discussion was done during a workshop where a total of one hundred and fifteen stakeholders participated. The results of the audit showed good results, about the network of the university and the educational methods and pedagogy. However, the vision and strategy for food security in the country are implicit and not well defined in the university documents. The surveys reported that the curricula and research topics contained very few aspects of food security. The workshop proposed that students should be allowed in the design of food security curricula and that the food security mission at university level should be clearly defined in an integrated coordinated manner by involving many ministries, to ensure a well-balanced approach to its dimensions. With respect to research, it was highlighted that the university could focus its research activities in the area of agricultural extension in order to contribute to improving food consumption at household level and the population welfare, with the best utilisation of national funding. The findings of the study imply that agricultural higher education has a key role to play to contribute to the achievement of food and nutrition security in the country, and therefore, policy makers should give opportunities and facilities to these institutions.