Involving Rural Kenyan Women in the Development of Nutritionally Improved Weaning Foods: Nutribusiness Strategy

Abstract

This paper describes a participatory process employed by three collaborating universities to engage rural Kenyan women, who are members of organized women's groups, in the development of recipes for culturally appropriate, nutritionally desirable weaning foods. These foods will be processed on a small commercial scale in two rural locations, Bomet and Murang’a, using ingredients grown by the women on their “shambas” (garden plots). The weaning foods will be marketed as dry mixes in urbanized communities where women do not engage in agriculture. The processing and marketing will be accomplished through the mechanism of a nutribusiness cooperative run by the women in each of the districts. The phases in the weaning food development process include (1) a community assessment, (2) the collection and analysis of traditional weaning recipes, (3) the provision of feedback to the communities, (4) district-level product development workshops, (5) nutritional analysis and computer optimization of the products (Mixed Porridge and BASCOT), and (6) community workshops to prepare and evaluate the optimized products. Through their involvement with this project, women acquire nutrition knowledge and skills and have the opportunity to generate income for themselves and their households.