As part of the project "Rehabilitation and strengthening of the livelihoods of farming households affected by the passage of Matthew" 440 community leaders of South and South-East benefit since last October and throughout the month of November 2017, from training sessions on good agricultural and nutritional practices.

This Project put in place by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organization "Alianza por la Solidaridad" together with the Ministry of Agriculture is financed by Humanitarian Aid Operations to the tune of € 2.5 million to strengthen the capacity of Community Leaders in the communes of Bainet, Côtes-de-Fer, Chardonnières and Port-à-Piment in the field of nutrition and food hygiene, through theoretical and practical training sessions, as well as participatory cooking demonstrations.

These training sessions target 440 "leaders" of peasant associations and women's groups (pregnant women, nursing mothers, among others). They are carried out at the level of all communal sections of the 4 communes mentioned: each trained Community Leader is committed to replicate the knowledge acquired to 20 people in his community, in order to reach all the beneficiaries of these training courses, that is 8,800 people.

The contents of the trainings have been adapted to the needs of the local communities. They focus on breastfeeding and complementary feeding; respect for a balanced diet based on the Haitian food pyramid with the three food groups (manufacturers, protectors, energy); food hygiene; cooking food; feeding vulnerable groups (small children, pregnant women) in emergency situations; the importance of fruits and vegetables, hand washing, water treatment and family planning.

Each training session lasts 3 days, with 25 community leaders per communal section, 80% of whom are women. The sessions are closed by a culinary demonstration session and a situation of leaders, to assess their capacity and identify gaps to be filled for the performing of replication sessions.

IC/ S/ iciHaiti