By Jones Anlimah
Africa Catalysing Action for Nutrition (AfriCan), has held a three-day capacity building workshop for media personnel in the Volta region to empower journalists to champion the cause of nutrition.
Held under the banner of its “Good Nutrition Starts with Me” Youth Initiative, the workshop equipped participants with the necessary tools to drive impactful change through compelling storytelling.
The three-day capacity training held under the banner of AfriCan’s “Good Nutrition Starts with Me” Youth Initiative brought together various media professionals from the Volta region. The initiative underscores the pivotal role the media can play in shaping public perceptions and driving policy changes regarding nutrition.
The Trustee and Director of Africa Catalysing Action for Nutrition (AfriCan), Professor Francis Zotor, emphasised the importance of media engagement in fostering a culture of good nutrition. “It is our hope that we can create a nutrition-literate community among ourselves with the knowledge and skills to improve our nutrition situation individually and collectively,” he said.
He added, “So we want to work with traditional and non-traditional partners so that we can inform, educate and advocate as well as prescribe action and accountability for nutrition outcomes at the individual, household and community levels.”
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Professor Lydia Aziato, expressed support for AfriCan’s initiative and commended the collaboration between academia and organisations like AfriCan to address critical health issues such as malnutrition.
She also highlighted the importance of education and capacity building in driving positive change and charged participants to use the knowledge acquired to help drive change, especially on misconceptions about nutrition.
“We all know that in our country, there are a lot of misconceptions about nutrition on babies, children and the elderly, and when you are growing, you are exposed to a lot of misconceptions. The media has a very important role to educate so that misconceptions will be reducedd,” Professor Aziato noted.
Reflecting on the transformative and knowledge acquired during the workshop, some participants expressed their enthusiasm to advance nutrition advocacy.
“As journalists, we have a responsibility to shed light on critical issues affecting our communities. This workshop has equipped me with invaluable skills to amplify the voices of those impacted by malnutrition and drive positive change,” Ms Ivy Setordjie, a journalist told GBConline.
Africa Catalysing Action for Nutrition (AfriCan) is a group of professional individuals bound by a common mission to promote healthy and well-nourished Africa.
