DEPARTMENT: AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
COURSE CODE: AED 713
COURSE TITLE: EXTENSION ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION
BY
CHUKWUEMEKA A. NKWOCHA
QUESTION: SET UP AN EXTENSION PROGRAME ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE NUTRITION OF A RURAL SETTING, GOING THROUGH THE BASIC PROCESSES OF ADMINISTRATION.
INTRODUCTION
Good nutrition is very essential for a healthy living, and to achieve that, we have to eat balanced diet all the time. A balanced diet is defined as any combination of food that contains the right proportions of all the essential food nutrients.
It is a truism that most people in our world today, especially in Africa, overlook the idea of eating a balanced diet hence high rate of malnutrition. It is also believed that the people living in the rural areas are usually malnourished because of poor nutrition resulting from poor eating habits. It is therefore appropriate to preach the gospel of imbibing good eating habits, eating balanced diet, and encouraging breastfeeding in nursing mothers through the creation of awareness campaigns, using various media of information dissemination like radio and TV programs, and distributing easy to read pamphlets on good nutrition to the literate ones. The "Four Food Group" Plan of yesteryears implied that foods in the Meat, Dairy, Breads and Vegetable Fruit groups were equal in their contribution to a healthy diet. Today, researchers show that diets rich in complex carbohydrates and low in saturated fats may reduce our risk of chronic disease. Health professionals designed the "Food Pyramid" guide to translate these recommendations into a food plan for daily living.
OBJECTIVES: at the end of the sensitization programme on how to improve the nutrition of the rural people, they should be able to;
1) Know the right combination of food to form a balanced diet, 2) Develop good eating habits, 3) Set up small fruits and