Posho is one of the reasons Africans have remained dull
EVER since Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya criticised maize as a staple food in schools, several people have raised dust about his statement. Head teachers claim that change of menu will mean a hike in school fees. Other people have doubted Prof. Bukenya’s nutritional education.
By Linda Nabusayi Wamboka
EVER since Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya criticised maize as a staple food in schools, several people have raised dust about his statement. Head teachers claim that change of menu will mean a hike in school fees. Other people have doubted Prof. Bukenya’s nutritional education.
I am neither a nutritionist nor a head teacher, but a parent whose children feed on posho and beans daily in school.
And, as someone who has been through school, it is difficult for me to doubt a medical professor’s word, especially about nutritional needs.
Parents have deliberately abandoned their children to a worthless way of life in terms of diet. It is easier to argue about how we have been feeding on maize for ages and how maize is very useful, than to question why, in all these years, Uganda and Africa in general, still depends on 80% manual labour for agriculture, with no brains to add value to what we produce.
Most Africans have weak brains because of what they eat. Since we believe that what we eat has brought us this far, we may not see anything wrong with it. We only believe it is the people who criticise it who have a problem.
I know many people do not eat posho in their homes in the same proportions their children do at school. Why, then, do we deny the fact that our children are fed poorly in schools, where we pay so dearly.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says hunger and malnutrition remain some of the most devastating problems facing the majority of the world’s poor.
Nearly 30% of humanity is suffering from one or more forms of malnutrition, disability, mental and physical retardation. This in turn retards national socio-economic development.
About 60% of the 10.9 million children under five years in the developing world every year die of malnutrition. Iodine deficiency, the greatest single preventable cause of brain damage and mental retardation, affects more than 700 million people, most of them in developing countries.
Over 2,000 million people suffer from iron deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency remains the single greatest preventable cause of childhood blindness.
Intrauterine growth retardation, resulting in low birth weight and mental retardation affects 30 million babies annually.
Need we, then, question Prof. Bukenya’s concerns about the nutritional needs of our children? However, if people want to know why he is using rice as the best tool, there is evidence.
Dr Salon Florentino, a public health and nutrition specialist, says rice has the highest food value compared to other cereals.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research micronutrient project is working to improve human nutrition through staple foods including wheat, rice, maize, cassava and beans, by boosting their iron, zinc, Vitamin A and iodine content. So far, they have described rice as a food with a lot of minerals and vitamins.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), maize has three uses: It is a human food, it is feed for livestock, and it is raw material for industry. In developed countries more than 60% of the maize produced is used in poultry and animal feeds.
In recent years, even in developing countries where maize is grown as a staple food, most of it has been used as an ingredient in animal feeds.
James Mulwana, a dairy farmer, feeds his cows on maize to increase milk yields.
In 2004, FAO celebrated the International year of rice under the theme, “Rice is lifeâ€. According to FAO, rice is the predominant staple food in 34 countries worldwide and provides 20% of the world’s dietary energy supply, while wheat supplies 19% and maize 5%.
The general feeling here is that rice is for the rich only. The poor can, if they are lucky, taste it only on festive days. The difference between the cost of rice and posho could be as little as sh200. Rice is quicker and easier to cook, making it cheaper in terms of time and fuel.
If school farms included rice in their agricultural activities, they would complement the school diet and lower food costs.
Instead of criticising Prof. Bukenya’s advice, why don’t we find alternatives to improve our children’s nutrition. We do not have to feed them poorly just because that is the way our parents fed us. They need to think and plan better, because they hold the future of this nation.
The writer is the press secretary to the vice president
EVER since Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya criticised maize as a staple food in schools, several people have raised dust about his statement. Head teachers claim that change of menu will mean a hike in school fees. Other people have doubted Prof. Bukenya’s nutritional education.
I am neither a nutritionist nor a head teacher, but a parent whose children feed on posho and beans daily in school.
And, as someone who has been through school, it is difficult for me to doubt a medical professor’s word, especially about nutritional needs.
Parents have deliberately abandoned their children to a worthless way of life in terms of diet. It is easier to argue about how we have been feeding on maize for ages and how maize is very useful, than to question why, in all these years, Uganda and Africa in general, still depends on 80% manual labour for agriculture, with no brains to add value to what we produce.
Most Africans have weak brains because of what they eat. Since we believe that what we eat has brought us this far, we may not see anything wrong with it. We only believe it is the people who criticise it who have a problem.
I know many people do not eat posho in their homes in the same proportions their children do at school. Why, then, do we deny the fact that our children are fed poorly in schools, where we pay so dearly.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says hunger and malnutrition remain some of the most devastating problems facing the majority of the world’s poor.
Nearly 30% of humanity is suffering from one or more forms of malnutrition, disability, mental and physical retardation. This in turn retards national socio-economic development.
About 60% of the 10.9 million children under five years in the developing world every year die of malnutrition. Iodine deficiency, the greatest single preventable cause of brain damage and mental retardation, affects more than 700 million people, most of them in developing countries.
Over 2,000 million people suffer from iron deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency remains the single greatest preventable cause of childhood blindness.
Intrauterine growth retardation, resulting in low birth weight and mental retardation affects 30 million babies annually.
Need we, then, question Prof. Bukenya’s concerns about the nutritional needs of our children? However, if people want to know why he is using rice as the best tool, there is evidence.
Dr Salon Florentino, a public health and nutrition specialist, says rice has the highest food value compared to other cereals.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research micronutrient project is working to improve human nutrition through staple foods including wheat, rice, maize, cassava and beans, by boosting their iron, zinc, Vitamin A and iodine content. So far, they have described rice as a food with a lot of minerals and vitamins.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), maize has three uses: It is a human food, it is feed for livestock, and it is raw material for industry. In developed countries more than 60% of the maize produced is used in poultry and animal feeds.
In recent years, even in developing countries where maize is grown as a staple food, most of it has been used as an ingredient in animal feeds.
James Mulwana, a dairy farmer, feeds his cows on maize to increase milk yields.
In 2004, FAO celebrated the International year of rice under the theme, “Rice is lifeâ€. According to FAO, rice is the predominant staple food in 34 countries worldwide and provides 20% of the world’s dietary energy supply, while wheat supplies 19% and maize 5%.
The general feeling here is that rice is for the rich only. The poor can, if they are lucky, taste it only on festive days. The difference between the cost of rice and posho could be as little as sh200. Rice is quicker and easier to cook, making it cheaper in terms of time and fuel.
If school farms included rice in their agricultural activities, they would complement the school diet and lower food costs.
Instead of criticising Prof. Bukenya’s advice, why don’t we find alternatives to improve our children’s nutrition. We do not have to feed them poorly just because that is the way our parents fed us. They need to think and plan better, because they hold the future of this nation.
The writer is the press secretary to the vice president