PROFILE

My goal as a nutritionist is to use my vast knowledge, experience and exposure to influence decisions and policies that impact on the nutrition, health and well-being of individuals and communities, both in Kenya and beyond. My passion for nutrition work was inspired by the experience I got from working with Tanzania Food and Nutrition Center (TFNC), immediately after completion of my first degree in Bachelors of Education Home Economics from Nairobi University.I had the opportunity of working on United Nation (UN) agencies sponsored nutrition programs in the communities that were socially and economically disadvantaged. That was when I realized that nutrition and health issues are key to any country’s development strategies and must be addressed as such. I was privileged therefore to participate in and even coordinate many Policy forums that brought together key government ministries to come up with both developmental and training policies and strategies that would address nutrition and health related problems of all people.

This culminated in formulation of donor funded community-based projects. One of the key strategies employed was the creation of multidisciplinary nutrition committees from the national level all the way to the grassroots under the leadership of TFNC staff. Through this effort, sensitization workshops and seminars were held for all cadres of people on the role of nutrition and health in development. This is what now spearheaded the formulation of the government policy on Food and Nutrition, which would also include strengthening of pre-service curriculum for service providers in key sectors and also organize in-service training for those already on the job. I was involved in nutrition research, project planning and community project planning, implementation and evaluation. The findings from our fieldwork were presented to the permanent secretaries of the key government ministries. At this point is when I realized that to be more effective I needed more knowledge in nutrition. I was lucky to get an Australian scholarship in 1981 to study a master’s degree in community health and nutrition at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. While there I undertook a field study in the Philippines under the supervision of the Nutrition Center in Manila. I had the opportunity of getting exposure to nutrition and health problems in south-east Asia, which are basically similar to those in Africa. This motivated me to participate even more in policy issues when I got back, which latter led to the food and nutrition policy for Tanzania and a school feeding and health policy.

I latter joined Egerton University, which specialized in agricultural sciences as a lecturer in Foods and Nutrition, where I taught undergraduate students in the department and also an introductory course in foods and nutrition to all first year students from all the disciplines of agriculture. These were students who would graduate as agricultural extension officers in various specializations and I thought an induction into nutrition could not have been more appropriate since they were going to be in direct contact with farmers. I was also involved in research, which helped me to participate in many workshops and conferences nationally and internationally. I latter got an assistantship with Florida State University in the USA where I pursued a doctoral degree in nutrition. While there I worked both as a graduate teacher and research assistant. This again gave me the opportunity to get exposure on not just teaching skills and the curriculum used abroad, but the research provided me with the experience of nutrition and health problems of developing countries. I learned how to write winning proposals, research and data analysis skills. I was also able to participate in various workshops and conferences. I got involved in community work through the student organizations and by being a member of other nutrition organizations.

I am currently working as a senior lecturer at Kenyatta University, department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics. Amongst my many other responsibilities apart from teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, is the supervision of MSc. and PhD. students for our department and other departments with nutrition and health related programs such as public health, sports nutrition, early childhood education and hospitality. I am a researcher, and I have worked in collaboration with many international organizations such as UNICEF, WHO, WFP, FAO, MDG Center, ICRAF, IPGRI, TSBF-CIAT, IDRC, UNILEVER, BIDCO, WISHH-USAID and local organizations such as ROP, CCF, Help-Age Kenya, among others, as well as government ministries both as a researcher and a consultant. I am an executive member of the Kenya coalition for Nutrition Action and a patron of the Kenyatta University Nutrition Club. I like attending as many workshops and conferences as I can, possibly to gather more knowledge and update myself on current nutrition and health matters, as I network with other professionals. This has also given me the opportunity to disseminate findings from the various researches that I have been involved in. I am a member of various national committees that deal with various aspects of nutrition and health such as micronutrients, nutrition and HIV/AIDS, welfare of the elderly, school feeding and health issues and maternal and child nutrition and health.

All these experiences have brought me to the realization that, for any country to make any significant stride in development, they must first address the basic needs of their people such as access to adequate food, clean water, decent shelter, education and health services. Addressing the issue of equitable access to all these key resources by all is equally important. My dream therefore is to provide leadership in coming up with a policy framework that would maximize on the use of available local resources in uplifting the standards of living for all people, as we work towards achieving the millennium development goals by 2015.

Awareness of Traditional East African Food Habits as a Strategy for Health Advancement: Completion of a PhD project

Dr. Verena Raschke

On the 20 th of February 2007, I successfully completed my Doctor of Natural Sciences degree (Dr. rer. Nat.) at the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria.

This PhD project culminated in the development of an online collection of traditional East African food habits (www.healthyeatingclub.org/Africa ), several publications, several articles in-press and in peer-review, and notable presentations delivered at the 18 thInternational congress of Nutrition (ICN) and the Initiative for the Development of the Indigenous Foods of Africa (IDIFA) Congress both held in South Africa in September 2005. The web-site, the first of its kind, now serves as an important research and educational tool for scientists and the general public interested in investigating traditional East African food habits. In addition, the web site may enhance the development of an online network of communication (i.e. a research forum), both within Africa and abroad, for the development of targeted and relevant collaborative research projects.

Raschke V, Olterdorf U, Elmadfa I, Wahlqvist M, Cheema B, Kouris-Blazos A. Content of a novel online collection of traditional east African food habits (1930s-1960s): Data collected by the Maz-Planck-Nutrition Research Unit, Bumbuli, Tanzania. Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 16:140-51, 2007