Learn more about our project through our comprehensive project leaflet
NICE_Project_Factsheet_27_February-2024_v03Sep2024Nutrition in City Ecosystems – Working for Healthier City Diets
Through our comprehensive NICE toolkit we are aiming to empower you as a dedicated city official in optimizing the urban food system of your city. The NICE toolkit encompasses a wide and growing range of resources mainly focusing on decision-taking and social behavior change.
To ensure accessibility and relevance, most tools are available in local languages and with respective instructions if needed, allowing to seamlessly integrate the resources into your specific contexts. Additionally, selected tools are offered in English to cater to a broader audience, facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration on an international scale.
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Small Grants Initiative
Through seed funding for innovative projects by local women and youth engaged in Bungoma’s and Busia’s food system, the dietary diversity of beneficiaries could be improved. Our success stories will surely inspire you how to replicate a similar initiative in your city or what simple innovations could boost your food production.
Small-Grants-Make-A-Big-Difference-Success-StoriesSocial Marketing Tools
Social marketing applies marketing theories and behavioral science to drive behavior change for societal benefit. Its aim is to promote behaviors such as healthy eating and it relies on research to understand people’s lives, desires, and concerns, then delivers tailored messages and services to address both individual desires and societal needs, such as improving nutrition outcomes and reducing poverty.
Smart food tips sessions are interactive group meetings for mothers to exchange feeding and food preparation advice, fostering confidence in affordable, nutritious meals with local ingredients. These gatherings aim to create a supportive community where mothers empower each other. The NICE project piloted two sessions, resulting in the co-creation of practical nutrition tips compiled into a booklet for distribution among participants, with regular updates to incorporate ongoing insights. These sessions are planned to be held bi-weekly within health centres and Early Childhood Development Centres. Other local venues and organizations to host these sessions will be identified in close collaboration with local Government Authorities.
Participatory cooking demonstrations aim to empower mothers with new food preparation skills, boosting their confidence in making affordable, nutritious meals with readily available ingredients. Mothers actively engage in selecting and preparing recipes, fostering community involvement. The NICE project has piloted two demonstrations, featuring recipes developed by the community, which are being introduced to health centers, Early Childhood Development Centers, and community kitchens. The project provides necessary support to ensure the success of these demonstrations which run weekly.
coming soon
Play-based learning allows children to explore and understand the world through inquiry, interaction, and problem-solving. Schools, as per the Food and Agriculture Organization, are optimal for promoting healthy eating habits, reaching numerous children and their families consistently. Children under six are pivotal for shaping lifelong nutritional behaviors, with adults in their social circles playing crucial roles. Experiential learning methods, like food-related games and sensory activities, are more engaging than traditional approaches. The NICE project developed a series of play-based learning tools, which are being pre-tested and will offer orientation sessions on play-based nutrition education for nutrition clubs, schools, and Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDs).
- Memory Game (Instructions: Kinyarwanda, English)
- Coloring Book (in Kinyarwanda, English version here)
- Activity Book (in Kinyarwanda, English version here)
- UN Food Systems Summit Brief: Secondary Cities as Catalysts for Nutritious Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (UN Food Systems Summit 2021 – Scientific Group, Apr2021)
- Nutrition as a driver and outcome of agroecology (Nature Food, 05Dec2022)
- Nutrition transition, double burden of malnutrition, and urbanization patterns in secondary cities of Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda (BMC Nutrition, 04Nov2023)
- The potential of digital tools to foster production, and thus availability, of healthy diets for city dwellers in secondary cities (E3S Web of Conferences, 21Aug2023; https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202341805001)
- Protocol of the NICE project: Protocol of a multi-sectoral development project to improve food and nutrition security of secondary city populations in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda (Frontiers in Public Health, 02Feb2023)
- Secondary Cities as Catalysts for Nutritious Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation, 02Jan2023, pp 305-316)
- Evaluating Double-Duty Actions in Rwanda’s Secondary Cities; Nutrients 2024, 16(13)
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- Agroecological Inherence of Coffee Agroecosystems and Their Impact on Sustainable Production (Book of Abstracts 1st Eastern Africa Agroecology Conference 2023, p 77)
- Farm resilience assessment using FAO’s adapted SHARP+ tool in Busia County, Kenya (Book of Abstracts 1st Eastern Africa Agroecology Conference 2023, p 38)
- Determinants for Purchasing, Preparing, Consuming, and Feeding Practices Among Women of Reproductive Age With Low Socioeconomic Status in Two Secondary Cities in Rwanda (Supplement to Current Developments in Nutrition, 2022, Volume 6)
- Facilitating agroecological transition in the NICE cities; Article in the Rural21 online edition of 20Oct2022
- Leveraging the potential of secondary cities; Article in the Rural21 online edition of 09Oct2023
- Strengthening smallholder farming by accelerating market development and innovation delivery; The East African, 16Jun2023
- The NICE project in Kenya builds climate resilience and sustainable food systems for a more secure future; The East African; 15Jun2024
- NICE Project reflects on its efforts to increase inclusivity for women in nutrition space as we mark International Women’s Day; The East African, 12Mar2024
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- SDC’s Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project gets underway; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Dec2021
- Facilitating agroecological transition in the NICE project; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Oct2022
- Nutrition clubs – experience from the NICE project in Bangladesh; SDC Health Newsletter °28 – Summer 2022
- Multisectoral food systems platforms in Rwanda; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Jun2022
- Reflecting on the Farmers survey pilot in Buisa, Kenya; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Mar2022
- SDC’s Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) Project gets underway; SDC Health Newsletter °26 – Winter 2022
- Advocating to close the micronutrient gap in secondary cities – NICE’s contribution to the Micronutrient Forum 2023; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Dec2023
- “Tuelimike” campaign raises awareness of healthy diets in Kenya; SDC Health Newsletter °32 – Autumn 2023
- Improving household diets and family income in Bangladesh; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Sep2023
- Small grants schemes to empower self-assistance ideas from women and youth groups contributing to improved production and healthier diets; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Jul2023
- NICE Peer Learning Week in Kenya: Urban food systems in action; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Mar2023
- Agroecological practices for leafy vegetables and sweet potatoes in Kenya; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Sep2024
- Health Sector Engagement in the Nutrition in City Ecosystem (NICE) Project – A Path to Nutritious Urban Living in Dinajpur and Rangpur, Bangladesh; SDC Health Newsletter Jun2024
- NICE Kenya holds a multi-sector food system platforms city exchange to share insights on food systems transformation; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter May2024
- Enhancing multi-sectoral and multi-level governance and policy impact on food systems in Bangladesh; SDC Agriculture and Food Systems Newsletter Mar2024
no articles yet