Cultivating health: A training on nutrition for seasonal working women in Egypt’s onion supply chain.

In Beni Suef, Egypt, FHI 360 - Alive & Thrive’s Happy Workforce Program, coordinated by CID Consulting and ofi’s spices business in the country, launched a training initiative to enhance nutrition among seasonal workers, specifically targeting women onion peelers. 

This initiative is contributing to ofi’s target for 750,000 households to receive enhanced nutrition or health support by 2030 under its sustainability strategy Choices for Change. 

Over two days, 20 women participated in interactive workshops on balanced diets, portion control, and breastfeeding practices, emphasizing the particular importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. The training was informed by a needs assessment that identified knowledge gaps and barriers to healthy practices among the participants. In parallel, a ‘train the trainer’ session took place in Cairo for 11 factory employees from ofi, empowering them to disseminate nutritional knowledge among colleagues. These trainings used local examples and culturally relevant materials to ensure effectiveness while challenging current unhealthy practices and nutritional concepts. To reinforce learning, the Happy Workforce Program is collaborating with partners to implement social behavior change communication activities, including online counseling, posters, and quizzes, to reaffirm messages and promote positive behavior change.