In the past few weeks, we presented the conditions of the Khelcom Centre in Joal, where fish is processed and transformed. It is a place where fish is exposed on the ground, and during rainy seasons, it is reached by contaminated water mixed with human and animal waste.
These conditions are absolutely incompatible with fish processing, which is the main economic product of the area—healthy and nutritious fish that can truly provide the right caloric and nutritional intake for the population.
For this reason, in recent weeks, NutriAid, through the Sardinegal project, has been strongly committed to training the centre's staff in the Wolof language. This aims to facilitate understanding, especially involving the women who do the processing, as they are the main workers at the centre.
In particular, the trainings emphasized some simple rules that can make a big difference in reducing product contamination:
-Do not throw waste on the ground, especially in the drainage channel (which has just been cleaned), as this blocks water flow and causes flooding during the rainy season
-Do not throw organic waste on the ground because it attracts animals
-Animals must be kept outside the centre, especially goats, donkeys, and dogs. Currently, animals roam freely, attracted by the organic waste left on the ground and their droppings contaminate the processed fish
These small precautions significantly improve the quality of the processed product and, consequently, what people eat, enhancing their nutritional status.
The project is funded by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers with the 8x1000 Irpef quota.
