New Nutrition Knowledge Bank gives Africans and Asians direct access to expert nutritional advice on their mobile phones

A new open-access Nutrition Knowledge Bank has been created as part of a GSMA mNutrition initiative to help tackle malnutrition in Africa and Asia. The information will be shared through text messages, voice messages and factsheets. The project aims to reach 3 million people in 12 developing countries. 

Malnutrition is believed to be one of the main plagues in developing countries although it being a problem that can be tackled through information and knowledge dissemination. In the whole world, one out of three people suffer from some form of malnutrition. Poor health is just one of the consequences of malnutrition, as poor education and employment can also be regarded as an effect of it.

An expert consortium - BMJ, CABI, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Oxfam International - is partnering with local organizations to produce useful and reliable nutritional, agricultural and health information, which is then distributed through mobile phone networks in each country.

The Nutrition Knowledge Bank Platform Interface

The Nutritional Bank is a platform where each one can search a topic sorted by country (Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) and domain (Crop production, Plant protection, Livestock, Health, Food) and access relevant nutritional information in their own language. More content will be uploaded over time, as nutritional infomation will grow thanks to the work of the partners in all the different countries.

Quick facts about the Nutrition Knowledge Bank

• The Nutrition Knowledge Bank is an open-access source of nutrition-related content in the form of factsheets and mobile messages.
• Factsheets are written in English, messages are written and available in a number of local languages and English.
• The Nutrition Knowledge Bank is available to all interested parties; with the particular aim of being useful to mobile network operators who wish to repurpose content for mobile services.
• Content can be viewed and/or downloaded, however before downloading content you will be asked to register so that we can continue to improve the Nutrition Knowledge Bank in relation to your specific needs and uses of the portal and content.
• The Nutrition Knowledge bank is a product of the GSMA mNutrition Initiative funded with UK aid from the UK government.

Read the CABI article here

Check out the Nutrition Knowledge Bank here