permagardens, an effort to reduce food insecurity and the associated micronutrient deficiencies and undernutrition. The PEMTs also facilitated community-based social and behavior change communication workshops aimed at narrowing, reframing, and eliminating food taboos, particularly applied to women and children. The project provided training to heads of households, community leaders, village health teams, and small-scale farmers in the form of training of trainers (TOTs), in addition to on-site training. The training manual was developed by CenRID with consultation from the community leaders. Sessions on healthy eating habits and optimal feeding practices focused on food classification, food myths and misconceptions, nutrients in food, balanced meal preparation using yields from permagardens, malnutrition and its prevention, and infant nutritional needs, among others.
The third and final step involved working together to ensure the success and sustainability of the project and its intended outcomes, respectively. With support from the CenRID staff, the PEMTs, small-scale farmers, and the community members, including the targeted households, continue to work together to ensure the maintenance of the permagardens, adhere to the recommendations to prevent infant and child malnutrition, and promote behaviors that break the cycles of disease transmissions.