At the prestigious International Nutrition Olympiad (INO) 2025, Sustainable Agriculture Foundation Bangladesh (SAF Bangladesh) highlighted how simple, school-based actions can play a powerful role in building healthier food habits and safer food systems for the future.

Through its NICE Project, SAF Bangladesh demonstrated how schools can serve as the starting point for nutrition awareness, healthy eating, and youth-led change.

Schools as Centers of Nutrition Learning

At the event, SAF Bangladesh hosted an interactive stall that attracted students, teachers, parents, and policymakers. The stall demonstrated how everyday school activities can shape lifelong food habits. The NICE Project focuses on three main areas:

1. Nutrition Clubs: Learning from Each Other

Under the NICE Project, 40 Nutrition Clubs have been formed in 40 schools, each with 25 student members, creating a network of over 1,000 young nutrition advocates.

In these clubs, students:

• Discuss healthy food choices
• Learn about balanced diets
• Run peer-led awareness sessions
• Organize creative campaigns inside schools

Because students learn from each other, nutrition messages become more relatable and easier to follow in daily life.

2. School Gardening: From Soil to Plate

School gardens act as living classrooms. Students grow vegetables in their schoolyards and learn:

• How food is produced
• Why fresh, local food is healthier
• Agroecological farming practices

The project encourages minimal use of chemical pesticides and promotes safer methods like biocontrol, helping students understand how food can be grown in harmony with nature. These gardens not only supply fresh produce but also inspire respect for agriculture and the environment.

3. Behavior Change Communication: Making Healthy Food Fun

To move beyond lectures, the NICE Project uses hands-on and fun learning methods, such as:

• Play-based learning activities
• Cooking demonstrations
• Recipe and fun-based booklets

In these sessions, students prepare and explore healthier food options. They learn why these foods are better and how to prepare them, knowledge they often share with their families at home.

Panel Discussion: Youth at the Heart of Food System Change

SAF Bangladesh also took part in a key panel discussion titled:

“Youth-Led Innovation on Food System Transformation: Way Forward and Action Agenda.”

During the discussion, Moshfequel Alam Talukder, Project Manager of the NICE Project, emphasized that safer and healthier food systems must start with awareness. “Reducing food contamination begins with proper handling and awareness—from production to consumption. We also need to promote fresh, local foods instead of depending heavily on packaged items,” he explained. He highlighted that meaningful change requires strong collaboration between communities, schools, and government institutions.

The conversation became even more powerful when a mentor teacher from Novara High School, Dinajpur raised a concern shared by many: “Students are increasingly consuming packaged foods. How can we reduce food contamination and make healthy food more attractive? We need stronger government attention.” This question highlighted the urgent need for policy support alongside school-level action.

Panelists agreed on three key steps to move forward:

1. Nutrition Education in Schools
   Practical food and nutrition lessons should be part of the regular school curriculum.
2. Ongoing Awareness Campaigns
   Youth voices and creative communication should be used to promote healthy, local foods.
3. Stronger Food Safety Policies
   Governments must ensure safe food standards and make healthy choices easier for everyone.

A Clear Call to Action

One major outcome of INO 2025 was a clear policy recommendation:

Youth-led nutrition and agriculture activities should be formally included in the upcoming National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN3).

SAF Bangladesh, through the NICE Project, strongly advocates for recognizing schools as key drivers of food system transformation and young people as agents of change.

Looking Ahead

SAF Bangladesh remains committed to connecting community-level innovation with national policy, ensuring that the ideas, energy, and leadership of young people help build a healthier, safer, and more food-secure future for Bangladesh.