A higher education development project

Kenya, like many other African nations, is experiencing rapid physical activity and nutrition transitions. Although technologies such as computers, the internet, satellite TV, and cell phones took decades to permeate North American and European societies, all of these ‘electronic age’ items are becoming available very quickly in Kenya. With the increasing urbanisation and wider availability of processed foods, a lifestyle transition is taking place. Tastes and preferences of foods are changing rapidly. These transitions are leading to a serious public health crisis related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

KENFIN EDURA project targets and aims to:

• Enhance the capacity and strengthen the role of  higher education institutions in societal development in nutrition and physical activity to prevent the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
• Improve quality of higher education and research environment by sharing expertise and best practices in teaching and research
• Create a multi-disciplinary higher education curriculum with particular emphasis on diet/nutrition, physical activity and health promotion
• Enhance the research capacity in the field of healthy lifestyles and obesity in Kenya: learning research by doing principle,  involving  active research engagement activities.
• Develop an international, multi-disciplinary team of researchers including researchers from different career stages with combined expertise required to address the complex nature of NCDs in Kenya within the context of a country undergoing a nutrition and physical activity transition.

Partner Institutions

Kenyatta University

Departments of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Department of Sport and Leisure Management and the  Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics
Visit Kenyatta University web page

University of Helsinki (coordinating institution)

Department of Food and Environmental Sciences

Visit University of Helsinki web page

 

 

Haaga-Helia university of applied sciences

Department of Sport and Leisure Management
Visit Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences web page

 

 

HEI ICI (The Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument) project
webpage

The  KENFIN EDURA is a three year project ( 1.3.2017-30.3.2020) funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and coordinated by the Finnish Agency for Education (EDUFI), HEI ICI programme. Read more about the HEI ICI projects: http://www.cimo.fi/programmes/hei_ici