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‘Move, Learn, Discover’: Olympic Day Tooke Run Links Sport, Nutrition in Fight Against Child Malnutrition, Dakar 2026 Bid
By Denise Namale
The Olympic Day Tooke Run set for June 20 in Bushenyi District is more than a race — it’s a national call to tackle child malnutrition and fuel Uganda’s next generation of Olympians, Rev. Prof. Florence Isabirye Muranga said at the press briefing in Kampala.The event, born from a strategic partnership between the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PIBID) and the Uganda Olympic Committee, carries the theme “Move, Learn, Discover with Nutrition-Care.”
“This is not merely a slogan. It is a call to action,” said Prof. Muranga, Director General of PIBID/BIRDC and Nutrition Ambassador for Uganda Olympics and Commonwealth Games. “We move through sport, health and community engagement. We learn by embracing the science of nutrition and we discover the power of Uganda’s own resources to fuel athletes, nurture children and strengthen communities.”
Four Goals, One Race.
The Tooke Run is built around four objectives: sponsoring Ugandan athletes to the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, raising nutritional support for vulnerable children in the weaning phase, promoting healthy lifestyles using TOOKE as a sustainable energy source and creating global market links for East Africa’s highland green banana.
“Without proper nutrition, peak performance is not sustainable,” Muranga told reporters, noting that intense training causes micro-tears in muscles that require high-quality nutrition to repair. “Through a tailored nutritional programme therefore, athletes can achieve and maintain their ideal body composition, maximising their power-to-weight ratio, agility and overall mechanical efficiency.”
From Track to Weaning Bowl
The campaign stretches beyond elite sport. Muranga flagged malnutrition as “a critical public health challenge in Uganda,” citing 2024 WHO/UNICEF data showing stunting at 25–29% and anemia affecting half of children under five.“Malnutrition at the weaning stage remains one of the greatest barriers to good health, education and athletic development,” she said. “Today’s well-nourished child is tomorrow’s champion. My role encompasses ensuring that every weaning child in Uganda has access to affordable, highly nutritious foods so that they can one day become the winning sportsmen and women of the future.”
TOOKE: Banana to the World
At the center of the initiative is TOOKE-instant and raw flour made from East African highland green banana, developed by BIRDC. The gluten-free flour is rich in resistant starch and potassium, and provides “sustained, crash-free energy,” according to Muranga.
“Through demand-driven Research & Development, PIBID/BIRDC has successfully bridged this gap, transforming the fresh green banana into convenient, premium, export-ready industrial commodities,” she said. On March 14, 2026, UOC and Commonwealth Games Uganda signed a three-year deal designating TOOKE as the official nutrition partner.
UGX 4.47 Billion Call to Action.
For its inception year, organizers are mobilizing UGX 4.47 billion — with UGX 2.5 billion earmarked for the “nutritional legacy” and UGX 1.97 billion dedicated to the Olympic Day Tooke Run.“Your contribution therefore, is not just funding an event,” Muranga said. “It is investing in: a healthier nation, a stronger sports sector and a more resilient agricultural economy.”
The June 20 run in Bushenyi “is a celebration of health, innovation and national pride,” she added. “Sport and nutrition, when combined, become powerful tools for national transformation.”
