Final report : NCP nutrition communication project -- nutrition education and social marketing field support project

NCP staff and partners carried out a range of notable field, research, and policy activities and worked on a number of issues central to improving nutrition behavior. Quantitative achievements included: 5 large-scale integrated communication field programs (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Honduras, and Peru); TA to more than 25 countries; 14 formative research studies; capacity-building of information, education, and communication (IEC) teams in 8 countries; training of more than 4,000 individuals; 11 comprehensive needs assessments; regional conferences and workshops; more than a dozen special reports for policymakers; and 7 evaluation studies. Qualitative achievements included, inter alia, the following. The project helped establish the importance of ethnographic and market research and the role of gender in food production and family food resource allocation. It also made helped standardize methodologies for various nutrition interventions and developed syntheses of lessons learned regarding nutrition program development. Further, the project developed and strengthened degree and training courses at regional institutions, developed an interactive computer model (PROFILES) for use by nutrition policymakers, developed nutrition advocacy programs, and tested media channels (traditional village drama in West Africa and giving mothers stickers on nutrition issues were found particularly effective). Finally, the project developed a breastfeeding reference manual, the first of its kind for low-literacy community level counselors, and explored ways to link nutrition to politically stronger child survival interventions, such as oral rehydration therapy (ORT). Results of the evaluation suggest that it is possible to change more than initially thought, and even to have an impact on child growth. Behaviors were changed in all five countries where NCP conducted long-term field interventions. In Honduras, exclusive breastfeeding during the first month of life rose 46% as the result of a national campaign; in Niger, women"s consumption of vitamin A-rich foods increased by 58%; and in Peru, exclusive breastfeeding among those exposed to the educational effort rose to 52% at 12 weeks, compared with 8% at the control site. In Burkina Faso, the number of children receiving timely introduction of solid foods rose 20%, and in Mali, the prevalence of low weight-for-age was reduced 26%. Gains occurred in Latin America as well as some of the poorest countries in West Africa with weak infrastructure and inexperienced implementing agencies. Gains were achieved in national Ministry of Health programs as well as small NGO-operated ones. Includes numerous lessons about nutrition behavior and social marketing, structuring nutrition interventions, capacity building, formative research and strategy design, media mix, community outreach, health worker-client integration, print materials, radio, monitoring, TA, and evaluation.