International nutrition communication service (INCS) consultant report for Congo

Special evaluation covers the period 1/80-9/83 and is based on site visits and interviews with USAID/C, other U.S., CARE/C, and Government of Congo (GOC) officials. While well-conceived and managed, the project has underestimated the effort needed for a complex educational campaign. Although CARE has trained 266 of 300 targeted animateurs and their supervisors, animateur training has been inadequate for a variety of reasons - e.g., the education levels of most animateurs, the complexity of the subject matter, the failure to use experienced GOC personnel as trainers, the course"s limited scope and its limited emphasis on the local milieu and on practical messages to deliver to the people, and differences among the various GOC units from which animateurs are drawn. Further, although a supervisory system has been put into place, specific terms of reference and divisions of responsibility have not been spelled out and no system of professional support established. Many supervisors have had little time for field supervision and some have had difficulty in getting authorization to supervise animateurs from GOC units other than their own. A more indepth baseline survey and a more imaginative approach would have resulted in a more suitable and cost-effective mix of media for disseminating nutrition and health information, i.e., less emphasis on posters and more on creating stories and airing radio broadcasts. Further, animateurs are unable to improvise on the well-organized educational guide provided them, while various factors have precluded food demonstrations, which have important educational potential. Nor was evidence seen of scales or systematic growth monitoring. Finally, the project library, although augmented, has been insufficiently used due to lack of a full-time librarian and of funds for editing educational materials, unsuitable physical accomodations, and limited publicity efforts. A second phase of the project, focusing on strengthening rather than expanding existing activities, is recommended; 38 specific recommendations address individual aspects.