Quarterly Performance Report – Year 2 Quarter 1: Projet USAID Nutrition et Hygiène à Sikasso

The project aims to improve the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women and children under two years of age in six health districts of Sikasso Region. The project's goal is to reach at least 13,000 pregnant and lactating women and 53,000 children under two years of age with its interventions. The project's approach is grounded in community mobilization and social and behavior change. It works through community structures to facilitate change and promote specific behaviors, engaging community members in Community Led Total Sanitation, committees for action on nutrition, Farmer Field Schools (FFS), and Family Farmer Management Systems (FFMSy). The project also supports the Malian Ministry of Health and ASACO in addressing acute malnutrition through CMAM and encouraging interpersonal communication (IPC) through client-patient exchanges as a means of instigating the adoption of recommended behaviors. During the first quarter of the second year, several key activities occurred, including the initial mobilization of 64 communities, a workshop to support the development of the social and behavior change strategy, the launching of farmer field schools, and the distribution of the national protocol to support CMAM to participating health facilities. The project also conducted a baseline survey to assess the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women and children under two years of age in the project area. The project's three strategic objectives are: SO1, to increase the adoption of optimal behaviors to support nutrition, health, sanitation, and hygiene; SO2, to increase the production and accessibility of nutrient-rich foods; and SO3, to improve the delivery of nutrition services to address acute malnutrition. The project's approach is designed to address the high rates of malnutrition in Sikasso Region, which is considered to be Mali's breadbasket and a trade center. The project's planned activities for the reporting period included cross-cutting activities, such as the dissemination of baseline results and phase 1 of formative research, and the participatory development of a social and behavior change strategy. The project also planned to conduct a workshop to review community capacity mapping exercise and refine the community-mobilization strategy, and to develop SBCC materials and facilitation curricula. The project achieved several milestones during the first quarter of the second year, including the mobilization of 64 communities, the development of a social and behavior change strategy, and the launching of farmer field schools. The project also conducted a baseline survey to assess the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women and children under two years of age in the project area. The project's achievements during the first quarter of the second year demonstrate its commitment to improving the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women and children under two years of age in Sikasso Region. The project's approach, which is grounded in community mobilization and social and behavior change, is designed to address the high rates of malnutrition in the region and to promote the adoption of optimal behaviors to support nutrition, health, sanitation, and hygiene. The project's next steps include the implementation of community action plans, the facilitation of the implementation of 64 community action plans, and the orientation/training of action groups for nutrition. The project also plans to trigger 70 communities in CLTS and to conduct a value chain analysis for three products (groundnuts, beans, and soya). The project's overall goal is to reach at least 13,000 pregnant and lactating women and 53,000 children under two years of age with its interventions.