A research brief by colleagues at Egerton University, Kenya Agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity for improved nutritional status of mothers and children in Rongai sub-county, Nakuru is now available. The brief summarises the findings of surveys where the association between agrobiodiversity (the variety of all forms of life directly relevant to agriculture, including crop varieties and animal species) and diet diversity for children 6–23 months old and their mothers or caregivers were determined. We make recommendations on how the situation could be improved.
Country focus
The initial focus countries include Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Bangladesh
Our partner in Bangladesh is the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). ICDDR,B plays a lead role in Transform Nutrition's research globally and hosts one of the two joint research directors, Shams El Arifeen. ICDDR,B is also responsible for research uptake in Bangladesh. Find out about the nutrition situation in Bangladesh.
India
Three consortium members work together under the Transfor Nutrition banner in India. These are Public Health Foundation of India, Save the Children India and theInternational Policy Food Research Institute. PHFI is the lead organisation for Transform Nutrition in India. Find out about the nutrition situation in India.
Ethiopia
Save the Children Ethiopia is responsible for research uptake in Ethiopia. The International Food Policy Research Institute provides the research lead role. Co-joint director of Transform Nutrition, John Hoddinott, with his extensive experience in food security in Ethiopia, is responsible for research. Find out about the nutrition situation in Ethiopia.
Kenya
Find out about the nutrition situation in Kenya.
A malnutrition mobile app randomised trial in Wajir, Kenya
A mobile health application developed to help with Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) which enables health workers and volunteers to identify and initiate treatment for children with acute malnutrition before they become seriously ill,was evaluated in 40 health facilities in Wajir Kenya. A research brief is now available Preliminary findings from a malnutrition mobile app randomised trial in Wajir, Kenya which summarises the findings.
This Is How Aid Saves Lives
Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme
A new Transform Nutrition discussion paper is now out The impact of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme on the nutritional status of children: 2008–2012. Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is a large-scale social protection intervention aimed at improving food security and stabilizing asset levels. In this paper, we examine the impact of the PSNP on children’s nutritional status over the period 2008–2012 and these findings, along with work by other researchers, have informed revisions to the PSNP.
A mobile health application to manage acute malnutrition
Community based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) is a proven high-impact and cost-effective approach in the treatment of acute malnutrition in developing countries. However, success is limited if treatment protocols are not followed, record keeping and data management is poor and reliable data is not available in time for decision makers.
There is strong evidence that mobile device based (mHealth) applications can improve frontline health workers’ ability to apply CMAM treatment protocols more effectively and to improve the provision of supply chain management. A new Transform Nutrition working paper is now available A mobile health application to manage acute malnutrition Lessons from developing and piloting the app in five countries which we hope will inform future mobile health projects.
A mobile app to manage acute malnutrition
A new Transform Nutrition research brief A mobile app to manage acute malnutrition is now available. In this brief programme staff in Niger, Chad, Mali, Kenya and Afghanistan discuss the challenges they faced adapting a mobile health app and rolling it out in some of the most remote, hard to reach health facilities in the world and make valuable recommendations for other mobile health application developments .
Social accountability initiatives in health and nutrition: lessons from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
In SouthAsia, social accountability practitioners have been addressing failures in the ‘standard’ health and nutrition model. What can we learn from them? New research report Social accountability initiatives in health and nutrition: lessons from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh from Transform Nutrition and the Institute of Development Studies.
Transforming the Food and Nutrition Landscape in Assam
by Neha Raykar, Public Health Foundation of India
Recently, I attended a policy seminar titled ‘Transforming Food and Nutrition Landscape in Assam’ on 29th March 2017 in Guwahati, Assam. The dialogue was co-organized by the Inter-Agency Group, Assam and Coalition for Food & Nutrition Security and was attended by about 50 stakeholders comprising senior policymakers from Government of Assam and Government of India, as well as representatives from local NGOs, educational institutes, and bilateral agencies.
The purpose of the seminar [Read more…]
Challenging dominance: identity politics in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Programme, India
By Shilpa Deshpande, PhD Candidate, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
Ten years before I joined the ICDS as an anganwadi worker, my cousin mother-in-law used to work here. At that time, the division of the village population between anganwadi workers was such that lower caste households were served by my mother-in-law whereas only the higher caste households were served by Lata madam, this was her rule….so… my mother-in-law’s field area was scattered across the village. Then when I joined, Lata madam said that just like my mother-in-law I should be given the lower caste communities. I refused…. I said give me any part of the village but I want half and I want it along a continuous line then only will I be able to work. This led to a fight, which continued for several days.
Meena, Anganwadi worker [Read more…]
Transform Nutrition Symposium: Evidence from East Africa
From 2011-2017 Transform Nutrition has been strengthening the content and use of nutrition-relevant evidence, to accelerate the reduction of undernutrition. On 8 June Transform Nutrition is hosting a regional meeting Using evidence to inspire action in East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya.
This regional meeting will present experiential learning from other African and South Asian countries on key drivers to improve nutrition status, along with evidence on work works in nutrition-sensitive interventions, to policymakers from Kenya and international donors and NGOs in the East Africa region. It aims to inform and equip them to address the particular challenges of tackling child undernutrition in their current contexts. See agenda and press release.
