News and Features
USAID Advancing Nutrition will participate in the ANH Academy Week Learning Labs and Research Conference.
Prioritizing behaviors is essential for high-quality SBC programming. Programs that try to change many behaviors are unlikely to achieve quality because their attention is spread thinly across many participants and activities, and they are less likely to sustain change.
Prioritization enables programs to—
After reviewing existing data, decide if formative research is needed to understand what people are willing and able to do in their context, who they need to support them in these actions, and how, using local solutions.
Use worksheet 2.1 and worksheet 2.2 to work through the steps below.
Abeshu, M. A., A. Lelisa, and B. Geleta. 2016. “Complementary Feeding: Review of Recommendations, Feeding Practices, and Adequacy of Homemade Complementary Food Preparations in Developing Countries: Lessons from Ethiopia.” Frontiers in Nutrition 3:41. doi:10.3389/fnut.2016.00041.
Dewey, K.G., and B.S. Vitta. 2013. “Strategies for Ensuring Adequate Nutrient Intake for Infants and Young Children during the Period of Complementary Feeding.” Insight Alive & Thrive Technical Brief, Issue 7. Washington, D.C.: Alive & Thrive.
Analyze your formative research findings to prepare—
a report that answers your research questions and describes why they are meaningful in the context
a strategy to improve complementary feeding, which will be based on the findings in the report.
The Using Research to Design an SBC Strategy tool is a guide for the steps below.
To make the SBC strategy a reality and bring the planned activities to communities, a work plan, detailed activity plans, and a MEL plan are useful to ensure that all elements are in place and well-coordinated.
The MEL plan guides how to track progress and use data to make adjustments as needed. It also makes sure you have the right systems in place early for ultimately measuring the success of your program.
USAID Nutrition Resource Hub
This journal article evaluated home fortification approaches for preventing maternal and child undernutrition within a community-based health program. Home fortification with small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements, but not micronutrient powder, during the first 1,000 days improved child linear growth and head size in rural Bangladesh.
Quality implementation and management of SBC for complementary feeding means following the implementation plan. Include a mechanism for ensuring implementation quality, such as an implementation tracker, to help you flag when activities are not happening so that adjustments can be made. Additional tips and pitfalls to avoid during implementation include are highlighted in the SBC Do’s and Don’ts tool.
Use your MEL plan and USAID Advancing Nutrition’s guide for evaluators to carry out the evaluation.
News and Features
USAID Advancing Nutrition hosted an in-person, three-day Training of Trainers to support project teams who are preparing to facilitate the Design Guide Workshop.