The Joint Programme addressed various interlinked areas related to malnutrition: awareness and knowledge building, therapeutic support, providing affordable alternative complementary food, and establishing an information system for better management and response to malnutrition. 

 

One of the project component “Piloting of community-based production of complementary food in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP regions” was based on a study undertaken by the programme which found that the quality of complementary food given to children lacked sufficient nutrients and calories to support the growth of children. The piloting activity was designed to develop and promote community based production of complementary food as an efficient means to address the existing multiple gaps in complementary feeding practice.

 

In this context, two different models for implementation of community based production of complementary food were designed: 

 

The first model (rural model): focuses on initiating and sustaining centralized production and distribution of complementary food through organizing community level groups. In this model women group are established and trained on production of complementary food (CF), based on training modules developed for this purpose.

The rural model requires contribution of grains (cereal/legumes) depending on the availability of the grain and the establishment of a child grain bank. The general processing takes place centrally at kebele level, by women group established from each sub kebele level. The distribution of the processed CF and collection of cereals takes place at the sub-kebele level or outreach site during the Growth Monitoring Promotion (GMP) session.

The women groups produce complementary food based on the skill they obtain from the training and food demonstrations organized by Health extension workers (HEWs). The rural model has introduced a bartering mechanism in which mothers of 6-23 months old children bring 2 kg of raw product (grains or legumes) and take home 3 kg of prepared complementary food (3:1 ratio grain to legume). The program provides any additional grains and/or legumes to make up for the difference between the bartered raw materials and final product weights, limited processing supplies (scale, pan for roasting, barrel to store the raw or produced product, etc.), firewood to roast the raw product, money to transport and mill the cleaned product, as well as plastic bags and scales to package the finished product. The community provides an area for the “child grain bank” and the processing of the raw materials. A subset of women from the community processes the food for the rest of the mothers. These women have been selected according to different criteria and their work is either voluntary or they are given limited financial support from the program, depending on the region.

The second model operates in a semi-urban: setting where the preparation of CF is performed by women groups from the semi urban areas established in consultation with District administration and other concerned institutions (CBOs, religious institutions and community representatives). The semi-urban model involved training a set of women to prepare the complementary food in a setting where it is expected that the population is large enough to allow the women to sell the product. The community provides a building to house the equipment (miller, sieve for cleaning the raw product, mixer to ensure complete mixture of the grain/legume product, sealer for bagged product, scales for ingredients and final product, and electrical access). The program provides the initial stock of grains and legumes, the equipment just described, as well as training on clean and proper handling and production of food items and use of the equipment. The women’s group provides the work and sells the product. The produced complementary food is available to the community based on the reasonable margin of profit in consultation and agreement made with the woreda administration and other concerned stakeholders.

Overall leadership of the piloting at District and Village level was assumed by the food security task force composed by district , Head of food security desk, Health office, Water office, Women association office. However, the day to day follow up was done by the women associations with close support of the respective woreda health offices.

The four regional universities (Hawassa, Mekelle, Haramya and Beherdar) have reported some problems with the program (both rural and urban models) including: difficulties obtaining legumes during bartering, high losses during production due to poor quality product, and uncertain safety of the food when prepared at the home due to uncertain timing between cooking and consumption. Advantages of the program include high interest in the product through the hands-on experience of participants, high interest in bartering 2 kg of raw product for 3 kg of prepared product, and reported preparation of more nutrient-dense complementary foods based on the education received.

This piloting activity was implemented in eight kebeles selected from four woredas of each Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP region.

This piloting activity is considered to be an innovation introduced by the programme with the potential to be replicated and up scaled to the entire National Nutrition Programme established by the Federal Ministry of Health. In this regard, UNICEF, FAO and the UN Resident Coordinator Office are seeking to further analyze, document and systematize lessons learnt from this pilot activity in order to review the current models and make necessary recommendations for their improvement if needed and assess under which conditions they could be scaled up.
Purpose

• To conduct a systematic review and lessons learned from local complementary food production pilot project in the four regions.
• To assess and modify the existing operational models for processing of complementary food at community level to ensure sustainability (based global experience on local production of CF).

Core Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
• Team Work: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Functional competencies:

• Ability to plan, prioritize and deliver a variety of tasks on time
• Exercise sound judgment/analysis
• Ability to develop creative solutions
• Ability to provide constructive coaching and feedback for others
• Ability to liaise with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and grassroots organizations
• Ability to work in culturally diverse environments and display diplomacy and tact
• Demonstrated sensitivity, discretion, tact, and courtesy in relation to implementing partners, and national and international personnel of varied nationalities and backgrounds