Development of a social mobilization and behaviour change communication package for the distribution of micronutrient powders linked with infant and young child feeding promotion programming (supported by UNICEF Nigeria and the Ministry of Health)

Background

Chronic malnutrition remains as an enduring problem in Nigeria with 36% of under children under five suffering from stunting, which translates to 11 million children (DHS 2013). Nigeria accounts for 7% of the global burden of stunting and over 20% of the burden in Africa. Poor infant and young child feeding practices are a major cause of this high level of chronic malnutrition. In Nigeria, 78% of infants 6 to 8 months of age are not fed any complementary foods. The foods provided to children are monotonous, low-energy cereal porridges, and only one third of children 6 to 23 months receive a minimum acceptable diet (DHS 2013).
 
Micronutrient deficiencies also remain a serious concern with almost 70% of children under five suffering from anaemia. At present, almost 70% households live below the poverty line. The consumption of iron-rich foods is rare and universal access to fortified foods for those most in need is a distant reality. The high level of chronic malnutrition and anaemia are collectively depriving children of optimum cognitive development and resulting in irreversible intellectual capacity loss.

Our work

In order to combat micronutrient deficiencies and improve child feeding practices, the Government of Nigeria aims to implement home food fortification with MNP for children 6 to 23 months as a national intervention. To ensure effective communication and social mobilization in preparation for a large-scale pilot and national scale-up, the Nourish team provided technical support to the Federal Ministry of Health and UNICEF in developing a social and behaviour change communication package, including materials for promotion, training, counselling, and advocacy. Community based research was conducted prior to the development and testing of artwork for promotional/communication materials. Information Education and Communication (IEC), such as print advertisements, posters, and leaflets as well as Inter-Personal Communication materials, such as flipbook, radio and print spots were developed. The drafts were then pre-tested in local communities to ensure cultural relevance.  Advocacy briefs detailing the programme, to be used with senior government and donor staff, were also developed. Existing training materials for health workers were translated into easy-to-use communicate tools to ensure that technical information could be easily imparted to health workers and community volunteers. The figure below shows the evolution of the artwork over the course of the materials development process.