This presentation is part of the

Agriculture and Nutrition Global Learning and Evidence Exchange

(AgN-GLEE) held in Bangkok, Thailand from March 19-21, 2013.

For additional presentations and related event materials, visit: http://spring-nutrition.org/agnglee-asia

AgN-GLEE Case Study: SPRING/Bangladesh

Integrating Nutrition and Agriculture in

Farmer Field Schools, Government

extension, and Partner organizations

Shannon Young USAID/Bangladesh

Elizabeth Williams SPRING/Bangladesh

Nutritional status in Bangladesh

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• 41% stunting among children under 5 (low

height for age)

• 36% underweight among children under 5

(low weight for height)

• 21% of children under 2 fed appropriately

according to international guidelines –

compared with 44% in Nepal (2011) and 24%

in Cambodia (2010)

USAID/Bangladesh’s response

• By 2014, launch of comprehensive, data driven nutrition

intervention programs to cover at least 73 of most

vulnerable sub-districts within FTF zone

• FTF nutrition programs are linked to both agriculture and

health interventions

• WASH program implemented in selected sub-districts

linked to nutrition programs

• GHI funding a food security and nutrition monitoring

system

• Research on innovative, market-based approaches to

improving nutrition 3

USAID/Bangladesh’s geographic coverage

• 73 sub-districts of 99

in Barisal and Khulna Divisions with

comprehensive set

of nutrition

interventions by FY

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• This number does

not include

SPRING’s FY14

expansion into

additional upazilas

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Coordination and Partnerships

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MISSION – Lessons Learned

• Positive internal relationship between offices influences relationships among implementing

partners

• Nutrition projects should participate in FTF and GHI

partner meetings to promote collaboration

• Include nutrition indicators in mission-level FTF

management system

• Nutrition projects should collaborate with both

Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture for

sustainability of ag-nutrition interventions

• Front Office support

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SPRING/Bangladesh overview

• Pregnant and lactating women

and children under 2 (1000 days approach)

• Improve nutritional status of

women and children

- Improve nutritional practices

- Increase dietary diversity and food

quality

- Decrease burden of disease

How we planned an integrated nutrition, hygiene and agriculture approach

• Pathway to change to

assess determinants of undernutrition

• Mapping of current

health, nutrition and agriculture

• Collaboration and

advocacy with GOB and

NGO partners

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Streamlined ENHA message

Exclusive breastfeeding

Child’s complementary

feeding

Hand washing after defecation

Hand washing before handling

food

Women’s nutrition –

dietary diversity

Selection criteria:

•Based on body of

knowledge on nutrition,

GOB standard

•Practical, easy to

adapt

•Combined key

messages

•Shown to be a

determinant either from

pathway to change or

conceptual framework

on malnutrition

•SPRING could directly

influence

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How we implement integrated nutrition, hygiene and agriculture interventions

• Capacity building

oGOB health and agriculture workers;

oTechnical officers, peer

facilitators with community

groups and INGOs

• Farmer Field Schools to

increase household access

and utilization of diversified

foods

Frontline GOB health, agric

workers

Partner

INGOs

Farmer

Field

Schools

How we implement FFS

• Bimonthly meetings of PLW at a learning plot

• Support with seeds of nutrient-rich vegetables for

two seasons

• Support with poultry sheds for chicken rearing

• Harvest are primarily for consumption

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How ENHA is integrated into FFS • Training SPRING FFS field

facilitators on ENHA

• FFS guide was revised to

incorporate nutrition and hygiene

sessions

• ENHA messages were streamlined

to key “small do-able actions”

e.g. tippy taps

• Key messages and practices are

repeated at each session

• Sessions are practical and attend

to immediate agricultural,

nutrition or hygiene concerns

raised by the mothers

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How ENHA is integrated into activities of agriculture projects

•Key messages on

dietary diversity,

women’s nutrition and

hygiene are integrated into

courtyard sessions

•Co-targeting with

WorldFish, USAID

Horticulture project

•Serve as advocates

to predominantly male

members of the community

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Follow-up to training activities

• Monthly home visits to FFS households

• Quarterly supportive supervision to

trained GOB staff

• Joint home visits with GOB staff and

SPRING field facilitator

• Cross trainings on fish production from

WorldFish

14

Implementation challenges

• Clarity on role of the nutrition project

• Supervision of trained staff with other

projects

• Co-targeting

• Time constraints

• Market linkage

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Opportunities

• Less prescriptive, more flexible proposal

being centrally awarded

• USAID's insistence to partners to collaborate

- firm, repeated, encouraged

• USAID’s comfort with shared attribution

• Supportive nutrition and health partners

within GOB

• GOB’s Department of Agricultural

Extension’s willingness to collaborate

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Lessons learned from implementation

• Seek for mutual benefit, understand

collaborators

• Start small, be practical

• Share the results, coordinate and constantly

engage GOB, partners and collaborators

• Surprising enthusiasm from DAE

• Generate evidence

• Get buy-in to include indicators that allow for

monitoring and longer term evaluation

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Thank you and questions!

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