Field Story
Planning for success: Nutrition International technical assistance supports the Seqota Declaration to end stunting
December 11, 2023
The present study establishes the acceptability, perceived impact, feasibility and required inputs to sustain local grain bank interventions to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in four regions of Ethiopia.
Purposive sampling guided the qualitative study design and a total of 51 key informant interviews and 33 focus group discussions (n = 237) were conducted.
The grain bank flour was valued for its perceived diverse local ingredients; while the project was perceived as creating labour savings for women. The grain bank flour offered the potential to contribute to improved IYCF; however, further dietary modification or fortification is needed to improve the micronutrient content. Dependence upon external inputs to subsidize the barter model and the reliance on volunteer labour from women’s groups in the rural context are the greatest risks to sustainability. This intervention illustrates how integrated agricultural and health interventions leveraging local production can appeal to diverse stakeholders as an acceptable approach to improve IYCF.