Improving Nutrition through Homestead Food Production

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased sustainable production under women’s control of nutrient-rich plant- and animal-source foods in target villages; (2) improved intake of nutritious foods and adoption of good nutrition and water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices by beneficiaries of homestead food production; and (3) increased adoption of policies for scale up of Enhanced Homestead Food Production (EHFP) by local and national governments and national and Africa regional strategic partners.

Results achieved as of March 2016 include: (1) training and service delivery to over 13,000 beneficiaries (including 11,500 women) in all four countries have been completed; (2) there are positive outcomes in nutrition including an overall improvement of nutritious food intake by children under five; (3) the percentage of mothers with knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding practices has increased from approximately 48% to 80%; (4) over 4,500 beneficiary households gained access to the production of micronutrient-rich foods including orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, chickens and eggs; (5) since 2013, the dietary diversity of beneficiary women in Tanzania and Burkina Faso has increased from 48% to 80% and the percentage of children consuming iron rich foods increased from 37% to 91%; and (6) in Côte d’Ivoire household food insecurity has decreased from 84% to 60%.