Practice Insights

The PI series on Micronutrients (MN) Supplementation is a cluster of learnings from interventions aimed at strengthening the MN supplementation programs. The set of learnings underline significance of streamlining supply chain, facilitation by partners, policies formulated at the national and state level.  

The learnings provide an insight into underlying factors affecting MN supplementation programmes and throws light on initiatives that can help in addressing the challenges based on successful interventions implemented by the state governments and development partners in various regions of the country.

The National Health Mission Jharkhand is mandated to ensure high coverage and quality of health and nutrition services under RMNCH+A programme, which also includes MN supplements. Under the NHM mandate, Jharkhand has taken an initiative to develop a State Action Plan for Micronutrient Supplementation. WeCan (IPE Global) along with other development partners working in the state, supported the government of Jharkhand and NHM to develop the SAP. The SAP takes a lifecycle approach and includes Iron & Folic Acid (IFA), Albendazole, Calcium and Vitamin ‘A’ under its purview. It was developed after a comprehensive review of the guidelines and research reports on MNs and supplementation programs on MNs. Additionally, several rounds of consultations were held between the development partners and the state government to develop the key aspects of the action plan…Read More

 Ensuring Last Mile Supply of Micronutrients in Madhya Pradesh

An independent survey conducted by CHAI with support from the Government of Madhya Pradesh found that about 39% of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) in 2016 and 35% of schools across the state were completely stocked out of IFA. In order to understand the underlying challenges, CHAI, under the guidance of the Government of MP analyzed both the upstream and downstream supply chains to identify bottlenecks. Based on the findings of the analysis, CHAI devised strategies for streamlining upstream and downstream delivery of MNs in the program areas...Read More

The interventions ‘Engaging Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for POSHAN Abhiyaan’ is a compilation of experiences and learnings from development partners who have designed and implemented programs to tackle malnutrition. The following series of Practice Insight
(PI) reinforces the significance of involving PRI members to focus on the underlying determinants of undernutrition, showcasing how PRIs are instrumental in strengthening of the nutrition programs and working in close coordination with the nutrition partners.

The learnings from PIs will enable stakeholders to understand the processes involved, for them to adopt and build a robust model for bringing maximum impact and leveraging various components of POSHAN Abhiyaan through such interventions. This series of PI captures successful models which can be adapted and scaled-up by different stakeholders.

 Community Engagement and Leadership Development Initiative

GHS recognised PRIs as a platform to promote decentralized health planning, they adopted a bottom-up approach that engages and empowers Gram Pradhans to ensure the availability, accessibility and last mile reach of nutrition and health services. A two-step process involving a cascading model of training was employed under CELD. At the first level, the field staff were trained on a module developed by GHS. This was followed by the trained field staff being sent to the field to further train the Gram Pradhans on a one to one basis…Read More

 Making PRI Champions for Jan Andolan 

To further their ongoing work on malnutrition, AAH initiated a supplementary advocacy intervention in Rajasthan in March 2018 to raise awareness amongst PRI members about their role in achieving the targets of POSHAN Abhiyaan. In collaboration with the NHM and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the new initiative was tailored specifically for PRI members and was rolled out in the eight districts through orientation and sensitisation workshops…Read More

 Mentoring EWRS as Health and Nutrition Champions

This intervention was built on the Chief Minister’s focus on promoting the agency of women leaders in Bihar. The overarching focus was to mentor women ward members and Mukhiyas to play a strong role as Health and Nutrition (H&N) champions in their villages. The advocacy intervention – Hum Hain Champion – was implemented across 10 districts with over 2000 elected women representatives (EWRs) in Bihar. The key components of ‘Hum Hain Champion’ was capacity-building, mentoring and participatory strategizing and action…Read More

 Saksham PRI Convergence Initiative 

Saksham introduced organisational development module for PRI members and adopted an intensive two-pronged strategy. Firstly, this helped them understand and engage with issues related to nutrition and strengthen local governance and communities for nutrition action. Secondly, the strategy aimed towards bringing about the convergence of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive schemes…Read More

The use of Agri-nutrition based models is emerging as an effective way to counter undernutrition, especially in regions where agriculture is the main source of livelihood. The PI series on Agri-nutrition captures learnings from implementations using this model. It captures processes and approaches that when combined with agri-nutrition models, assist in improving the nutrition status and practices. The stakeholders can use these learnings to understand the strategies applied and how can these models be replicated and adapted in other regions to yield desired results.

Countering undernutrition through Community-based approaches