Description

Abstract: The Enhancing child Nutrition through Animal source food Management (ENAM) project was developed to address the affects of poverty on household food security and child nutrition in Ghana. Formative research in three regions of Ghana documented a perceived lack of income as the primary constraint to a household’s ability to incorporate adequate amounts of animal source foods (ASF) in young children’s diets. Increased consumption of ASF can enhance overall child nutrition and well being, and prevent micronutrient deficiencies detrimental to growth and development. A review of 18 organizations was completed to identify strategies for supporting caregivers’ income generation activities (IGA) in Ghana. Three strategies were identified: input credit, financial support and financial support using the credit union concept. Lending to groups and designation of group members as guarantors for the loans were key components to the success of IGA programs. There was a low prevalence (22%) of support specifically targeting ASF-related IGA among the organizations reviewed. Although improved nutrition was a programmatic objectives for most of the organizations, only two incorporated nutrition education in their activities. This lack of attention to nutrition in the majority of the microcredit programs reviewed, is an important shortcoming. Nutrition and health interventions need to be integrated into IGA to assure that improved nutrition occurs with increased income. The lessons learned from these three approaches were used to design microcredit interventions for the ENAM project.