Nutrition education can have positive impact on social safety programmes

The integration of nutrition education into social safety net programmes will have a positive impact on the beneficiaries, according to a study released yesterday.

"Outcomes of the research confirm that if we provide regular cash transfers to ultra-poor women with small children, and combine this with good nutrition training, we can achieve a significant reduction in child stunting within a short period of time," said Christa Rader, Bangladesh representative of the World Food Programme (WFP).

WFP and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) jointly carried out the research to find out which combination of cash, food and nutrition education in safety net programmes brings the greatest benefits to the poor.

The two-year study sought to determine the benefits of five different combinations provided to ultra-poor women with small children.

The combinations are: cash only, food only, cash and food combined, cash and nutrition behaviour change communication (BCC) training and food and nutrition BCC training.

The study shows these interventions impact significantly on income, food expenditure, calorie consumption, food poverty, diet quality and chronic under-nutrition, know as stunting.

The greatest impact came from cash transfers when they were combined with nutrition education.

"Given that 36 percent of all children under five in Bangladesh are stunted, it is essential to design safety nets wisely," said Dr Akhter Ahmed, lead researcher of IFPRI in Bangladesh.

"Households who participated in nutrition education sessions in our research project consumed more diverse foods and took better care of their children than those who received only food, cash or both".

Bangladesh allocated $3.9 billion or 12 percent of its budget for fiscal 2014-15 to SSNPs.

Under different safety nets, the government gives cash, food or both to help the ultra-poor come out of the poverty.

The government data shows, still more than one-fourth of Bangladesh's 160 million people live below poverty line -- less than $1.25 a day.

The research found under-nutrition remains a major challenge in Bangladesh with serious consequences for the economy and health systems, costing more than $1 billion in lost productivity every year.

The study covers 10 upazilas, five from northern and five from southern regions. A total of 5,000 households were used as samples.