Mapping Nutrition Interventions, a Key Analytical Tool for Informing the Multisectoral Planning Process: Example From Burkina Faso

Abstract

Background: The government of Burkina Faso, along with the United Nations Network for Nutrition (UNN), activity REACH (Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger and undernutrition) partnership, conducted a mapping of nutrition interventions and stakeholders to identify the best approaches for scaling up priority nutrition interventions and to strengthen a multisectoral response to fight malnutrition. Objective: The objectives include describing the process used to map a set of country-prioritized nutrition interventions and to describe how the results contributed to the multisectoral nutrition planning process in Burkina Faso. Methods: The mapping exercise was designed as a cross-sectional study using the Excel-based Scaling Up Nutrition Planning and Monitoring Tool (SUN PMT) to collect, store, and analyze data. Results: The results present different analyses produced by the SUN PMT for 29 prioritized nutrition interventions. The analyses include the distribution of nutrition stakeholders for each intervention, the calculation of geographic and population coverage for each intervention, and the utilization of delivery mechanisms to reach beneficiaries. Conclusions: The mapping of key nutrition interventions and stakeholders supporting those interventions in Burkina Faso was an important tool in the multisectoral planning process. The exercise made it possible to identify gaps and needs; launch a discussion on nutrition planning and the scaling up of interventions; and mobilize sectors and development partners around nutrition.

Every drop matters: combining population-based and satellite data to investigate the link between lifetime rainfall exposure and chronic undernutrition in children under five years in rural Burkina Faso

“…On the one hand, this can be achieved by reducing household vulnerability and boosting their resilience with nutrition-sensitive interventions such as promoting climate-resistant crop varieties, irrigation, crop insurance, and cash transfers. In addition, policymakers need to target children broadly through nutrition-specific interventions such as nutritional education for caregivers and micronutrient supplementation to children and pregnant women [63].…”

Policy overview of the multisectoral nutrition planning process: The progress, challenges, and lessons learned from Burkina Faso

“…Broad stakeholder consultation, intersectoral dialogue, and conflict prevention led to a consensual multisectoral plan . The quality of the content of the plan is related to the overall quality of the planning process with multisectoral exploratory studies, the search for political and sectoral commitment, the use of a participatory approach, the theory of change, and the control of the process by policymakers . In several SUN countries, the development of MNSPs is an important step in advocating for multisectoral actions for nutrition .…”

Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Large-Scale Nutrition Interventions in Africa: A Scoping Review

“…Five studies cited that gaps in policy making and regulations undermined the implementation of nutrition interventions (Anjorin et al 2019;Hodge et al 2015;Mildon et al 2015;Doudou et al 2018;Harris et al 2017). Despite some success in mainstreaming nutrition as a core policy concern (for example, through the World Bank's Scaling Up Nutrition initiative and the UN's ongoing Food Systems Dialogues), malnutrition remains rarely seen as a pressing issue for policy makers; instead, governments are often more interested in solving "visible" issues with tangible solutions, such as fixing infrastructure or building new schools.…”

“…Lack of legislation mandating nutrition fortification and diffused political attention also decreased motivation of individuals involved with fortification projects (Mildon et al 2015). Thus, policy gaps were shown to hamper the scalability and sustainability of specific interventions (Doudou et al 2018). Bureaucracy also hindered the ability for interventions to gain funding, which ultimately delayed the implementation process (Pomeroy-Stevens et al 2016).…”