ALIMUS: We Feed!
Partners:
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, and Nouna Health Center
Overview:
The ALIMUS project is a randomized control trial designed to assess the potential of an integrated home gardening and nutrition counseling program as a climate change adaptation strategy in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. The intervention involves bio-diversification of horticultural home gardens and nutritional health counseling based on the World Health Organization’s seven Essential Nutrition Action messages. The project’s aim is to determine the intervention’s effect on child nutrition status after 12 months of follow-up using multi-level mixed models in an intention-to-treat approach. Our team, in collaboration with ACMS, contributed to the ALIMUS study by incorporating a nutrition screening component. This component utilizes the innovative MUAC Z score tape, which provides a new method for assessing nutritional status in children. The combined efforts aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how home gardening and nutrition counseling can improve child nutrition and serve as an effective climate change adaptation strategy.
Impact:
In sub-Saharan Africa, climate change adversely impacts child nutrition. This study explores how agricultural and dietary diversification can address these challenges. The findings will provide valuable insights into household-level interventions to improve food access and nutritional status in rural Africa.
