Barriers to Adequate Complementary feeding

Differentiating between doers and non-doers

In 2014, I was selected to participate in a two-week training on Designing for Behavior Change seminar led by Bonnie Kittle. Two other health PCV's and I decided to conduct a formative research survey on nutritional behaviors together. The specific target behavior was worded as follows: mothers of children between the ages of 9 and 23 months feed their children foods from 3 of the 7 food groups daily. Over a period of 3 months, we surveyed 45 doers and 45 non-doers of the behavior in the Kaffrine/Kaolack region, for a total of 90 mothers. We conducted the interviews in Wolof (a major Senegalese local language) and French (the official language).

All three of us then met up in Kaolack several to code, analyze, and interpret the data. We shared our results at the 2015 All Volunteer Conference. The data allowed us to pinpoint specific barriers to behavior change, and led each of us to design activities to overcome those specific barriers. The data showed that lack of access to fresh foods was one of the reasons mothers could not feed their children 3 of 7 food groups on a daily basis.












To overcome this barrier, a local Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer and I designed a project to implement 12m by 12m Moringa plots in 8 local communities. Moringa, called Nebedaye ("Never-Die") locally, can be used in countless ways. Its nutritious leaves can supplement an otherwise poor diet, as they are rich in calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, and protein*. Research conducted in Burkina Faso demonstrated that children 6-59 months fed 10g (0.35274 oz) of moringa leaves per day gained more weight than a control group.


*It is still not clear whether the body can absorb significant percentages of these minerals and vitamins.

Direct-planting moringa seeds in zaï holes        

        

The grant the CED volunteer and I wrote financed wooden fences and their transportation to each site. With the help of local PCVs, we planted the Moringa, erected the wooden fences, and trained community members on related nutrition, agro-forestry, and CED topics. Ultimately, only 5 of the 7 communities selected were able to participate. Each hour-long training was followed (or preceded) by the installation. All told, we planted more than 1,000 trees and trained 138 people.

I taught sessions on the benefits of eating moringa regularly, especially for pregnant women and children under the age of 5. I also invited Juma Sow (77 054 3051), a representative of the NGO Nebedaye in Toubacouta to Dassilami Socé to assist me in teaching proper cooking techniques of moringa, and proper processing of the leaves into power.

Discussing the nutritional benefits of eating moringa

How to cook Nebedaye (moringa)

Better wash those leaves before you dry them... Look how dirty the water is!

These leaves are dry and ready to be pounded into powder

The project yielded mixed results. Before our intervention, community members only used Moringa as a traditional medicine to cure all kinds of health problems, including headache and diabetes. Even though my villagers are now aware of the potential health benefits of eating Moringa leaves, I am not convinced that they would really add it to their food on a regular basis, especially in its powdered form. One of the volunteer participants in this project does report that her villagers cook with Moringa leaves and power regularly, so it may be an acquired taste. Hardy Moringa will survive even if it is not watered on a regular basis; it is possible that in the months and years to come people will slowly start to include Moringa in their daily diets.