Nutrition Barrier Analysis Consultant for Melana Project

About

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest German non-governmental Organisations in development co operation and emergency relief. Primarily in co-operation with local partner Organisations, our task is to contribute to the improvement in nutritional and income base for the low-income populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Welthungerhilfe has been implementing projects in Zimbabwe since 1980. Sector focus is on WASH, Food and Nutrition Security, Livelihoods and when necessary, Emergency response.

Under the UNDP managed Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF), Welthungerhilfe leads the Matabeleland Enhanced Livelihoods Agriculture and Nutrition Adaptation Project (MELANA), together with Community Technology Development Organisation and Agricultural Partnerships Trust. The project addresses food and nutrition security through infrastructure development, market linkages, provision of clean water, training, and development of seed systems. The project also has a strong component on developing agriculture for nutrition and health. Primarily this component is rolled out through the Linking Agriculture and Natural Resource Management towards Nutrition Security (LANN+) approach, and the target group for this approach is community health clubs and nutrition garden groups.

Position summary

The MELANA programme aims to improve the association between farm product diversity and dietary diversity and would like to understand the barriers to improving diets through farm product diversity. Welthungerhilfe is therefore seeking a Nutrition Barrier Analysis Consultant for the implementation of the Projects. Please kindly refer to the terms of reference for more information on this advert.

Terms of Reference: Barrier Analysis MELANA Project

Background

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest German non-governmental organisations in the area of development co-operation and emergency relief. Primarily in co-operation with local partner organisations, its task is to contribute to improvement in the nutritional and income basis for the low-income populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Welthungerhilfe has been implementing projects in Zimbabwe almost continuously since 1980. Sector focus is on WASH, Food and Nutrition security, Livelihoods and when necessary Emergency response.

Under the UNDP managed Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF), Welthungerhilfe leads the Matabeleland Enhanced Livelihoods Agriculture and Nutrition Adaptation Project (MELANA), together with Community Technology Development Organisation and Agricultural Partnerships Trust. The project addresses food and nutrition security through infrastructure development, market linkages, provision of clean water, training, and development of seed systems. The project also has a strong component on developing agriculture for nutrition and health. Primarily this component is rolled out through the Linking Agriculture and Natural Resource Management towards Nutrition Security (LANN+) approach, and the target group for this approach is community health clubs and nutrition garden groups.

Challenge to be addressed

Agricultural Development Programmes (including MELANA) often promote behaviour change in terms of nutrition through the following: promoting production diversity (crops and livestock including biofortified crops); cooking shows and demonstrations; sometimes the above is supported by input distribution; providing training material (to include LANN+)

Impact studies however show that agriculture & nutrition demonstrations, input support programmes, and training don’t always lead to improved production and consumption of a diverse diet. This has been observed through focus group discussions in MELANA. A study in Malawi, shared by the Agriculture Health and Nutrition Academy, focusing on dietary diversity and food market participation, found that there was a negative relationship between input support programmes and dietary diversity, no relationship between legume cultivation and dietary diversity, farm product diversity was higher than dietary diversity, and there was a strong correlation between incomes, purchase diversity and dietary diversity.

The MELANA programme aims to improve the association between farm product diversity and dietary diversity and would like to understand the barriers to improving diets through farm product diversity. The goal of the research is to gain information that will lead to the modification of our approaches (including behaviour change messaging/communication) in the community food system. Our ultimate goal is to strengthen the link between training & promotion of farm product diversity and dietary diversity (eventually farmers’ health). The findings recommended by the barrier analysis will inform our interventions (rolled out through formative research which is planned to commence in September 2021). Some of the factors we hypothesise can influence improved farm product diversity and dietary diversity are knowledge of the link between food and health (the manner in which the information is packaged), knowledge of the cost of on farm produced food for healthy diets, as well as access to a diverse range of quality seeds.

We also acknowledge that farm product diversity must be complemented by purchasing healthy foods. We have found in our programmes that some families sell green leafy vegetables to buy starchy foods like potatoes or highly processed foods. In our work we also are cognisant of the strong influence of the South African Food Market on the rural food systems in Matabeleland. This is mainly because a large portion of the working population in Matabeleland migrate to South Africa and send food remittances to Zimbabwe. Food prices in South Africa are lower, and this fact facilitates the food remittances. In our research the influence of the South African market on dietary diversity and health, would be an important point of enquiry.

To get insight into the above we seek to engage a consultant to conduct a barrier analysis.

Background on the barrier analysis method

A barrier analysis survey is a specific formative research method that is conducted as part of the ‘Designing for behaviour change’ approach promoted by the CORE Group. It identifies the significant determinants (out of a standard list) which most likely influence why a target (or priority) group is practicing (or not) a specific behaviour. This understanding can be used to identify or fine-tune effective interventions for promoting the behaviour and to determine related key messages and activities.

It is an assessment which uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to identify what is preventing a target group from adopting a specific behaviour, as well as identifying enablers of the behaviour. The results of the questions are compared amongst groups of people who already have adopted the behaviour (called “Doers”) and people who have not yet adopted the new behaviour (called “Non-Doers”) (identified through specific screening questions). By comparing these two groups, it is possible to determine which of these behavioural “determinants” most influence whether someone is a doer or non-doer and are the most important for the project to focus on.

A standard questionnaire is used for each behaviour and questions are asked of individuals from the Priority Group (PG). Each BA will have specific PG.

Purpose of the assignment

Welthungerhilfe Zimbabwe is seeking a consultant to conduct a series of barrier analysis surveys of key nutrition behaviours in Bubi, Nkayi, Umguza, and Umzingwane using the standard barrier analysis survey approach.

The specific purpose of this consultancy is to conduct formative research to: Identify and document key barriers and enablers to the following key nutrition-related behaviours: Broad behavior; High Farm Product Diversity (we want to investigate production and consumption as some households have a high product diversity but not necessarily dietary diversity); High Food Purchase Diversity (Healthy Foods).

All behaviours should be investigated taking into account gender, age and disability in targeted communities.

Tasks

The following tasks are required for this consultancy as they conduct the barrier analysis: Lead in all logistics, transport and venue arrangements for the entire process; Be responsible for engaging and training of enumerators (MELANA has two nutrition interns with whom it works); Finalise the behaviour statement in collaboration with the MELANA Project; Develop the survey tools using the standardised barrier analysis questionnaire including any necessary translation into the local language(s) as appropriate; Finalise sampling strategy to represent doers and non-doers in the districts; Prepare the data collection schedule, including realistic transport/ movement plan adhering to security times. The survey should also consider the possibility of remote data collection where possible, so as to ensure the safety of the team under the current COVID pandemic; Conduct the field work in the districts, including enumerator trainings, data collection for each of the key behaviours, supervision and quality control during data collection and coding/ analysis; Analyse the results from the coding sessions, also by applying the available standard excel analysis spreadsheet for each of the surveys and compile results by determinants, by behaviour and by district. Other analytical methods can be considered; Facilitate workshops with MELANA staff and stakeholders (including farmers) in respective districts to discuss/ interpret results, i.e. bridges to activities; Prepare a final report on the barrier analysis surveys.