Livestock for health in Kenya

FAO

Livestock for health in Kenya

Contributing to the prevention of acute malnutrition among children in pastoral households through nutrition-sensitive livestock programming in Marsabit County

Year of publication 2023

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 12p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund, Washington State University and other stakeholders undertook a research-oriented project referred to as ‘Livestock for Health’ (L4H), implemented between August 2018 and September 2022 in Marsabit County, an arid land located in northern Kenya. The objective of the project was to determine the effect of the provision of livestock feed with or without nutritional counselling on reducing the risk of seasonal spikes in acute malnutrition among children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women in dry seasons in Laisamis Subcounty in Marsabit County. This good practice factsheet provides an overview of the project, including its methodological approach, implementation stages, impact and key learning.

Statutory body / Meeting title N/A

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Book (stand-alone)

Seasonality of malnutrition: Community knowledge on patterns and causes of undernutrition in children and women in Laisamis, Marsabit County, Kenya
Livestock for Health (L4H)
2020

Also available in:

No results found.

This report presents findings from a community participatory study conducted to determine the seasonality of malnutrition and factors associated with malnutrition among children and women in Laisamis subcounty, Marsabit County. The study was conducted as part of the Livestock for Health (L4H) project. This project investigates the cost-effectiveness of livestock feeding and nutritional counselling during critical dry periods in reducing the risk of acute malnutrition in children below 5 years of age and in pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The L4H project is based on the observed patterns of increased acute malnutrition, associated with decreased milk consumption, among women and children in pastoralist communities. The study used a mixed methods approach to collect data from the two main communities (Rendille and Samburu) residing in Laisamis subcounty. The aim of the study was to understand the communities’ livelihood patterns and strategies, the observed temporal patterns of acute malnutrition in children and women, the factors determining the malnutrition patterns, and communities’ perspectives on practices and programming used to minimize malnutrition in the community. The report outlines the key findings from the three data collection methods used. (key informant interviews, focus group discussions and participatory epidemiology methods) and gathering information from men and women from each of the two communities separately.
Book (stand-alone)

Livestock programming for nutritional improvements in children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating mothers
Baseline report
2022

Also available in:

No results found.

The Livestock for Health (L4H) project is a collaborative effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Marsabit County Government, the National Government of Kenya, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and Washington State University (WSU). The project was made possible through the support provided by the Office of Technical and Program Quality, Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to determine the cost-effectiveness of livestock feeding interventions and nutritional counselling in reducing the risk of malnutrition among children and women in pastoral communities during the critical dry periods. The project was designed as a cluster randomized control trial with two intervention arms and one control group. Households in Intervention Arm 1 receive livestock feeds sufficient to maintain two tropical livestock units (TLUs) for 90 days during critical dry periods or drought and 7–14 days into the rain season. Households in Intervention Arm 2 receive similar livestock feeds and regular nutritional counselling carried out by trained community healthcare workers. Households in Arm 3 are the control group and do not receive any of the two interventions during the study period. The results from this baseline survey will be essential for comparing with other data which will be collected during the routine household data collection visits (six week follow-up and quarterly household visits) for monitoring trends in household milk yield, milk consumption (amount and frequency) and nutritional status across the intervention and control arms of the study over the study period. At baseline, both the intervention and control arms were comparable in household demographics, socio-economic characteristics, household livestock ownership, milk production and consumption, and maternal and child nutritional status and health. Additionally, the high prevalence of malnutrition in this study population and the data on health and intervention costs which will be collected in this study will allow for a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine if livestock feeding interventions and nutritional counselling are cost-effective in reducing the risk of malnutrition among children and women in pastoral communities during the critical dry periods.
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Kenya - Livestock programming for improved nutrition in children under five years of age 2020

Also available in:

No results found.

A joint FAO-UNICEF research paper on improving nutrition among nomadic pastoralists in Kenya. This brief details a project between FAO, the Government of Kenya, UNICEF, USAID and Washington State University to develop a cost-effective, replicable strategy to protect against seasonal spikes in acute malnutrition rates during times of drought among children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women.