Malnutrition is a public health problem in Kenya, with 26% of children underfive years of age stunted, and 26% of pre-school children, 26% of women of reproductive age and 42% of pregnant women being anaemic, respectively. Agriculture is the main source of income, food and nutrients for the majority of rural families in Sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya. Most farmers are smallholders and are vulnerable to poor nutrition. Thus far, programmes have mostly focused on increasing yields and household income, but not on improving nutritional status. One Acre Fund (1AF) has over the past 10 years successfully introduced an agriculture programme to smallholder farmers in Western Kenya focusing on improving harvest. 1AF is therefore well placed to transform an existing and successful agriculture programme into the world's largest 'nutrition network' for farmers, and it is the hope that a partnership between Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and 1AF will create a strong voice for nutrition within the agriculture sector. The project aims to use an integrated programme by introducing nutrition-sensitive (improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): e.g. soap for hand washing) and nutritionspecific (e.g. micronutrient supplements) components to 1AF's agricultural programme. The impact of such an integrated programme will be assessed in a cluster randomized intervention study in pregnant women and - after delivery - their offspring until they reach two years of age comparing one group receiving the integrated intervention to another group receiving the agricultural intervention (already in place).
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Stunting and length/height-for-age z-score
Timeframe: 2 years
Length-for-age z-score at 24 months of age
Timeframe: 24 months of age