Sprout | graduated

November 2018 | Tillaberi, Niger. Farmers begin to store goods in the renovated warehouse.

• In some cases, farmers are paying the warehouse fee in advance of storing their goods.
• Cash distribution and household visits by mobilizers begin in Community C.

October 2018 | Tillaberi, Niger. Community warehouse completes renovations to prevent post-harvest loss

• In Community C, the community warehouse was renovated to better protect against rodents, insects, and leaks. A community warehouse management committee was convened and trained on warehouse management protocols. The community suggested an appropriate fee for warehouse storage. The fee goes into a fund that is then paid out to caregivers of children until 36 months and pregnant women.
• Cash distribution and household visits by mobilizers begin in Communities A and B.

September 2018 | Tillaberi, Niger. Caregivers selected for participation in prototype

• Twenty caregivers of children under 36 months in each participating village were selected by the community to participate in the Sprout prototype based on the communities definition of “most vulnerable.”
• Bi-weekly unconditional cash distribution of the equivalent of $5.22 USD was decided upon based on the average cost of adopting 2-3 new positive practices per week and the typical cash spending practices in the communities. The cash is intended to trigger adoption or intensification of positive practices.
• Airbel designers and community mobilizers worked to design and refine activities that mobilizers will use during bi-weekly household visits to promote positive practices, document their frequency over time, track food consumption of children and families, and track cash use.

August 2018 | Tillaberi, Niger. 3 villages selected for participation in prototype

• Three villages were selected for participation in the Tillaberi region of Niger. One of those villages has an existing community warehouse used for storing food aid from the government and NGOs.
• Two community mobilizers per village worked to get to know their community members and build trust with community leaders and caregivers. The mobilizers observed which practices caregivers use for promoting healthy child growth and with the help of IRC nutrition specialists, identified 19 positive practices for Sprout to promote.

July 2018 | Tillaberi, Niger. Kicked off prototype

Kicked off community consultation with village leaders, district health officials, local nutrition and agriculture specialists, and women to fine-tune the design of the prototype.

June 2018 | Sprout 2.0 Begins

Developed a prototype to understand how post-harvest loss reduction, small cash transfers, and promotion of locally-relevant positive practices meets user preferences and can support adoption of SAM risk-reduction actions.

August 2017 | How might reducing post-harvest loss contribute to SAM risk-reduction among smallholder farming families?

• Spent time with caregivers in remote villages in western Tanzania to understand:
  • How they are affected by post-harvest loss?
  • What advice do they have for raising healthy children?
  • What actions would they like to be able to take and what would they need to do it?
• Consulted providers in SAM-affected areas to understand the local drivers of SAM

June 2017 | What new ideas can design thinking generate for preventing SAM?

• Met with regional and national nutrition experts in Senegal to understand current best practices, constraints, and which new directions for SAM prevention they are most excited by
• Spent time with families along the Liberia-Guinea border to understand their priorities, interests, and current investments in caring for their children
• Conducted observations in clinics to observe interactions between providers and caregivers to understand current practices and opportunities for prevention

May 2017 | How likely we will meet our goal of treating 6M children for SAM per year?

• Conducted expert interviews and desk reviews to understand the potential for impact on SAM treatment and cost at scale of innovations in SAM prevention being spearheaded by members of the No Wasted Lives Coalition
• Developed a model to analyze interactions between innovations under various scenarios with input from nutrition experts (users can manipulate the model to change assumptions as they like)