The impact evaluation of the Senegal Nutrition Enhancement Project uses a difference-in-difference design to measure the impact of community-based growth monitoring and nutrition promotion on nutritional and health outcomes in children.

The study looks at a wide range of interventions that have been conducted in the treatment villages, including deworming, growth monitoring, micronutrient supplementation, and counseling. The results show that the interventions were able to reduce the risk of underweight by 17% and generated positive impacts on a range of behavioral indicators.

What is the impact of a community nutritional program on (1) chronic malnutrition and (2) cognitive development?

• The odds ratio of children in the treatment group having had diarrhea within the two weeks prior to the survey was 0.824, compared to children in the control group.

• The odds ratio of children in the treatment group having received deworming treatment is 3.021, relative to the control group.

• The odds ratio of children in the treatment group being underweight (more than 2 standard deviations below international norms) is 0.82 (95% confidence interval: .686 - 1.00).

Impact Evaluation Methods:    Difference-in-difference, Randomization, Single difference

Evaluation Start Date:   2004   Evaluation End Date:  2006

Evaluators:  Harold Alderman,  Biram Ndiaye,  Sebastian Linnemayr,  Abdoulaye Ka,  Claudia Rokx,  Khadidiatou Dieng,  Menno Mulder-Sibanda

Impact Evaluation Design

The evaluation randomly divided 220 communities into communities receiving the project, and communities not receiving the project. Baseline and follow-up data was collected from 4,500 households in the 220 communities.

  Nutrition Enhancement Project

Senegal Nutrition Enhancement Project

The project is a community nutrition program focusing on growth promotion for children under the age of three in poor rural and urban areas. The project involves child growth monitoring and promotion, micronutrient supplementation, and nutritional education.

In order to mobilize communities, the project worked through local NGOs that partnered with the communities in providing growth monitoring services, counseling for mothers of young children and for pregrant women, and to coordinate with local health workers on the delivery of essential services such as vaccination, deworming and micronutrient supplementation on a biannual basis.