Last Mile Access to Enriched Children's Complementary Food: Mitigating Malnutrition in Kenya.

Muthuuri Pamela,Kassim Joseph,Mwarania Florence,Richard Patrick

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.604864

Abstract

Commercial complementary foods are not accessible at the last mile of delivery, despite a veritable stunted growth explosion in Kenya. A Mile for the Brain aims to reduce child malnutrition by solving the pervasive distribution bottlenecks and prohibitive pricing challenges. This paper presents the systematized measurement for change process. We focus on the selection of off-the-shelf complementary foods, training of women entrepreneurs responsible for commercializing these complementary foods, coaching given to mothers on appropriate feeding education, and lastly the learning cycle revolving around feeding mothers, entrepreneurs for the Mile for the Brain social enterprise itself. We highlight the real-life challenges involved in this process in the context of adversity and constrained resources. The results, findings, and policy implications of this study will be reported elsewhere.

Highlights

Stunting affects over 165 million children globally [1]
It is an important contributor to the population-attributable risk of child mortality, overall burden of disease, and failure to reach full developmental potential or sub-optimal development in children characterized by delayed cognitive, motor and socio-emotional development [2, 3]
We hypothesize that increasing access to complementary foods will improve early childhood development including cognitive, motor, and sensory functions

Summary

Introduction

Stunting affects over 165 million children globally [1]. It is an important contributor to the population-attributable risk of child mortality, overall burden of disease, and failure to reach full developmental potential or sub-optimal development in children characterized by delayed cognitive, motor and socio-emotional development [2, 3]. This study’s primary objective is to improve early childhood development through a complementary feeding program that prevents malnutrition in children aged 6–24 months. We hypothesize that increasing access to complementary foods will improve early childhood development including cognitive, motor, and sensory functions. When exposed to any of these risk factors, children younger than 2 years of age are severely affected, as vital development—especially of the brain which controls cognitive, motor, and sensory functions of the human body—is developing rapidly during this period [5]. Any small disturbance in processes occurring at this time can have long-term effects on the brain’s structural and functional capacity [5] These effects amount to wasted human capital and hinder national development, translating to a cycle of poverty across generations [6]. Stunted children have a likelihood of frequent episodes of severe diarrhea and are more susceptible to several infectious diseases, such as malaria, meningitis, and pneumonia, which result in increased fatality risk [9]

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Conclusion