Nutrition Specific Interventions for Management of Malnutrition in Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan – Challenges and Lessons for Non-Governmental Organizations

Abstract

Background Decades long efforts have been exerted by Non-Governmental Organizations in partnership and collaboration with Governments, UN agencies and Donor communities to address malnutrition through nutrition specific interventions in resource poor and conflict prone countries. The impact of nutrition specific interventions cannot be underscored. In this paper, we argue that whereas nutrition specific responses do tackle undernutrition among vulnerable populations, they often tend to be limited in scope and sustainability. Method This was a cross-sectional study that employed qualitative techniques for data collection. Primary data was obtained from purposively selected NGOs (n=17) that implement nutrition programs in Eastern Equatoria state through key informant interviews. This was supplemented by secondary data from existing literature. Data was summarized, triangulated and analyzed for contents to generate the themes in line with study objectives. Results This study has shown that although nutrition specific responses play a vital role in tackling malnutrition, they often tend to be limited in scope. Tackling all the root causal factors of malnutrition remains a challenge. Such challenges often resulted into relapse despite reported high proportion (at least 75%) of children in treatment programs being discharged as cured. Conclusion In a short run, nutrition specific interventions can be effective in saving lives of malnourished individuals. However, there is need to ensure that both nutrition specific and sensitive interventions are given proportional investment priorities. This can be done by allocating adequate resources to both interventions in addition to building resilience of communities to local shocks. Otherwise, nutrition specific interventions will continue for many more years to come.