Improving Infant and Young Child Feeding in Ethiopia through Community Based Grain Banks Using Local Foods

Background Inadequate infant and young child feeding practices contribute to the concerning malnutrition situation in Ethiopia. To improve availability, accessibility and quality of complementary foods, development partners in Ethiopia supported women's groups to produce complementary food by processing local grains and legumes at community grain banks. Flour was sold in the semi‐urban communities and a subsidized barter system was created in the rural areas. Objective To assess the acceptability, perceived impact, feasibility and sustainability for local grain bank interventions to improve infant and young child nutrition, in four regions of Ethiopia. Methods A total of 51 key informant interviews and 33 focus group discussions (n=237) were conducted based on a purposive sampling framework of project stakeholders. Results The grain bank flour was valued for its quality and diverse locally grown ingredients. Mothers were motivated to give the flour because of perceived benefits to their child's health; while the community grain bank was credited as labor saving for women. The grain bank flour offered improved dietary diversity; however, further micronutrient interventions including dietary modification or fortification are needed to improve diet adequacy. The greatest risks to sustainability were dependence on external resources to subsidize the barter model and reliance on volunteer work from women's groups in the rural context. Conclusions Integrated agricultural and health interventions leveraging local crops can appeal to diverse stakeholders and may offer an acceptable approach to improving infant and young child feeding. Funding: UNICEF & Micronutrient Initiative