Impact of the Evaluation of the Enhanced Homestead Food Production Program in Sengerema, and Ukerewe in the Lake Zone,Tanzania

Since 1988, Helen Keller International's (HKI) flagship Homestead Food Production (HFP) program in Asia has helped communities establish technically-improved local food production systems by creating gardens yielding micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables over expanded growing seasons, complemented by the improved rearing of poultry and livestock.

In 2010, HKI introduced an enhanced-HFP (E-HFP) model in Burkina Faso and included a strengthened nutrition education component; the Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) framework. This E-HFP program was evaluated by IFPRI and yielded some encouraging results. With regards to nutritional outcomes, however, the primary finding was that, while the E-HFP program improved hemoglobin concentration-an indicator of iron status-the evaluation failed to note a significant impact of the program on improving children's growth. The primary explanation for the absence of a measurable improvement in children's growth was the lack of complementary health interventions that aim to specifically reduce children's disease burden, which, along with the lack of adequate food and care, is an underlying cause of undernutriton (UNICEF 1990).

Building on lessons learned from the Burkina Faso E-HFP program and a 2011 Tanzania HFP program, a new model, the Enhanced Homestead Food Production Plus (E-HFP+), was developed for Tanzania to improve the nutritional status of infants and young children. The new model strengthens the Behavior Change Communication (BCC) on malaria prevention, WASH, and gender components and enhances links with the health sector. The model will also test two new concepts:

1. to assess if the E-HFP+ program has the potential to maintain adequate levels of hemoglobin concentrations by increasing iron-rich food consumption and malaria prevention good practices.
2. to assess the effectiveness on anemia of using an existing agriculture-based platform to promote uptake and utilization of MNP.

The model involves both a set of production and nutrition interventions targeted to mothers and the provision of a curative treatment for moderate to severe anemia (Micronutrient Powder).