Tools to Improve Parental Recognition of Developmental Deficits in Children

The target population for the study will be children between the ages of 6 and 18 months at baseline living in small-scale farming households in Chipata District, Zambia. As part of a cluster-randomized trial titled "Food Constraints, Yield Uncertainty and 'Ganyu' Labor" funded by IZA-DFID (PI: G Fink), 3,100 farming households in approximately 180 rural villages in Eastern Province are currently enrolled in a two-year study, which aims at assessing the effect of food loan programs on agricultural productivity. The study described here uses the "Food Constraints" population as a sampling frame; all households enrolled in the "Food Constraints" program that have a child between 6 and 18 months are invited to participate in this add-on trial. We anticipate that there will be around 600 eligible households recruited for this study. Study duration is about 18 months. Selected households will be visited for study enrollment and a short baseline assessment in September 2014, at which time the two interventions will also be rolled out. Final impact of the interventions will be assessed one year later, in September 2015.