EXPLORING USE OF ENTERPRISE AGENTS AS SUSTAINABLE EXTENSION MODELS IN INTEGRATED NUTRITION PROGRAMMING AFRICA DAY FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION COMMEMORATION (October 28-30, 2015) Robert GENSI Senior Technical Advisor, USAID Community Connector Project

Outline CC background & coverage Study objective Key lessons Key Results and Discussions 2

Community Connector Project… …is a five-year community-based Project …focused on integrated nutrition and agriculture interventions …is funded by US government under Feed the Future initiative …is implemented by FHI360 Prime, and 7 other partners …supports the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) & Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP). …designed against the Collaborating, Learning and Adapting approach IR 1: Improved nutritional status of women and children IR2: Improved livelihoods of vulnerable populations Poverty reduced among vulnerable households

CC Project coverage.

5 CC target household characteristics Land sizes (small and poor quality) Practice rain-fed and hazard prone production systems Live on ecologically fragile terrains Remoteness from markets and income opportunities Women workload Gender control of resources and access to information

CC Nutrition pathways 6 PRODUCTION.Pumpkin.Avocados.Paw-paws (papaya).Tree tomato.Local vegetables.Silver fish.Gnuts INCOME.Poultry.Seed potato.Onions.Apiary.Local goats.Passion fruits GENDER Use Family Life Model (FLM) to promote Family Cohesion

Context Project design had NAADS Subject Matter Specialists (SMS) as Service Providers Government reorganized NAADS operational framework. Project sought “Positive Deviants” but had limitations of Scale. CC opted for private entrepreneurs for trainings and Extension services delivery. Different entrepreneur models were explored: –Individuals with Agric. skills and Knowledge –CSO’s –Entrepreneurs/Business establishments 7

STUDY OBJECTIVE To examine the characteristics of enterprise agents that are associated with better performance and more nutrition integration delivery mechanism 8

Key Lessons 1.Provision of stand alone nutrition services is not sustainable: i.Too frequent contacts ii.Integrated approach iii.Mismatch between knowledge & practice 9 2.“Bait” for nutrition interventions: VSLA/SWAP Economic Incentives Service providers for enterprises with low barrier to market entry 3. Someone has to pick the cost tab for Gender Training !

Distribution of Learning Sites by district Field Learning sites Supported by private agricultural service providers (ASPs) and sub-county/local government/ community technical staff. Multi-disciplinary nutrition messages, gender, nutrition assessment and economic strengthening activities are undertaken. 10

11 Delivery Mechanism: Learning site Performance and strong business orientation Sustainability works well with establishing win- win relationships Connect with markets with low barriers to entry

12 Community HH adoption of selected CC enterprises (Agric. & Indicator Assessment Survey Report, 2015)

Newcastle disease vaccination Increase in # chicken vaccinated Increase in # HHs using and paying for the services of the CPVs. Each CPV charges a fee of UGX 200 (USD 0.06) per chicken vaccinated 13

14 Entrepreneurs build business opportunities Training in farming as business for wealth creation Linkages to input/output markets Higher level marketing associations

15 Vulnerability deepens under-nutrition “We can’t avoid selling, as we need money. The decision is based on the relative cash value of the food; for example, if we have sweet potatoes and carrots, we’ll sell the one that will bring more money. I would like to base my decision on the nutritional needs of my child. Perhaps only households that are better off can do that”. Women FGD; Rugyeyo Sub county, Kanungu District Women FGD; Rugyeyo Sub county, Kanungu District “We can’t avoid selling, as we need money. The decision is based on the relative cash value of the food; for example, if we have sweet potatoes and carrots, we’ll sell the one that will bring more money. I would like to base my decision on the nutritional needs of my child. Perhaps only households that are better off can do that”. Women FGD; Rugyeyo Sub county, Kanungu District Women FGD; Rugyeyo Sub county, Kanungu District

This presentation is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to FHI 360 contract # AID-617-C The contents are the responsibility of FHI 360 and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Uganda Community Connector 16