Using a Market-Based Approach to Improve Nutrition
Highlights
- To address dietary gaps and poor WASH behavior in Bangladesh
- Use SBC and market systems to improve nutrition and WASH outcomes
- Empower market actors to sustain target populations’ nutritional improvement
The complex food system in Bangladesh’s Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZoI) involves agriculture and non-agriculture actors who affect food availability, access, utilization and stability. The system in turn affects nutrition and diets. Combined with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and gender issues, these factors have enormous impact on vulnerable populations such as children under five, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescents (10-18 years). These populations face social, cultural and economic barriers that limit their nutrition and WASH choices.
Feed the Future's Bangladesh Nutrition Activity (BNA) goal is to improve the nutrition and health of children under five, pregnant and lactating women and adolescents. BNA works in the ZoI (21 districts in Barishal, Dhaka, and Khulna divisions) and the Zone of Resilience (ZoR) (Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban). BNA uses social and behavior change (SBC) and market systems development to promote practical behavior change and sustainably improve nutritional outcomes. BNA targets three nutrition entry points: consumer behavior, supply chains and environments.
By the end of BNA, community structures and market actors in 18 upazilas in six districts of the ZOI (not including the ZoR area) will have worked collaboratively with the Activity. An ambitious, highly facilitative process of behavior change will have supported and empowered the structures and actors. Households will have adopted improved behaviors related to agricultural production, consumption and WASH. Businesses will have established new ways of earning income and offering customers nutritious foods. Integrating these changes will synergize and sustain nutritional improvements for BNA’s target populations.
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