Executive Summary
Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is an evidence-based strategy to improve health and nutrition by increasing and improving knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). The Gender Transformative and Nutrition-Sensitive (GTNS) project implements SBCC activities, in parallel to resilience and post-harvest loss interventions, with the aim of contributing to women’s empowerment and stunting reduction among children in Sofala, Mozambique. The SBCC strategy uses three approaches to achieve this aim: community mobilization, interpersonal counselling and media. Activities under the three approaches are categorized into three main themes within the project: Nutrition,
Gender, and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The Nutrition theme is further subdivided into four topic modules: infant and young child feeding (IYCF), maternal nutrition, malaria prevention, and sanitation and hygiene. This report focuses on the interpersonal counselling approach of the Maternal Nutrition topic module. These sessions targeted all 1,500 project households, specifically caregivers of children under 2 and their spouses.
When implementing SBCC activities particularly aimed at reducing or preventing stunting, it is essential to engage in robust monitoring as behavioural change is a slow process and may not significantly impact project outcomes when looking solely at end line indicators.
Nevertheless, this does not mean project efforts are not making progress at the individual level. Closely tracking knowledge, attitudes and practices linked to reducing and preventing stunting can guide project implementers in better understanding willingness to change and actual change related to desired outcomes. To measure the project’s influence on beneficiaries, the project conducted pre- and post-test surveys on a sample of approximately 120 beneficiaries immediately before and after each interpersonal counselling topic module, focusing questions on knowledge, intention, self-efficacy (confidence) and self-reported behaviour. Using a comparative analysis, this report presents the findings regarding the Maternal Nutrition topic module.
The Maternal Nutrition pre- and post-test questionnaire consisted of eight questions in four categories:
• recalling key maternal nutrition messages
• understanding how a mother’s health impacts the first 1,000 days of life
• a mother’s health and diet during pregnancy and lactation
• men’s role in maternal nutrition
Project beneficiaries in Chemba District associate a proper diet with healthy pregnancy and possess awareness of the impact that diet and care have on the health of infants and their mothers. The pre-test results reflect this wisdom, indicating a fair amount of knowledge, favourable attitudes and good practices regarding maternal nutrition.
Nevertheless, findings have demonstrated a clear positive influence across all of the 8 indicators when comparing pre- and post-test results for maternal nutrition, particularly understanding the need for pregnant and lactating women to attend regular health screenings and eat a diverse and balanced diet.
