Promotion of Key Family Practices in the Tanout and Magaria departments, Zinder region, Niger

Abstract

The adoption of Key Family Practices (KFP) plays a determinant role in improving the health and nutritional status of children under 5 years of age. In its community-based nutrition programme, the French Red Cross implemented a strategy of promoting KFPs in 75 villages in the Tanout and Magaria departments of Zinder region in Niger. The key actors in the implementation of this strategy were volunteer workers from the Niger Red Cross, who, after receiving training in KFP and communication and negotiation techniques, carried out awareness-raising activities to encourage behaviour changes through home visits and cooking demonstrations. Food taboos and ignorance are among the underlying causes of malnutrition and represent a true hindrance to the improvement of children's health and nutritional status. Awareness-raising is one of the pillars of behaviour-change interventions