Microenterprise Development Coupled With Nutrition Education Can Help
Increase Caregivers&Apos; Incomes And Household Accessibility To Animal
Source Foods
Low income and lack of knowledge about child nutrition have been
identified as key constraints to the use of Animal Source Foods (ASF)
in the diets of young Ghanaian children. To improve ASF consumption
among children in Ghana, the Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal
Source Food Management (ENAM) project introduced an intervention that
combined women's microenterprise development activities with nutrition
education on the importance of ASF in children's diets. The present
study assessed the effects of the intervention on the participants'
enterprise performance, their contribution to key household and
child-related expenditures as well as their households' purchases of
ASF. Additionally, household ASF consumption was assessed in monetary
terms (measured in Ghana cedis (GH¢):1GH¢ = US$ 0.92).A
structured questionnaire was used to interview 80 caregivers who
participated in the ENAM project activities in four intervention
communities and 80 non-participant caregivers in four control
communities. Information solicited included household characteristics,
profits from microenterprises and contributions to household food and
non-food expenditures. Significantly more participant caregivers
expanded (P=0.004) and diversified (P=0.004) their enterprises and, as
a result, tended to have higher average enterprise profits
(GH¢19.3 ± 2.2 vs. GH¢12.2 ± 1.9; P=0.08) and
significantly higher savings (GH¢62.9 ± 2.2 vs. GH¢26.3
± 1.9; P<0.05) than non-participant caregivers. In addition,
the intervention was associated with significantly higher percentage of
monetary contributions by caregivers towards children's health expenses
(P<0.05), school expenses (P<0.01) as well as expenses on
clothing and footwear (P<0.01). Caregivers' mean percentage
contribution to household food expenses also tended to be higher
(P<0.1) for participants (50.8 ± 3.5%) then for
non-participants (41.8 ± 4.1%). Participant households also tended
to spend more money (P<0.10) and consumed significantly more amounts
(in monetary value) of ASF (P<0.01) than non-participant households.
Being a participant in the ENAM project's microenterprise development
and nutrition education activities was associated with higher
enterprise profits, savings deposits, contributions to household- and
children-related expenditures, and ASF consumption at the household
level