Social protection to boost child health in SADC region

Genesis partnered with the SADC secretariat and Nutrition International to conduct a comprehensive landscape review in light of the inadequate growth and development of young children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Several SADC member states are implementing social protection measures to address poor nutrition outcomes, especially among women and young children in the first 1,000 days. These programmes use cash transfers, health and social services linkage, food supplementation and other complementary interventions.

We aimed to identify and evaluate impactful and innovative nutrition-sensitive social protection policies and programmes within the region. We also sought to provide evidence to facilitate the scale-up of these innovations across SADC member states.

Genesis conducted key informant interviews with social protection and nutrition specialists in each member state to achieve this. We also performed a systematic secondary literature review of grey literature, policy documents and peer-reviewed literature. Through this process, we identified innovative and impactful programmes in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola and Malawi.

The team compiled the findings into a detailed report and policy note. We hosted a webinar to share these insights with stakeholders.