FANTA UPDATE | June 2013 In this issue of the FANTA Update, we highlight some of the latest publications, events, and news from the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA). All materials can be found on our website at www.fantaproject.org. A complete list of publications can be found in the attached catalog. Please send any comments, questions, or suggestions to us at our email address fantamail@fhi360.org. ------------------------------------------------------------ Second Food Aid and Food Security Assessment (FAFSA-2) This report is a comprehensive review of the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) Title II development food aid program from FY 2003 to FY 2009. The report focuses on the areas of agriculture and natural resource management; infrastructure; maternal and child health and nutrition; water, sanitation, and hygiene; HIV; and Title II program management. Overall, the results of the FAFSA-2 analysis indicate that Title II development programs can reduce undernutrition in young children, improve a number of important maternal and child health and nutrition outcomes, and increase household access to income and food. The FAFSA-2 identifies approaches and practices that are more likely to contribute to positive food security impacts, examples of approaches and practices that have not worked well, and recommendations for future programs. A summary report is also available, which provides a synopsis of the findings and recommendations that are expanded on in the full report. Both the summary and full report are available at http://www.fantaproject.org/fafsa2/index.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Partnership for HIV-Free Survival (PHFS) Launch Meeting Report In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) published revised guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) (Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating Pregnant Women and Preventing HIV Infection in Infants) and an accompanying Guidelines on HIV and Infant Feeding. Together, WHO and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) conceived of the Partnership for HIV-Free Survival (PHFS) to facilitate and accelerate implementation of these guidelines. The PHFS is owned and led by the ministries of health of six member countries—Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda—and supported by UNICEF, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), University Research Corporation (URC) (through the Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems [ASSIST] Project), HEALTHQUAL, and FHI 360 (through the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project [FANTA]). The PHFS was launched in March 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. Partnership members spent four days working together to develop the partnership’s concepts and principles and to set common and country-specific goals for implementation of the PHFS. This report summarizes the proceedings of the PHFS launch meeting. The meeting report can be downloaded at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/phfs-launch-2013.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Urban Gardens Program for HIV-Affected Women and Children: A Review and Look to the Future Food and livelihood insecurity is an insidious and long-term consequence of HIV, affecting the health, productivity, and assets of families affected by the disease. One intervention implemented to address this complex problem is the Urban Gardens Program for HIV-Affected Women and Children (UGP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Ethiopia. The program targeted beneficiaries in 23 urban centers across Ethiopia using two approaches: school gardens and community group gardens. USAID/Ethiopia asked the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) to conduct a review of this program to assess its acceptability and ownership, evaluate outcomes, and identify options for transitioning and sustaining the program’s successful activities. This review can be downloaded at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/urban-gardens-review-2013.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ Integration of Nutrition Indicators into Ghana’s HIV and Tuberculosis Monitoring and Evaluation System: Summary Report Since 2010, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has been integrating nutrition assessment, counseling, and support (NACS) into routine HIV services. A rapid review of 11 NACS pilot sites was carried out in 2011 to inform the further scale-up of NACS in Ghana. One of the review’s key recommendations was to integrate nutrition indicators into routine HIV M&E systems to help track progress and to help decision making at the different levels of service delivery. A second review, conducted in 2013, assessed the outcome of the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) and GHS efforts to integrate nutrition indicators into HIV and tuberculosis monitoring and evaluation systems. The summary report of the 2013 review can be downloaded at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/ghana-integrating-indicators-2013.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ghana PROFILES Nutrition Advocacy Briefs Despite advances in economic growth and improvement in health indicators, Ghana’s rates of undernutrition remain high. The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) and the Ghana Health Service launched an initiative, “Build the Future, Invest in Nutrition Now,” to engage government and other high-level stakeholders in a collaborative nutrition advocacy process to identify, prioritize, and advocate for evidence-based actions to improve nutrition. As part of the launch, FANTA developed a set of five advocacy pieces to guide discussions during a series of meetings with key stakeholders. These materials, which cover issues related to nutrition and health, education, and agriculture, can be downloaded at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/ghana-advocacy-2013.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ A Process Evaluation of the Tubaramure Program for Preventing Malnutrition in Children under 2 Approach (PM2A) in Burundi The Preventing Malnutrition in Children under 2 Approach (PM2A) is a package of health and nutrition interventions aimed at preventing child undernutrition by simultaneously addressing the essential underlying causes of undernutrition. But there are still questions about the contribution of various aspects of PM2A to its success, and the relatively high cost of the approach remains a concern. The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) are collaborating on studies of PM2A programs to learn whether the duration of benefits or the size of food rations can be reduced without affecting positive outcomes, whether it is always necessary to give rations to pregnant women to ensure optimal delivery outcomes and reduce early child malnutrition, and what is the added benefit of food rations to PM2A’s behavior change communication and health components. This report presents the results from an operations research study of the Tubaramure program, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Food for Peace (FFP) PM2A program being implemented in two provinces in Burundi by a consortium of nongovernmental organizations led by Catholic Relief Services. This report can be downloaded at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/burundi_PM2A_2013.shtml. A baseline report of this program, Strengthening and Evaluating the Preventing Malnutrition in Children under 2 Approach (PM2A) in Burundi, is available at http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/burundi_PM2A_2012.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------ To be removed from this listserv, send any message to: fantamail@fhi360.org ------------------------------------------------------------ FANTA works to improve and strengthen nutrition and food security policies, strategies, programs, and systems through technical support to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners, including host country governments, international organizations, and nongovernmental organization implementing partners. FANTA aims to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable groups through technical support in the areas of maternal and child health and nutrition in development and emergency contexts, HIV and other infectious diseases, food security and livelihood strengthening, agriculture and nutrition linkages, and emergency assistance in nutrition crises. FANTA develops and adapts approaches to support the design and implementation of country-level programs, while building on field experience to improve and expand the evidence base, methods, and global standards for nutrition and food security programming. The project, managed by FHI 360 and funded by USAID, is a 5-year cooperative agreement.