Project profile — Building Capacity for Sustainable Livelihoods and Health

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: improved access by women, adolescents, children, and other vulnerable groups to district services offered in rural nutrition and health, agriculture, small businesses and environment; and, increased planning and implementation capacity of rural communities, particularly women, at the district level in nutrition/health, agricultural production, small businesses, and environment.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (June 2018) include: (1) throughout the Upper Manya Krobo district (UMKD), the enrollment of mothers in microcredit programs progressed from 19.1% (54 women) at baseline to 24.7% (71 women), with 88% of enrolled mothers having reported a high level of satisfaction with the programs; (2) saving accounts were opened for 666 adolescents girls directly involved in the project and another 564 girls of nearby sub-district through a local bank; (3) the rate of the exclusive breastfeeding of infants less than 6 months of age has progressed from 69.9% (885 infants of which 457 female) to 92.5% (1,171 infants of which 565 female); (4) 98.7% of children (3,749 children of which 1,846 girls) are consuming animal source food (compared to 54.7% at baseline), and differences observed between girls (51.7%) and boys (59.9%) before the project disappeared (girls 98.6%; boys 98.8%); (5) 58.5% of infants and young children (2,193 infants and children) of UMKD are now meeting the minimum diet diversity recommendation; (6) the percentage of malnourished children in the district decreased going from 5.8% to 2.4%; (7) the percentage of women reporting income generating activities at the district level increased to 86.2% (785 out of 911 women) compared to 53.9% at baseline; and (8) median income generated by women increased by 66.7%, from 30 Ghanaian cedis at baseline to 50 Ghanaian cedis. These results contributed to improving: (i) the dietary and nutritional status of women of child-bearing age, adolescents and young children; and (ii) the economic activities of vulnerable groups living in Upper Manya Krobo district of Ghana.