CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study       

 Non-governmental agencies and development intervention organisations have come to realise the importance of communication to development (Hybels and Weaver, 1998; Hargie and Dixon, 2004). In this regard, the United Nations Children‟s Fund (UNICEF) has also fashioned communication approaches in its development intervention projects to attain sustainability and impact. How successful these approaches are when deployed is now a subject for reviews and reassessments. Consequently, this study appraises the UNICEF communication strategies used in the Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices (IYCF) in Benue State which was primarily concerned with addressing the issue of malnutrition.

The IYCF project in each community required the counsellors to set up a support group that provides advice to mothers on child care especially during a child‟s first 1000 days-from pregnancy to their second birthday. In addition, the counsellors also visit each young mother at home to reinforce the messages and work through the individual household dynamics that may make it difficult for the women to practice what they learnt (UNICEF, 2015). The project‟s communication strategies include, Counselling, Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials, and Radio broadcast.

Over the years, there has been growing attention on the importance of healthy and nutritious complementary foods during the first years of a child‟s life (Save the Children,

2012), (UNICEF, 2013). In fact, the guiding principles of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) as delineated by World Health Organization (WHO) state that children should receive six months of exclusive breastfeeding, after which other food sources should be introduced to complement the child‟s diet because the mother‟s milk alone can no longer provide all the required nutrients (WHO, 2013). Also, the recommended period for complementary feeding is between 6 and 24 months of age. Research has shown that this period is the most vulnerable stage in a child‟s development, where incidents of growth faltering, micronutrient deficiencies and infectious illnesses abound (WHO, 2009).Since this period in a child‟s life is such a „critical window‟ for healthy, physical and mental development, much attention goes to promote adequate IYCF practices. However, healthy, physical and mental development is not the only reason for which complementary foods are introduced to children. It also serves the purpose of acculturation that is, introducing gradually a child to the diet and eating habits of its family and community (Palmer, 2011).  

Successful IYCF interventions rely on behaviour and social change which can largely be reached through political commitment, adequate resource allocation, capacity development and effective communication. Current investments in nutrition in general and IYCF in particular, are very small when compared to the magnitude of the effects of malnutrition, both as a health and as a social problem. Although the challenges in the field of health and health communication have become complex in nature, UNICEF adopted certain communication approaches to address issues of malnutrition among infants such as one-on-one counselling and use of IEC materials. The primacy of good nutrition to a child‟s growth and development demanded a critical appraisal of UNICEF‟s communication interventions in improving infant and young child feeding if sustainable achievements in child survival, growth and development are to be attained. This will play a significant effect on the chances of improving society‟s general development.

In 1996, the World Food Summit had a structured goal aimed at reducing the number of undernourished people by 2015 based on the data retrieved in 2007. This data estimated that the number of undernourished people in developing countries was 824 million in 199092 and in 2003-05, the figure stood at 848 million and reached 923 million in 2007. This makes Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 that aim at reducing child mortality and maternal mortality respectively seem very unlikely to be achieved (UNICEF, 2016). Other data sources estimated that each year about 1 million Nigerian children die before their fifth birthday and malnutrition contributes to nearly half of these deaths. This situation is very alarming and calls for serious concern. Also, the rates of „stunting‟ in Nigeria have continued to increase for more than a decade. About 2 in 5 Nigerian children are stunted even with all the interventions and projects put in place by both the government and international partners (Black et al., 2013).

In 1992, a UNICEF causal model for under-nutrition gained widespread acceptance for its recognition of three underlying and immediate causes of malnutrition: food insecurity, poor health, and inappropriate caring practices (UNICEF, 2012). To address these immediate causes, the IYCF project was kick started in Benue and other parts of Nigeria to train women and communities on best practices in raising and caring for their children. These included an orientation on exclusive breastfeeding, Key Household Practices, methods of detecting early signs and symptoms of malnutrition, pneumonia and diarrhoea, maintaining a normal Body Mass Index, immunisations and sessions on the psycho-social needs of the child to ensure proper upbringing.

Although Benue state is described as the „food basket of the nation‟ because of the large availability of food in the state and large arable land space, statistics have revealedthat17% of children are„ moderately underweight‟, 7% are „moderately wasted‟ while 26% are „moderately stunted‟ (Benue State Ministry of Health, 2009). This shows that 50% of children in Benue are deficient in their nutritional wellbeing. Hence, this poses a great threat to the development of the state; if half the population of children are malnourished they would turn out as dependent adults, not able to contribute to the development of the society while tasking the other half to care for them. Of greater consequence to this study is the reality that the availability of food is not necessarily a guarantee for good nutrition. In this regard,communication can play a major part in adopting healthy nutritional habits.

Howeverin 2015, the National Population Commission of Nigeria and ICF International, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, estimated that, 23% of children in Benue state are “stunted”. This data showed that there has been a significant reduction in the rate of malnutrition after the deployment of the IYCF programme and this calls for an investigation of the programme to understudy the approaches used, (NNHS, 2015).

The IYCF project, tagged “Counsellors Teaching Mothers the Benefits of Locally Grown Foods in Benue” was initiated in 2011. Since then, the project has been implemented in different parts of Nigeria such as Yobe, Bauchi, Katsina and Sokoto in order to end malnutrition in the country. Following this development a report was posted on UNICEF website on the 9^th of August 2013 claiming that:The project involved the use of counsellors to move health education out of the overwhelmed health centres and into homes and villages to reverse the problem of stunted- growth, particularly in rural areas, where nearly half the children are underweight. 

With the emphasis on communication as an essential component in instilling healthier behaviours, it would therefore be pertinent to assess the communication approaches deployed by UNICEF in order to ascertain the level of impact achieved through the IYCF project. Black (2013) as cited earlier, noted that with all the interventions deployed to address malnutrition in Nigeria, the rate of stunted growth has continued to increasefor two decades now. This suggests that, there could be a gap in the communication approaches adopted and hence the reason for the increasein malnutrition among Nigerian children. It is on this basis that this study undertook an appraisal of UNICEF‟s communication approaches with a view

to identify the reasons behind such stagnation in the development of children.

1.2       Statement of the Research Problem             

 Despite the increase in projects involving nutritionaleducation and thelarge span of arable land being used for food production in Benue state, malnutrition is still on the increase. Non-governmental agencies, independent cooperatives and the government have, at different points, embarked on intervention projects to address issues of malnutrition in Nigeria with little or no success. Issues such as suitability, funding and staffing among others also affect the course of implementation, thereby reducing the effect of the project on the beneficiaries, (Federal Ministry of Health, 2013).Various media channels, strategies and approaches have also been designed and implemented to tackle the issue of malnutrition but the outcome has shown that malnutrition is still around.

Current statistics show that if malnutrition is not reduced it could have a very grievous effect on the population and this poses a great development challenge to Nigeria as a whole. There is therefore the need to appraise the communication strategies deployed in communicating healthy nutritional behaviour so as to identify the reason(s) for such a developmental gap. This is because communication has come to be seen as central to behavioural change and development. This study, therefore, appraised UNICEF‟s communication approaches in the IYCF project in order to measure their effectivenessin alleviating the challenges of malnutrition among children of Benue State.

1.3       Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is toappraise the communication strategies used by UNICEF in the IYCF project geared towards the reduction of malnutrition in Benue State.

The objectives of this study are therefore:

1.     To identifythe communication approaches adopted by UNICEF for the IYCF project.

2.     To examine the extent to which these communication approaches have been utilized to benefit the study locations

3.     To evaluate effective ways of communicating nutrition for healthy living and personal development.

1.4       Research Questions                

1.     What is the communication approaches used in IYCF project at Benue State?

2.     How successful are these communication approaches in addressing malnutrition and instigating behavioural change?

3.     What communication approaches would be more suitable and effective in improving healthy living and personal development?

1.6           Justification for Study

Communication is at the heart of all human endeavours. It has been identified as central to development. So many communication approaches have been applied to ensure sustainable development, especially in UNICEF‟s IYCF project yet the problems still linger. This study is justified as an attempt at appraising communication approaches with a view to find the reasons behind their inefficiencyin development interventions.

This research is based in Benue State which is one of the states in Nigeria with large arable land space and abundance of food all year round. Despite this, the state has a large percentage of malnutrition cases. Specifically concerned with nutritional education and communication approaches, the findings, analysis and recommendation of this research would assist the government, stakeholdersand other related bodies to improve in the area of nutritional communication. This research will generate a process for scholars, students and other researchers, to improve on the communication approaches available to rid the menace of malnutrition plaguing the nation.

1.7           Scope of the Study

There are many nutritional projects in Nigeria today implemented in differentparts of the country. However, this research is primarily concerned with the UNICEF IYCF project conducted in Benue state, particularly Northbank and Agan communities inMakurdi LGA and Otobi and Ogboju communities in Otukpo LGA.This research limits its scope to a study of the communication approaches of the nutrition projects of Counsellors Teaching Mothers the Benefits of Locally Grown Foods by UNICEF in Benue state which took place between

2010 and 2015. 

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