Sustainable Community Nutrition and Well-being Enhancement approach of the CLEAR Project

The CLEAR Project has systematic approach for promoting nutrition, with an emphasis on behavioral change and improving access to nutritious food. The details are as follows:

1. Establishment of Community Nutrition Groups (CNG):

• The project will establish Community Nutrition Groups (CNG) in each target village, with a focus on mothers and caregivers of children under 2 years.
• These groups will serve as platforms for learning and sharing experiences related to food preparation and good hygiene practices.

2. Social and Behavior Change Communication Activities (SBCC):

• Use participatory communication techniques to create changes in knowledge and actual practices.
• Utilize Multi-Media Peer Learning (MMPL), such as recording instructional videos on food preparation in local languages or ethnic languages. This ensures that people who cannot read or write can understand and apply the practices.

3. Increasing Food Production and Dietary Diversity:

• Home Nutrition Gardens: Promote the growing of high-nutrient vegetables without the use of chemicals.
• Livestock and Goat Milk Raising: Promote goat rearing for milk and small livestock raising as a source of protein for families.
• Food Preparation: Demonstrate improved food preparation methods (e.g., enriching rice flour porridge with nutrients) and provide food preparation equipment to CNG groups.

4. Technical and Human Resource Support:

• Deploy Nutrition Young Graduates (NYG) to reside in target villages to provide close guidance and monitoring of nutrition activities.
• Coordinate with the Lao Women’s Union and Youth Organizations at the village level to support project activities.
• Collaborate with the Ministry of Health to ensure that all techniques are consistent with national policies.

5. Linkages with Other Activities:

• The project requires that small-scale infrastructure development (Component 1) must support nutrition aspects, such as clean water systems for use in home gardens.
• Income generation activities (Component 2) must also emphasize the production of nutritious food.

Ultimate Goal of these approach is to reduce stunting rates in children and increase dietary diversity (consumption of at least 5 out of 8 recommended food groups) for children aged 6–23 months in the target communities.