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Ashlee Reed is a Massachusetts resident, Head Start teacher, college graduate, and a mom struggling every month to stretch a dollar. She lives in Section 8 housing with her three [...]

Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management (ENAM) project provided financial and technical support for caregivers' Income Generation Activities (IGA) with the aim of increasing their access to Animal Source Foods (ASF) for improved child nutrition. Using baseline data from the ENAM project, this study assessed the relationship between the type of caregivers' IGA -whether it is related to ASF [ASF-R] or unrelated [ASF-U]--and the quantity and diversity of ASF consumed by their children. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on household socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and children's ASF consumption in the past week from 530 caregivers of children 2-to 5 years old in 12 communities in three agro-ecological zones of Ghana. A weighed food record of children's dietary intakes was also completed during two 12-hour home observations on a randomly selected sample of 117 children. Approximately 6% (n=32) of caregivers were not engaged in any IGA. Of the caregivers who were involved in an IGA (n=498), approximately one-third of them were engaged in an ASF-R IGA, such as selling smoked fish, selling eggs and the selling cooked food that included ASF. Caregivers (67%) were engaged in ASF-U IGA, such as crop farming, petty trading in non ASF items and artisanal work. The quantity and diversity of ASF consumed by the children did not differ (p=0.988 and p=0.593, respectively) by the type of caregiver IGA. However, after accounting for agro-ecological zone, being involved in an ASF-R IGA positively predicted children's ASF diversity (p Key words: Income-generation activity, Animal source foods, INTRODUCTION The high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies among children in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with diets low in Animal Source Foods (ASF) [1]. Compared to plant foods, ASF are [...]

The Global-Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program's (GL-CRSP) Child Nutrition Project, a controlled feeding trial in rural Kenya, demonstrated the importance of Animal Source Foods (ASF) for children's micronutrient status and cognitive development. These findings prompted research efforts to understand the constraints to ASF in children's diets in Africa so as to design targeted interventions to improve the ASF quality of children's diets. The Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Management (ENAM) project (2004-2009) emanated from participatory formative research that identified six principal constraints to the inclusion of Animal Source Foods (ASF) in children's diets in Ghana, including low income of caregivers, poor producer-consumer linkages, inadequate nutrition knowledge and skills of extension staff and caregivers, cultural beliefs, and inequitable household food distribution. To address these constraints, the ENAM project undertook a multidisciplinary community development, research and capacity building initiative with the goal of augmenting caregivers' access to and use of ASF in children's diets. Participatory processes were used to implement an integrated microcredit, entrepreneurship and nutrition education intervention with 181 caregivers of children 2- to 5-years old in six rural communities across three agro-ecological zones (Guinea Savannah, Forest-Savannah Transitional and Coastal Savannah) of Ghana. Six matched communities from the same ecological zones served as comparison sites. Quantitative methods that included surveys, child anthropometry, and dietary assessment as well as qualitative case studies were used to assess the effect of the intervention on household, caregiver and child outcomes of interest. This paper presents the key features of the planning, design and implementation of the community intervention and the research processes undertaken to assess the project's impacts. The ENAM project model presents a unique approach for addressing caregivers' income and knowledge barriers to improve child nutrition in rural Ghana and may be a promising intervention model for scale-up in Ghana and other African countries. Key words: Microcredit, Intervention, Animal source foods, INTRODUCTION The Global-Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program's (GL-CRSP) Child Nutrition Project, a controlled feeding trial in rural Kenya, assessed the effects of animal source foods (ASF) intake on children's cognitive, [...]

Poor diet quality is the primary determinant of the high prevalence rates of malnutrition in Ghana. In this West African country, young children's diets primarily consist of cereals and roots which have both low energy and nutrient density and poor bioavailability of micronutrients. A 2008 national survey reported that over one-third of children consumed no nutrient-rich Animal Source Foods (ASF) on the previous day. An intervention to enhance children's diet and nutritional status was developed based on the assumption that improving knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of caregivers would lead to increased use of ASF for young children only if ASF availability (presence in the communities) and accessibility (families' ability to obtain ASF through purchase, trade, hunting, or raising animals at home) were also improved. The Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management (ENAM) project introduced an integrated approach of microcredit and weekly sessions of nutrition education and entrepreneurship training among rural women to increase the use of ASF in the diets of their 2-to 5-year-old children. Although the project may have not reached the poorest women in the community, the integrated activities benefited many households in diverse ways--directly through increased income and improved productivity that improved purchasing power and made foods available in the home, as well as indirectly through the empowerment of women participants. Women reported increased self-confidence, leadership skills, and social capital. Children's diets benefited the most when caregivers were engaged in enterprises related to ASF because they facilitated sharing ASF with children and the high profits from these activities increased mothers' ability to purchase other ASF from the market. Other family members also benefited from the project through women sharing loans for joint economic activities, improving the quality of the diet for the whole family, and sharing new knowledge. Integration of rural bank partners from an early stage of the project helped transfer activities to these permanent institutions to expand and sustain project activities. The ENAM project provided the evidence that an integrated package of microcredit and education can improve household food security and improve the diet and growth of young children living in rural communities. Key words: Animal source foods, income-generating activities, The prevalence of childhood malnutrition remains elevated in Ghana with stunting rates in 2008 reaching 40% of 18-to 23-month-old children and 28% of all children below five years of age [...]

Low income and lack of knowledge about child nutrition have been identified as key constraints to the use of Animal Source Foods (ASF) in the diets of young Ghanaian children. To improve ASF consumption among children in Ghana, the Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management (ENAM) project introduced an intervention that combined women's microenterprise development activities with nutrition education on the importance of ASF in children's diets. The present study assessed the effects of the intervention on the participants' enterprise performance, their contribution to key household and child-related expenditures as well as their households' purchases of ASF. Additionally, household ASF consumption was assessed in monetary terms (measured in Ghana cedis (GH¢):1GH¢ = US$ 0.92).A structured questionnaire was used to interview 80 caregivers who participated in the ENAM project activities in four intervention communities and 80 non-participant caregivers in four control communities. Information solicited included household characteristics, profits from microenterprises and contributions to household food and non-food expenditures. Significantly more participant caregivers expanded (P = 0.004) and diversified (P = 0.004) their enterprises and, as a result, tended to have higher average enterprise profits (GH¢19.3 [+ or -] 2.2 vs. GH¢12.2 ± 1.9; P = 0.08) and significantly higher savings (GH¢62.9 ± 2.2 vs. GH¢26.3 ± 1.9; P < 0.05) than non-participant caregivers. In addition, the intervention was associated with significantly higher percentage of monetary contributions by caregivers towards children's health expenses (P < 0.05), school expenses (P < 0.01) as well as expenses on clothing and footwear (P < 0.01). Caregivers' mean percentage contribution to household food expenses also tended to be higher (P < 0.1) for participants (50.8 [+ or -] 3.5%) then for non-participants (41.8 ± 4.1%). Participant households also tended to spend more money (P < 0.10) and consumed significantly more amounts (in monetary value) of ASF (P < 0.01) than non-participant households. Being a participant in the ENAM project's microenterprise development and nutrition education activities was associated with higher enterprise profits, savings deposits, contributions to household- and children-related expenditures, and ASF consumption at the household level. Key words: Microcredit, Entrepreneurship, Income, Expenditures, Ghana, INTRODUCTION There is ample evidence that Animal Source Foods (ASF) have a beneficial role in children's physical and cognitive development due to their high quality protein and highly bioavailable micronutrients [...]

Abstract Despite the renewed commitment of the international community to provide economic opportunities for poor women, most observers suggest that the majority of the past and current experience of communty [...]

This focus group study examined the impact of income transfer programs such as Supplemental Security Income and the Wisconsin Caretaker Supplement from the perspective of low-income mothers with disabilities who are recipients of these programs. Participants reported that these programs were inadequate to meet their basic day to day needs in raising their children. Problems related to policy implementation identified by the women included inconsistently applied program rules, inadequate benefit levels, and confusion over work requirements as they affect benefits. Policy implications and recommendations for improving the quality of life for this population are discussed. KEYWORDS. Low-income mothers, women with disabilities, mothers with disabilities, disability income transfer doi: 10.1080/15544770802118512

STAFF ARE BEING TAUGHT TO DO THEIR JOBS DIFFERENTLY. With the separation of social services and income maintenance functions in the past two decades, eligibility determination for public assistance programs [...]

Changing the culture of an agency is not an easy task but it can be done, as one Maryland county department of social services discovered. In May 1999, the St. [...]

The issues related to pension, savings of poor and pension credit scheme, which guarantees minimum income to the poor, are discussed. The decisions regarding savings so that enough is saved for retirement are presented.