Clinical trial NCT05062382: Complementary Feeding Project in Ethiopia
Official title: Complementary Feeding Project in Ethiopia
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Egg Consumption
Lead sponsor: University of South Carolina
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
First posted: 2021-09-30
Enrollment: 1132
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 59
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Cross-sectional pre- post-evaluation of intervention and comparison group
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based foundation, implemented a complementary feeding project to improve dietary quality among children 6-59 months of age living in Ethiopia by improving demand and access to eggs. Using a quasi-experimental design and two separate cross-sectional surveys at baseline and end-line, the evaluation seeks to determine the effects of the program on egg consumption, availability of eggs, caregivers' behaviours toward eggs, and caregivers' willingness to pay for eggs.

Detailed description: The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based foundation, implemented a complementary feeding project to improve dietary quality among children 6-59 months of age living in Ethiopia by improving demand and access to eggs. The complementary feeding project aimed to boost children's consumption of eggs. The intervention incorporated demand creation campaigns and supported selected delivery channels and producers who provided eggs to communities. GAIN's demand creation strategy was designed to complement the Ethiopian government's effort to use social and behavior change communication to encourage consumption of nutritious complementary foods. This campaign was implemented through the existing health extension system.

Areas included in the intervention arm received direct support for egg producers and suppliers and an egg demand creation campaign. Supply-side interventions included training for farmers, identification of distribution channels, mapping of retailers, and creation of linkages between egg producers and egg suppliers. Egg demand-creation activities were executed through above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) campaigns. The ATL campaigns included radio messages, bajaja branding, billboard mounting, and digital promotion. The BTL campaigns include market activation, road shows, sensitization workshops for key community groups, door-to-door promotion, and mobile promotion in collaboration with creative agencies and health extension workers. Both sets of activities focused on creating awareness around eggs as a daily nutritious food option for children.

Originally, the study intended to also increase availability of, and demand for, commercially-available complementary foods (i.e., Cerifam and Fafa), however, these components of the intervention were not delivered. Therefore, we have removed these components from the description and removed the outcomes that corresponded with these components of the intervention.

Using a quasi-experimental design and two separate cross-sectional surveys at baseline and end-line, the evaluation seeks to determine the effects of the program on egg consumption, availability of eggs, caregivers' behaviours toward eggs, and caregivers' willingness to pay for eggs.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Living in the project areas
* Caregiver 18 years old or above

Exclusion Criteria:

* households without children between the ages of 6-59 months

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in the number of eggs consumed from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
measure: Change in the consumption of eggs from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in household egg production from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
measure: Change in egg purchasing from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
measure: Change in caregivers' (of children 6-59 months) behavioral determinants in the context of feeding eggs to children from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
measure: Change in caregivers' willingness to pay for eggs from baseline to end-line
timeFrame: From baseline to 22 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Addis Ababa
country: Ethiopia
facility: Deep Dive Research and Consulting PLC
Study officials:
affiliation: University of South Carolina
name: Edward A Frongillo, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: