USAID Nawiri Project

Despite significant investment by government and donors to address acute malnutrition in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) over many years, acute malnutrition rates frequently remain above emergency levels and even when households’ access to food and quality healthcare increases, there is little improvement. County level, context-specific, integrated, multi-sectoral initiatives that leverage ongoing emergency and development activities and provide sustainable solutions to the complex development problem of persistent acute malnutrition in Kenya’s ASALs is required. Nawiri, a 5 year USAID funded programme (2019-2024) with several implementing partners (Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), The BOMA Project, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and Caritas Lodwar. CHC is the learning partner. USAID Nawiri project is aimed at addressing persistent acute malnutrition (PAM). Sixteen research studies and assessments to date have been conducted in an effort to review the landscape and provide evidence on identified gaps in research and learning around how to contribute to sustainably reducing PAM in Samburu and Turkana.

The programme has involved county stakeholders as equal partners from research design and validation to community engagement. Through this approach, the programme is initiating institutional strengthening looking towards sustained systems-driven implementation. Strategy is also being adapted based on research and learning.

Learning sprints

To drive the collaborative design and adaptive implementation of its COVID-19 response plan, CHC has applied innovative participatory action research in the form of learning sprints. Learning sprints will help ensure that the legacy of COVID-19 for USAID Nawiri is not delayed action or missed opportunities, but rather accelerated progress towards the program’s ultimate goal of sustainably reducing persistent acute malnutrition.