When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi
Background: Community-based preschool meals can provide an effective platform for implementing integrated agriculture and nutrition programs. However, there is little evidence on the costs and cost-efficiency of implementing these types of multisectoral interventions. Objectives: Assess the economi...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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SAGE Publications
2021
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142539 |
| _version_ | 1855513997550288896 |
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| author | Margolies, Amy Gelli, Aulo Daryanani, Roshan Twalibu, Aisha Levin, Carol |
| author_browse | Daryanani, Roshan Gelli, Aulo Levin, Carol Margolies, Amy Twalibu, Aisha |
| author_facet | Margolies, Amy Gelli, Aulo Daryanani, Roshan Twalibu, Aisha Levin, Carol |
| author_sort | Margolies, Amy |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Background: Community-based preschool meals can provide an effective platform for implementing integrated agriculture and nutrition programs. However, there is little evidence on the costs and cost-efficiency of implementing these types of multisectoral interventions.
Objectives: Assess the economic costs and cost-efficiency of implementing an effective integrated nutrition-sensitive intervention through a preschool platform in Malawi, including community-level contributions.
Methods: The Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) framework and methods were applied to assess financial and economic costs of the intervention. A mixed-methods approach was used to measure and allocate costs for program activities and inputs using financial expenditure data combined with micro-costing. All costs were allocated to input and expenditure categories using the SEEMS-Nutrition framework. To facilitate comparisons with existing school meals programs, activities were also mapped against a standardized school feeding supply chain framework.
Results: The total annualized cost of the program was US$197 377, inclusive of both financial and economic costs. The annual economic cost of the program ranged from US$160 per preschool child to US$41 per beneficiary. The principal drivers of cost by program activity were training (46%), school meals provision (19%), monitoring and evaluation (12%), and establishing and running community groups (6.5%). Notably, community contributions accounted for 25% and were driven by food donations and volunteer labor.
Conclusions: Cost per beneficiary estimates of implementing an integrated agriculture–nutrition intervention through an early childhood development platform compare favorably with similar interventions. Further research is needed that applies a standardized economic evaluation framework to such multisectoral interventions. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace142539 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| publisherStr | SAGE Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1425392025-12-09T21:37:14Z When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi Margolies, Amy Gelli, Aulo Daryanani, Roshan Twalibu, Aisha Levin, Carol costs child development school feeding childhood development cost benefit analysis agriculture preschool children nutrition cost-efficiency Background: Community-based preschool meals can provide an effective platform for implementing integrated agriculture and nutrition programs. However, there is little evidence on the costs and cost-efficiency of implementing these types of multisectoral interventions. Objectives: Assess the economic costs and cost-efficiency of implementing an effective integrated nutrition-sensitive intervention through a preschool platform in Malawi, including community-level contributions. Methods: The Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) framework and methods were applied to assess financial and economic costs of the intervention. A mixed-methods approach was used to measure and allocate costs for program activities and inputs using financial expenditure data combined with micro-costing. All costs were allocated to input and expenditure categories using the SEEMS-Nutrition framework. To facilitate comparisons with existing school meals programs, activities were also mapped against a standardized school feeding supply chain framework. Results: The total annualized cost of the program was US$197 377, inclusive of both financial and economic costs. The annual economic cost of the program ranged from US$160 per preschool child to US$41 per beneficiary. The principal drivers of cost by program activity were training (46%), school meals provision (19%), monitoring and evaluation (12%), and establishing and running community groups (6.5%). Notably, community contributions accounted for 25% and were driven by food donations and volunteer labor. Conclusions: Cost per beneficiary estimates of implementing an integrated agriculture–nutrition intervention through an early childhood development platform compare favorably with similar interventions. Further research is needed that applies a standardized economic evaluation framework to such multisectoral interventions. 2021-04-21 2024-05-22T12:10:38Z 2024-05-22T12:10:38Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142539 en Open Access SAGE Publications Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo; Daryanani, Roshan; Twalibu, Aisha; and Levin, Carol. 2021. When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 42(1): 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0379572120986693 |
| spellingShingle | costs child development school feeding childhood development cost benefit analysis agriculture preschool children nutrition cost-efficiency Margolies, Amy Gelli, Aulo Daryanani, Roshan Twalibu, Aisha Levin, Carol When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title | When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title_full | When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title_fullStr | When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title_short | When communities pull their weight: The economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home-grown preschool meal intervention in Malawi |
| title_sort | when communities pull their weight the economic costs of an integrated agriculture and nutrition home grown preschool meal intervention in malawi |
| topic | costs child development school feeding childhood development cost benefit analysis agriculture preschool children nutrition cost-efficiency |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142539 |
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