SPRING/Nigeria is implementing a training cascade of the national Community Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Training Package, which focuses on three levels of expertise and ends with the formation of community support groups. The second training phase (the five-day “Training of Coaches/Supervisors”) is aimed at making local resources available, supporting USAID partners, and promoting IYCF practices at the local government level.
In early and late May, 2014, SPRING conducted two five-day IYCF trainings. Participants were drawn from civil society organizations supported by the USAID/Umbrella Grant Mechanism partners (SMILE and STEER), as well as the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and the Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development. A total of 52 participants were trained, with 24 participants attending from Edo state, and 28 participants attending from Kaduna state.
The trainings were action-oriented and participatory, involving group work, role plays, practical sessions, and micro teaching methodologies. SPRING organized field visits to a health facility and a community where participants received hands-on experience forming support groups and conducting group counseling. Overall, the trainings were great successes, with post-training test results showing participants scoring as high as a 23.9% increase in knowledge gained.
Read about the first phase in the Community IYCF training cascade