Training

In 2017, SPRING/Ghana started piloting Father-to-Father Support Groups in four communities in the Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana. These groups are comprised of 15-17 men who meet twice per month to discuss family-oriented issues that include infant and young child feeding, household interaction and support, and male involvement in child welfare. These discussions are geared to improve men’s support to women within the household.

From May 4-8, 2017, SPRING/Senegal trained all six partner networks in Senegal on the technical and business elements of operating and maintaining cereal processing machinery.

In April 2017, SPRING/Guinea tested and refined a nutrition-sensitive agriculture training package that will be integrated into a broader agro-preneur program curriculum for use by the Feed the Future-funded Strengthening Market-Led Agricultural Research, Technology, and Education (SMARTE) activity in Guinea. Through its Apprentisage en Vulgarisation, Entrepreneuriat et l’Innovation Rurale (AVENIR) program, SMARTE is training local agro-preneurs to work with private-sector value chain actors throughout Guinea.

Anemia remains a severe public health problem in Ghana, with 65.7% of children under five and 42.4% of women in reproductive age (WRA) suffering from anemia, according to the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey report (GDHS). The Northern Region is more severely affected, with 82.1% and 47.5%, respectively, of children under five and WRA suffering from anemia.

Women's economic empowerment directly improves the family’s nutritional status. Village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) are community-managed groups aimed at empowering community members economically by providing them with a designated safe place to save their money and routine access to small loans and emergency insurance.