Accelerating nutrition improvements in Sub-Saharan Africa: strengthening nutrition surveillance

Overview

The surveillance component of Accelerating Nutrition Improvements in sub-Saharan Africa (ANI) was implemented in 11 countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), in collaboration between the ministry of health (MoH), the World Health Organization (WHO) and local partners. ANI also had a scale-up component, implemented in three high-burden Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) countries (Ethiopia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania). ANI was supported by Global Affairs Canada. ANI was supported by Global Affairs Canada.

Surveillance activities were implemented through country-led programmes and strategies and within existing systems to avoid duplication and ensure sustainability.

The surveillance component of the ANI project aimed to:

• strengthen nutrition surveillance systems in eleven high-burden countries;
• conduct nutrition surveys in four countries;
• provide support to countries through global and regional-level activities.

In addition to providing indirect benefit to 66 million women of reproductive age and 46 million children under 5 years of age, and enabling up to 25% of districts to have a functioning data collection system that feeds into national surveillance systems in the 11 countries, the surveillance component of the ANI project resulted in:

• Improved baseline data in four countries;
• strengthened surveillance systems in 11 countries, leading to improved decision making and ability to measure progress;
• a nutrition profile for 11 countries;
• a global monitoring framework for nutrition.