‘Men are not playing their roles’, maternal and child nutrition in Nanoro, Burkina Faso

Abstract

Objective: To collect context-specific insights into maternal and child health and nutrition issues, and to explore potential solutions in Nanoro, Burkina Faso. Design: Eleven focus groups with men and women from eleven communities, facilitated by local researchers. Setting: The study took place in the Nanoro Health district, in the West-Central part of Burkina Faso. Participants: Eighty-six men (18–55 years) and women by age group: 18–25; 26–34 and 35–55 years, participated in the group discussions. Results: Participants described barriers to optimal nutrition of mothers and children related to a range of community factors, with gender inequality as central. Major themes in the discussions are related to poverty and challenges generated by socially and culturally determined gender roles. Sub-themes are women lacking access to food whilst pregnant and having limited access to health care and opportunities to generate income. Although communities believe that food donations should be implemented to overcome this, they also pointed out the need for enhancing their own food production, requiring improved agricultural technologies. Given the important role that women could play in reducing malnutrition, these communities felt they needed to be empowered to do so and supported by men. They also felt that this had to be carried out in the context of an enhanced health care system. Conclusions: Findings reported here highlight the importance of nutrition-sensitive interventions and women’s empowerment in improving maternal and child nutrition. There is a need to integrate a sustainable multi-sectorial approach which goes beyond food support.

Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa

“…These interventions may be more effective if focused on women in poorly nourished communities (20,(44)(45)(46)(47)(48) . Women in our focus groups felt overburdened with domestic chores and said that their men were largely absent from family life (22) . The men wanted to be included in raising their children but felt unable to fulfil their role as providers.…”

“…The men's guide is similar.) Participants were recruited using site-specific sampling strategies, which are described in the three other INPreP papers in this special issue (22,23,28) . All focus groups took place between January and March 2019, which is the dry season in Nanoro and Navrongo, and the rainy season in Soweto.…”

“…Further, the transitioning roles of women reduces obligations to marry, increases opportunities for employment and 'personal liberation : : : being perceived as a free woman' (20) , which may offer women the chance to have more control over their family's health and nutrition status. Women's economic and political empowerment has long been linked to better health and well-being of their families (21) , issues which are discussed in another paper in this special issue (22) .…”

“…Previous qualitative studies have described beliefs and practices concerning food and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, but have not explored communities' understandings of causes of and solutions to poor maternal and child nutrition. Objectives of the study reported here were therefore to explore communities' perceptions of factors affecting maternal and child nutrition in three transitioning sub-Saharan African sites and to collect ideas for context-specific solutions to maternal and child nutrition problems (22,23,28) .…”

Supporting maternal and child nutrition: views from community members in rural Northern Ghana

“…Improved Nutrition Preconception Pregnancy Post-Delivery aims to develop supportive delivery of nutrition interventions in the 'first 1000 days plus', meaning preconception, pregnancy and the first 2 years of life. The community's perceptions of such interventions are presented in this special series (18)(19)(20) . These were collected to inform the design of interventions to improve maternal and child health and nutrition in these populations.…”