Dl. Pelletier et U. Jonsson, THE USE OF INFORMATION IN THE IRINGA NUTRITION PROGRAM - SOME GLOBAL LESSONS FOR NUTRITION SURVEILLANCE, Food policy, 19(3), 1994, pp. 301-313
The Iringa Nutrition Programme (INP) in Tanzania is a community-based
programme to improve the nutritional status of women and children. It
differs from most other programmes of its size by employing a process
approach to identify causes of and solutions to malnutrition at househ
old and community levels. This process approach requires that househol
ds and communities be sensitized to the nature of malnutrition in soci
ety; that they be trained and supported in their efforts to identify l
ocal causes and solutions; and that they and the supporting administra
tive levels correctly perceive the roles and responsibilities each has
for the persistence or reduction of malnutrition. Information on the
nutritional status (weight-for-age) of children plays a central role i
n this process, as part of a simple, ongoing management information sy
stem. This information system is one of the best examples of 'nutritio
n surveillance for programme management and evaluation', but it depart
s from the conventional model of such a system in important ways. The
principles developed in Iringa have recently been used to guide a revi
ew of experience with national surveillance systems in other countries
, and to re-think the underlying theory of nutrition surveillance. Thi
s paper documents the principle lessons from Iringa and provides concr
ete suggestions for improving national-level surveillance in light of
these lessons.