Ivory Coast Nutritional Center

DEFINITION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
The Ivory Coast is experiencing one of the contradictions typical of many countries on the continent: the recent strong economic growth, which makes it one of the largest economies in West Africa, is accompanied by widespread poverty, which affects more than 46% of the population. In addition, the political-military crisis of 2002-2011 contributed both to undermining the existing infrastructure and to deepening the inequalities between the poorer north-west and the rest of the country.
This situation is particularly evident in Man: the provincial capital of the Tonkpi region; the city suffers from a lack of basic services and extreme poverty. The most vulnerable groups of the population, i.e. women and children, suffer the worst consequences: in particular, the condition of the former contributes significantly to that of minors. The most dramatic symptom of the social, health and family problems of the territory and their repercussions on the most fragile groups, is a high level of child malnutrition, which stands at around the critical threshold of 40%, and is among the main causes of mortality under 5 years of age. This figure is inevitably accompanied by a high incidence of maternal mortality at childbirth (614 deaths per 100,000 live births).
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Côte d’Ivoire is a country in West Africa and has a population of about 26.5 million people. The Tonkpi region is in the north-west of the country and is one of the poorest and most backward in the Ivorian state: the headquarters of the SAD project is in the provincial capital MAN in the Mountains district. The city has about 180 thousand inhabitants and, despite being a tourist destination, its economy is based on the agricultural sector, as in the whole region. Public services are lacking, of poor quality and often economically inaccessible for the majority of the population. The Focolare Nutritional Centre, the only CNS in the region, is in the district of Doyagouiné.

COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT

The project to combat malnutrition was launched in 1998 in the Libreville district of Man. In 2002, following the outbreak of the civil war, the CNS was moved to the Doyagouiné district, to a larger social-health structure. For its own use, it has an entrance hall, 3 rooms for consultations, an administrative office, a large multipurpose room, 2 rooms for food storage and distribution, 3 bathrooms and 2 showers. An outdoor veranda leads to the rooms used for the processing of flour and equipped with a kitchen and two storage rooms. In the Centre there is also a vegetable garden and a shop for CNS products.
The beneficiaries of the project are minors, mothers, and volunteers from neighbouring villages. The activities are the prevention and taking charge of medium-serious cases of malnutrition and raising awareness of this in the villages and at the centre; the training of volunteers, the cultivation of a vegetable garden, the production and sale of flour made from local products (corn, soybean, sesame, peanuts, etc.) at controlled prices.
The staff consists of a nurse, a nurse-assistant, an administrative employee, a cleaner, 2 cultural mediators, 2 flour producers, 2 farmers and about 50 volunteers working in the 15 villages where the centre operates.

IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES
 Identification of children and mothers with nutritional problems
 Child malnutrition prevention programme: monitoring of minors, and accompaniment and training for mothers
 Taking charge of cases o nutritional emergency: distribution of local flour, accompaniment for breastfeeding, health care
 Social and health care for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers with nutritional or health difficulties
 Training for mothers and volunteers: on the prevention, identification, and treatment of malnutrition
 Raising awareness of malnutrition in villages
 Production and sale of flour (corn, soybean, sesame, peanuts, etc.) at controlled prices

BENEFICIARIES
There are about 500 direct beneficiaries of the project, of which: 400 children under 5 years of age at risk of malnutrition or malnutrition; 50 pregnant or breastfeeding mothers with nutritional or health difficulties; 50 village volunteers. The beneficiaries are identified during the reception phase at the CNS, through a socio-nutritional consultation, which consists of the detection of parameters such as weight/size/age of the child and an interview with the mother to determine the seriousness of the case and the possible causes of the specific problem. Depending on the classification (emergency; moderate-acute malnutrition; at risk), users are placed on differentiated therapeutic pathways. Volunteers are identified during the outreach or among the family members of CNS users.

ACTIONS
• SUPPORT FOR THE PROJECT
This is an ongoing commitment to support the social and health programme for the entire group of children and their families covered by the AFN project.

• Donations
These are donations with free frequency and amount, in support of the socio-health programme aimed at the entire group of minors and their families covered by the AFN project.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Support for the project. Please contact the coordinators in your country to confirm the annual amount and payment details https://afnonlus.org/contatti/#world
Reason for payment ‘New Support for the Ivory Coast Nutrition Centre Project’ and in subsequent payments ‘renewal of support for the Ivory Coast Nutrition Centre Project’.
•Donations – Reason “Donation project Nutrition Centre-Ivory Coast”.

La sfida più ardua

Curare il bambino attraverso la mamma, il Centro nutrizionale a Man in Costa d’Avorio