The goal of the Improved Nutrition (PIN) project is to reduce the burden of under-nutrition in Uganda through strengthening the capacity of a local company to become a sustainable manufacturer and distributor of therapeutic and supplementary foods to meet national and/or regional demand. RECO Industries Limited is the lead implementing agency with partners NUTRISET and University Research Company providing technical support on the quality standards of food production and organizational and management systems. The objectives are to: (1) Provide technical support to an indigenous private food manufacturing organization to improve its financial management systems; marketing; food production quality control; human resource management, and supply chain management; (2) Provide livelihood empowerment; improved agricultural practices; and increased market access of at least 80,000-150,000 small scale farmers located in rural districts; (3) The procurement and distribution of therapeutic and supplementary foods from the local company for the treatment of acutely malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women and PLHAs in North Central and South Western Uganda. The FY 2013 target is to procure 257.773 metric tons of RUTF and 642.901 metric tons of fortified blended foods for 26,187 children, pregnant and lactating women and adult people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, the project will produce therapeutic and supplementary foods to meet local demand. This activity contributes to the Roadmap for Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity in Uganda (2007-2015), the Child Survival Strategy (2008-2015) and the National Health Policy which advocates strengthening of public-private partnerships to achieve national goals.

This activity is cross-cutting and will focus on the provision of therapeutic and supplementary foods (nutrition commodities). It will strengthen priority interventions for the production and distribution of therapeutic and supplementary foods that includes sourcing quality ingredients from indigenous farmers and local industries, attaining local and international certification, and quality control. This program will provide therapeutic and supplementary foods to USG funded comprehensive district-based programs supporting HIV care and treatment services at district level, including 42 sites formerly supported by USAID-funded NULIFE project. The FY 2013 target is to procure 257,773 metric tons of RUTF and 642,901 metric tons of fortified blended foods for 26,187 children, pregnant and lactating women and adult people living with HIV/AIDS.

The PIN project contributes to the COP 12 Care & Treatment strategic pivot of Strengthening linkages and referrals of malnourished adults and children in care and treatment settings. FY 2013 target beneficiaries are adult PLWHA enrolled in HIV care and treatment programs. RECO will produce therapeutic foods for the outpatient treatment of severely malnourished adults in the focus districts and sites. Supplementary foods will be produced for use in patients recovering from severe acute malnutrition and to prevent those with moderate acute malnutrition from progressing to severe acute malnutrition. This activity will strengthen distribution of the therapeutic and supplementary foods to health facility and community levels through three approaches: use of the national drug distribution system for essential drugs, direct distribution to facilities and social marketing.

Under the OVC component, PIN plans to provide quality services to minimize the vulnerability of children. The primary focus will be households identified by the community as having malnourished, critical and moderately vulnerable children in 20 selected districts. To achieve its objectives, PIN will implement the following strategies:

1.

Promote increased agricultural production and livelihoods diversification to OVC households to strengthen their food security. Most OVC households are food insecure and do not have enough food for 6-12 months of the year. The project will focus on ensuring that the selected OVC households produce adequate nutritious food and sustain food security, working through and with support of farmer groups through improving productivity. OVC households will be provided with seeds for selected grains and vegetables to reduce the periodic food shortage and poor nutrition common in most OVC households. The registered households will be encouraged to form Producer Organizations (POs) through which project support will be channeled. Each PO will identify a lead farmer who will be trained in Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology, agronomy, kitchen gardening, crop conditioning and storage of crops and especially of maize, groundnuts and soybeans. These POs will be mainstreamed in the PIN system of sourcing raw materials for production of RUTF and FBF.

2.

Promote increased access and retention of vulnerable children in schools to realize equal education opportunities for all children. The project will strive to enable neediest OVC households to consistently attend school by provision of scholastic materials. It is hoped that after one year (three school terms), the income generating projects (centered on food security) started by OVC households with project support will have started to generate enough income to cater for the scholastic materials of the OVC.

3.

Enhance asset growth for OVC and their households through life skills training and support for formation of saving schemes. Caregiver POs will be trained to form Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and they will be supported to form their Area Cooperative Enterprises (ACEs) if they are not incorporated in the regular ACEs and operate banking accounts. This will enable consistent access to affordable credit to respond to emergencies and to acquire assets for better living conditions. The OVC POs and ACEs will be linked to RECO Industries and other identified millers and buyers of produce to ensure a ready and competitive market for the OVCs produce. The project will also enhance the capacity of the savings and credit schemes through follow up visits and linking them to existing micro-credit schemes for possible technical and material support.

This activity contributes to the COP12 PMTCT Pivot 1 Improving utilization of eMTCT services to reach more HIV infected pregnant women as early as possible during ANC, labour/delivery, and post-partum periods. This activity will focus on the provision of therapeutic and supplementary foods (nutrition commodities) to HIV positive pregnant and lactating women and their infants identified in 28 districts in the North Central and South West regions that are supported by USAID district-based nutrition projects. In addition, PIN will continue procuring and providing RUTF and FBF to the 42 health units in other regions that were previously supported by the NuLife project. USAID/Uganda will directly procure from RECO therapeutic and supplementary foods for integrated management of acute malnutrition (IMAM) and enhanced nutrition practices during the weaning and complementary feeding periods in order to eliminate post-natal prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. PINs overall target is to reach 26,187 children, pregnant and lactating women and adult people living with HIV/AIDS, including HIV exposed children aged from 6 months to 18 years. Therapeutic foods will be produced for the outpatient treatment of severely malnourished children and adults, and supplementary foods will be produced for use in patients recovering from severe acute malnutrition, and to prevent those with moderate acute malnutrition from progressing to severe acute malnutrition, as well as during the weaning period.

This activity is cross-cutting and will focus on the provision of therapeutic and supplementary foods (nutrition commodities). It will strengthen priority interventions for the production and distribution of therapeutic and supplementary foods that includes sourcing quality ingredients from indigenous farmers and local industries, attaining local and international certification, and quality control. This program will provide therapeutic and supplementary foods to USG funded comprehensive district-based programs supporting HIV care and treatment services at district level, including 42 sites formerly supported by USAID-funded NULIFE project. The FY 2013 target is to procure 257,773 metric tons of RUTF and 642,901 metric tons of fortified blended foods for 26,187 children, pregnant and lactating women and adult people living with HIV/AIDS.

The PIN project contributes to the COP 12 Care & Treatment strategic pivot of Strengthening linkages and referrals of malnourished adults and children in care and treatment settings. FY 2013 target beneficiaries are adult PLWHA enrolled in HIV care and treatment programs. RECO will produce therapeutic foods for the outpatient treatment of severely malnourished adults in the focus districts and sites. Supplementary foods will be produced for use in patients recovering from severe acute malnutrition and to prevent those with moderate acute malnutrition from progressing to severe acute malnutrition. This activity will strengthen distribution of the therapeutic and supplementary foods to health facility and community levels through three approaches: use of the national drug distribution system for essential drugs, direct distribution to facilities and social marketing.

.

.

This program will provide therapeutic and supplementary foods to all USG district-based programs supporting HIV care and treatment services for integrated management of acute malnutrition (IMAM). all sites formerly supported by USAID-funded NULIFE project. PIN project is aligned to the revised COP 12 strategic pivot of strengthening linkages and referrals of malnourished adults and children in care and treatment settings. FY 2013 target beneficiaries will be HIV exposed and OVC children aged from 6 months to 18 years and eligible members of their households will be enrolled as small scale farmers. Therapeutic foods will be produced for the outpatient treatment of severely malnourished children in the targeted regions. Supplementary foods will be produced for use in patients recovering from severe acute malnutrition; to prevent those with moderate acute malnutrition from progressing to severe acute malnutrition; and during the weaning period.

RECO Industries will produce these nutrition commodities will in addition receive organizational development technical support focusing on improvement of internal control, marketing, and quality control. The support will address the weaknesses identified in the control environment and jointly with the private sector organization.

This activity will strengthen distribution of the therapeutic and supplementary foods at health facility and community levels through three approaches i.e. use of the national drug distribution systems for essential drugs; direct distribution to facilities; or social marketing. The quality of the food products must be palatable, easy to digest, easy to prepare and culturally appropriate.