Integrating infant and young child feeding with community-led total sanitation: a case study of strategic partnership to fight stunting in Jigawa and Katsina states of Nigeria

Jigawa and Katsina States have population of 3.5 million and 2.8 million and stunting rate of 57.7% and 56.2% respectively (MICS, 2010). The Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) is a strategic intervention for promoting exclusive breastfeeding with emphasis on the community level intervention. Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) motivates communities to stop open defecation and become environments where all households use latrines. Combining the two strategies is an offshoot of partnership between UNICEF WASH and Nutrition sections playing very important role in the Child Survival and Development cluster. This intervention promotes messages of exclusive breastfeeding; safe defecation and hand washing with the aim of preventing malnutrition from the onset. Area of synergy between the two sections could be summarized as: good hygiene is crucial to avoid diarrhoea and other illnesses. In communities targeted, all households now use latrines while practice of hand washing after defecation has increased.