A Journey Through Field Exchange: Marie McGrath’s reflections on over two decades of learning and impact by Emergency Nutrition Network

In our latest podcast, Natalie Roschnik from Save the Children guides us through some of the findings from the inception phase of the cash “plus” Maziko project, in Malawi. Including how her team were surprised at the level of importance that women’s mental health and wellbeing played in child nutrition and development in this context. We also gain insight into how Save the Children is engaging men to become more supportive partners and fathers and how they plan to use the learnings from Maziko to inform cash ‘plus’ projects in future. The Maziko project: Since 2021, Save the Children has been implementing a cash “plus” for nutrition project (Maziko) in Malawi. Maziko is unique in its multi-sectoral approach which combines a nutrition focused community outreach and behaviour change intervention with nutrition sensitive livelihood, food security and gender transformative components to improve child nutrition and development. Read the article this podcast goes into detail about: https://www.ennonline.net/fex/71/maternal-and-child-nutrition-findings-from-inception-studies-malawi This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland. The contents are the responsibility of ENN and do not necessarily reflect the views of the donor.

In this FEX Podcast Episode Stephanie Wrottesley and Eilise Brennan speak with Mija Ververs and Sonia Kapil to discuss findings from their recent scoping review. The authors provide insights into their motivation for this work and what it adds, as well as their perspectives on the potential implications of broader adoption of this threshold in nutrition programmes and on what evidence is still needed to better identify and manage at-risk pregnant women in humanitarian contexts. Read the original article that ignited the podcast discussion: https://www.ennonline.net/fex/70/maternal-mid-upper-arm-circumference-still-relevant-to-identify-adverse-birth-outcomes-in-humanitarian-contexts

In this episode of the Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) Podcast, Eilise Brennan and Philip James of ENN talk with nutritionist Masud Rana of Save the Children about cost of the diet modelling and how it was used in Nigeria to develop culturally acceptable recipes from local food items that met the nutritional needs of children aged 6 to 23 months at the lowest possible cost. You can read more about this work in the article “Affordable and nutritious child feeding in Nigeria: Applying Cost of the Diet modelling”. https://www.ennonline.net/fex/69/nigeria-cost-of-the-diet-modelling

Welcome to ENN’s Field Exchange podcast. This is the second episode in our two part-er on Complementary Feeding in Emergencies which accompanied the Special Section in FEX edition 68. In this episode, ENN’s Eilise Brennan speaks to two members of UNICEF Bangladesh’s Nutrition team: Karanveer Singh, Nutrition Manager at UNICEF Cox’s Bazar office, (who has recently moved to UNICEF Nigeria) and Mohammad Zahidul Manir, a Nutrition Officer also at UNICEF Cox’s Bazar office. They discuss improving the quality of complementary feeding both in Rohingya refugee camps and in host communities and how traditional ceremonies can support these initiatives. You can read more about the work here - Improving the quality of complementary feeding in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. The FEX selection of articles in partnership with UNICEF shared the latest programming guidance, research and learning obtained from multiple contexts.

In this episode of the Emergency Nutrition Network Podcast, Eilise Brennan of ENN talks with nutritionist Aashima Garg of UNICEF MENA (Middle East and North Africa) about the latest edition of Field Exchange and its special series on complementary feeding in emergencies. They look at the global context and the challenges facing families across the world and why complementary feeding is such an essential part of a child's development. They also discuss UNICEF's action framework and several innovative approaches taking place right now in a variety of challenging humanitarian settings. You can find the articles themselves at https://www.ennonline.net/fex

In this podcast, Eilise Brennan (ENN Nutritionist) speaks to Jee Hyun Rah (Chief of Nutrition, UNICEF, Indonesia) to discuss how the government of Indonesia integrated and scaled up wasting prevention and treatment as part of their national stunting prevention programme. This podcast accompanies the article Scaling up child wasting prevention and treatment in the context of stunting prevention in Indonesia featured in the special section on Wasting and Stunting (WaST) in Field Exchange issue 67.

Understanding the relationship between wasting and stunting: A conversation on the findings of our systematic review on this topic This podcast records a conversation between Tanya Khara (ENN Technical Director and Coordinator of the WaSt TIG) and Susan Thurstans (member of the WaSt TIG and lead author of the systematic review) who discuss some of the key findings of the systematic review which looks at the relationship between wasting and stunting and some of the outstanding questions that remain. Carmel Dolan (member of the WaSt TIG) and Gloria Odei (a researcher who has been influenced by the groups work) also give us their main takeaways from the review and thoughts on what comes next. As Carmel sums up: ‘The results of the systematic review are a strong indication of really how far we’ve come since the early days of the WaSt TIG where we spent a lot of time explaining why thinking in a more connected way about wasting and stunting is important… It is a really powerful indicator of progress and we now have, as a result of the systematic review, a strong evidence base from which to advocate from for change and a new approach looking at both wasting and stunting together.’

In this podcast, accompanying Field Exchange issue 66, Natalie Sessions (ENN Senior Nutritionist) speaks to Progress Katete, a United Nations Volunteer Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF, and explores some of the broader elements of the work outlined in an accompanying article in FEX 66: Promoting youth leadership on nutrition through junior parliamentarians and junior council engagement in Zimbabwe

In this podcast, Amanda Murungi - a member of our FEX66 Special Advisory Group - shares some of her insights into adolescent nutrition programming given her wealth of knowledge on this topic. Amanda also reflects on the article published in FEX 66 on experiences from the implementation of a school-based nutrition programme in Uganda.

In this podcast, ENN’s Tanya Khara discusses with WaSt TIG members Susan Thurstans and Michel Garenne, collaborative work that they have led exploring patterns of sex differences in undernutrition and the early life mechanisms that may underlie them.

The GNC Technical Alliance’s support to local organisations: A discussion on how the Alliance supported The African Relief Development Initiative (ARDI) in Somalia In this podcast, we have a conversation with members of the GNC Technical Alliance Technical Support Team, Ben Allen and Martha Nakakande and Abdi Moge Mohamed, CEO of ARDI on how the Alliance supported ARDI in its technical needs. We also discuss future plans for the Alliance in order to best support local NGO’s. This podcast accompanies a brief on ‘How can local NGOs receive technical support?’ which is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Somali.

In this podcast, accompanying Field Exchange issue 66, Natalie Sessions (ENN Senior Nutritionist) speaks to two members of the Field Exchange 66 advisory group, Webster Makombe and Tasha Mhakayakora on their thoughts on the current state of nutrition interventions for school-aged children and adolescents and what they think should be priorities for future packages of support. They share some of their main take-aways and key reflections from this edition of Field Exchange.

Ce podcast, en français, s’intéresse à l’approche CMAM Surge. Il accompagne la section spéciale de Field Exchange Numéro 64 qui explore l'approche CMAM de Concern Worldwide dans un certain nombre de contextes nationaux. Dans cet épisode, nous discutons avec M. Roufai Mohamed (Technicien Spécialise CMAM Surge pour Concern Worldwide à Tahoua), Dr Sabo Sahabi (Pédiatre, Centre Hospitalier Régional de Tahoua) et M. Ado Moustapha (Point Focal Nutrition, DRSP Tahoua) au sujet de l’approche CMAM surge qui est mise en œuvre au Niger depuis 2014. L’approche a été initialement pilotée dans la région de Tahoua, avec le soutien de Concern Worldwide et de la Direction Régionale de la Santé Publique (DRSP) de Tahoua. Depuis, l'approche a été mise à l'échelle avec un fort engagement du Direction de la Nutrition et de plusieurs partenaires de mise en oeuvre et donateurs. Pour plus d'information sur l'approche CMAM Surge, veuillez consulter le site : The CMAM Surge Approach | Concern Worldwide ou contacter cmamsurge@concern.net. This podcast, in French, includes an interview with M. Roufai Mohamed, Dr Sabo Sahabi, et M. Ado Moustapha exploring the CMAM surge approach in Niger. It accompanies the special section of Field Exchange 64, which explores Concern Worldwide’s CMAM surge approach in a number of country contexts.

In this podcast, accompanying Field Exchange issue 65, Natalie Session (ENN Senior Nutritionist) talks to Sweta Banerjee, Nutrition Specialist for Welthungerhilfe’s India country programme. They discuss the article Multi-sector nutrition programming: ‘Nutrition Smart Villages’ in Bangladesh and India.

In this podcast, we chat to Grainne Moloney, Senior Advisor for Early Childhood Nutrition at UNICEF. We discuss UNICEF’s perspective on the prevention of wasting in the context of global action, challenges and knowledge gaps. This podcast accompanies a recently published brief entitled: Best Practice and Prevention of Child Wasting Within the Wider Context of Undernutrition (www.ennonline.net/bestpracticeinpreventingchildwasting) and two podcasts where we explore Malawi and Pakistan Ministry of Health’s approach to preventing wasting.

In this podcast, we interview Khawaja Masuood Ahmed, National Coordinator Nutrition & NFA in the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination in the Government of Pakistan. We explore some of the challenges, successes and future plans to prevent wasting in Pakistan, in the context of broader stunting reduction efforts. This podcast aims to be a resource, for programmers, practitioners and policy makers involved in nutrition, and will support improved understanding of current thinking on wasting prevention. This podcast accompanies a recently published brief entitled: Best Practice and Prevention of Child Wasting Within the Wider Context of Undernutrition www.ennonline.net/bestpracticeinpreventingchildwasting.

In this podcast, we interview Sylvester Kathumba, Nutrition Focal Point in the Ministry of Health, Malawi. The prevalence of wasted children in Malawi has reduced from 4% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2018 and this podcast aims to explore how this encouraging reduction in the prevalence and burden of wasting was achieved. This podcast aims to be a resource, for programmers, practitioners and policy makers involved in nutrition, and will support improved understanding of current thinking on wasting prevention. This podcast accompanies a recently published brief entitled: Best Practice and Prevention of Child Wasting Within the Wider Context of Undernutrition (www.ennonline.net/bestpracticeinpreventingchildwasting).

In this podcast, Saul Guerrero shares updates on the UNICEF Global Action Plan on Child Wasting process, the partnership between WFP and UNICEF as well as some of his reflections on the recently published UNICEF Nutrition Strategy.

GNC Technical Alliance conversations with World Vision International by Emergency Nutrition Network