MCCT Programme: Stunting Of Children Reduced By 4 Percentage Points

Research shows that in 3 years Maternal and Child Cash Transfer (MCCT) programme has reduced stunting from 30 to 26% .

According to the research results, over three years, the MCCT programme in the Central Dry Zone has led to a four percentage point reduction in stunting. The programme is funded by the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT), and it aims to reduce stunting of children in Myanmar.

This is done by combining two approaches: monthly cash allowances for pregnant women and mothers of children up to two years of age, and social behavioural change communication (SBCC) activities to change perceptions and improve nutrition and health practices.

LIFT started its support to this nutrition programme in 2014 and in five years, over 28,000 mothers in 722 villages have benefitted from the MCCT programme in Rakhine, Ayeyarwaddy and Mandalay.

The mother and child programme is a flagship programme in the Myanmar’s National Social Protection Strategy and is rolled out by the Department of Social Welfare in Naga, Rakhine, Chin, Kayin and Kayah until 2019. MCCT and SBCC for nutrition is also included within the Multi-Sectoral National Plan of Action for Nutrition.

The MCCT Programme turned out three main messages from the results. It shows that MCCT is an effective programme to reduce stunting of children. It also suggests that cash transfers aiming at improving childhood nutrition should be combined with nutrition social and behavioural change approaches which promote optimal nutrition and health practices.

Finally, the results underscore the importance of reaching children in the first 1,000 days of life as the window of opportunity for maximum impact on childhood health and development.