Costs
The cost of engaging men varies according to the size of the target group, location, and type of activities planned. These may include a baseline survey, implementation, and final evaluation. Specific costs include salaries, overhead costs of implementing partners, costs associated with training and mentoring, and possibly exposure visits. Other costs include developing training and advocacy materials, and operational costs.
BOX 6: Lessons from Benin
CARE Benin: "All local partner facilitators are based in target communities. They are very familiar with the sociocultural context in which the programme is implemented. Community health workers work closely with facilitators to promote growth, monitoring, and promotional and community health activities, such as Child Days. Community health workers are highly involved in community mobilisation surrounding local health and nutrition events."
Strengths and weaknesses
Working with men in nutrition initiatives is very new. More needs to be learned about men who have changed in order to understand their recipe for success. Resources are required to train extension workers on how to integrate nutrition in their work and train them in effective strategies for engaging men. Data on nutritional gaps and sociocultural norms – including the nutritional needs of men – must be secured in most communities.
BOX 5: Lessons from Malawi and Guatemala
NASFAM Malawi: "We train farmer members of Gender, HIV and Aids nutrition subcommittees in every NASFAM farmer club to train other farmers. They invite men and women to bring foodstuffs from their homes and ask them to categorise them into six food groups. We show that all six food groups can be procured from their homes and that they can have a balanced diet. The belief is widespread that this is not possible because they are so poor! The trainers give tips on minimising nutrient loss through cooking, and demonstrate how one meal can have items from all food groups. Everyone – men and women – then cooks together and shares their food. The trainees are provided with simple planning tools such as a food availability calendar to help them plan for difficult times by preserving and storing key foods."
USAID/Anacafé Rural Value Chains Project Guatemala: "We provide men with delicious, varied dishes with a high nutritional value based on the crops they grow at home. This motivates them to bring their spouses to the workshops so they can learn how to prepare the same dishes for the family."
