Thailand's National Nutritional Program : Lessons in Management and Capacity Development

Thailand's National Nutritional Program : Lessons in Management and Capacity Development

Thailand's community nutrition program has been the most successful in Asia. This paper looks at what made it work from a management and capacity development point of view. Key lessons are identified in the following areas: Building a strong c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Heaver, Richard, Kachondam, Yongyout
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	NUTRITION POLICY ACCESS TO SERVICES AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE APPLIED NUTRITION BASIC HEALTH BASIC NEEDS BASIC SANITATION CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS CAPACITY-BUILDING CARE CENTER WORKERS CHILD GROWTH CLEAN DRINKING WATER CLEAN WATER COMMUNITY CONTROL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY NUTRITION COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION CONDENSED MILK COOKING DAY CARE DECENTRALIZATION DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DRY SEASON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION EMPOWERMENT EXTENSION AGENTS FAMILIES FAMILY PLANNING FEEDING PROGRAMS FOOD FORTIFICATION FOOD INSECURITY FOOD POLICY FOOD PRODUCTION FOOD REQUIREMENTS FOOD SECURITY FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION FOOD SUPPLEMENTS FOOD SUPPLY GROWTH MONITORING GROWTH PROMOTION HEALTH HEALTH CARE HEALTH SERVICES HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HYGIENE IMMUNIZATION INCOME GENERATION INFANT FEEDING INFANT FEEDING PRACTICES INFANT FORMULA INFANTS INFECTIOUS DISEASES INJURIES INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY INTERVENTION IODINE IRON IRON DEFICIENCY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MALNOURISHED CHILDREN MALNUTRITION MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CARE MILK MODERATE MALNUTRITION NEEDS ASSESSMENT NUTRITION NUTRITION EDUCATION NUTRITION IMPROVEMENT NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS NUTRITION PROBLEMS NUTRITION PROGRAMS NUTRITION SECTOR NUTRITION SERVICES NUTRITION STATUS NUTRITIONAL CARE PARASITES PEM POOR FAMILIES POORER PROVINCES POSTERS POVERTY ALLEVIATION PREGNANT WOMEN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROTEIN PUBLIC HEALTH QUALITY OF LIFE RICE RISK GROUPS ROADS RURAL AREAS RURAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL HEALTH RURAL HOUSEHOLD SAFE WATER SAFE WATER SUPPLY SANITATION SEVERE MALNUTRITION SUPERVISION SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING SUSTAINABILITY VILLAGE COMMUNITIES VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT VILLAGE LEVEL VITAMIN A VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTATION WATER SOURCES WORKERS NUTRITION POLICY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/01/6710264/thailands-national-nutritional-program-lessons-management-capacity-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13729

Description
Summary:	Thailand's community nutrition program has been the most successful in Asia. This paper looks at what made it work from a management and capacity development point of view. Key lessons are identified in the following areas: Building a strong consensus at national and local levels about the importance of nutrition as an investment in the country's future, rather than as a welfare expenditure; using community volunteers on a huge scale, to cut costs, involve and empower local people, instill self-reliance and communicate effectively with target groups; partially empowering communities by involving them in needs assessment, planning, beneficiary selection and program implementation, but keeping central government control over resource allocation, so as to ensure a coherent national program; Seeking local financial contributions to almost all interventions, so as to cut costs, involve communities, instill self-reliance, and increase the chances of sustainability; Making the most use of limited financial and managerial resources by targeting needy provinces, sub-districts and villages, and high risk population groups; Using national nutrition investment plans, rather than policy statements unlinked to resource commitments, as a way of generating a national vision, giving visibility to nutrition, and giving each implementing agency clear responsibilities; Managing the nutrition sector through a series of committees, rather than by a single agency, which encouraged a wide variety of interest groups to feel that nutrition was their business; Building a strong nutrition technical support organization, which also helped maintain commitment to nutrition; Using small amounts of aid for training and building program support capacity, rather than funding large scale service delivery projects. Also discussed is whether the approaches used in Thailand are replicable in other countries, and what nutrition problems and issues remain to be addressed in Thailand.