End of Project Evaluation for the Giving Ownership of Assets to Prevent Stunting (GOATS) Project, Uganda

Save the Children International (SCI) has been implementing the Giving Ownership to Prevent Stunting (GOATS) Project in Karamoja sub-region, Moroto district (Tapac and Rupa sub-counties) since March 2021. The project aimed at contributing to improved secure access to nutritious and safe food for agropastoral households in Karamoja sub-region by 2024. Key project outcomes included 1) reduced average household food insecurity score among agro pastoral households in target sub-counties by 2024; and reduced prevalence of stunting among children under five (CU5) among agro-pastoral households in Moroto district by 2024. The project has come to an end, and as such, the need for an end of project evaluation.

Evaluation findings indicate that the proportion of households that are food secure reduced from 10.0% at baseline in 2021 to 8.7% at endline but below the 3-year target of 15.0%. The findings reveal that the food insecurity problem in Karamoja is still prevalent, and this is due to the prolonged drought that has affected adequate food production in Rupa and Tapac. Additionally, the high food prices affected the purchasing power of households for food items in the region. Consequently, the prevalence of stunting among CU5 increased from 25.1% at baseline to 26.7% at endline. However, underweight and wasting improved from 29.1% and 19.8% at baseline to 28.7% and 19.5% at endline respectively. It can therefore be concluded that the potential impact of the GOATS project was majorly affected by the prolonged drought in the region and the high food prices that have affected purchasing power of households. It is therefore important that the next phase of the project focuses on water for production through irrigation and empowering households with income generating activities to increase their purchasing power.

The food nutrition component achieved satisfactory on 66.7% (8 out of 12 indicators) of its indicators while 8.3% of the indicators (1 out of 8 indicators) were moderately achieved and 25.0% of the indicators (3 out of 8 indicators) were not achieved satisfactory. Indicators not achieved included Number of caregivers who report appropriate nutrition practices during reporting period, (2) % of male adopting nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific practices at HHs level. And (3) Number of community dialogues conducted on harmful gender norms while indicators moderately achieved included (1) Percentage of children under 5 years of age with stunting among agro pastoral households in target sub-counties in Moroto district.