Learning, Evidence Generation, and Advocacy for Catalyzing Policy (LEGACY) Project: Midline Report

The provision of adequate nutrition in early life is crucial to realizing one’s full potential. Inadequate nutrition during the crucial first 1,000 days of life can stunt the physical and cognitive development of a child, leading to a higher susceptibility to illness, poor physical status, and impaired cognitive ability. Compared to the Southeast Asia regional average, under-five-year-old children in Myanmar have poor nutritional status. Of the 4.4 million children under five in Myanmar, approximately 1.6 million (35 percent) are stunted.

Given these premises, Save the Children International (SCI), supported by Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT), is conducting a large-scale pilot of a maternal cash transfer program called Learning, Evidence Generation, and Advocacy for Catalyzing Policy (LEGACY) in three townships in the Dry Zone of Myanmar. Two central features of the program are the provision of monthly cash transfers to pregnant women, and a set of behavioral change communication (SBCC) activities on proper nutrition, Infant and Young Children Feeding (IYCF), health-seeking behavior, and hygiene practices. To test and measure the impacts these two features, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) has designed a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) study for the LEGACY program. This report summarizes the findings of the midline survey of the study, conducted one year after the inception of the program.