SENEGAL

Senegal, a West African nation, has a vibrant young population with children constituting almost half of the total. It's amazing to note that one-third of these children are under the age of five. What's even more remarkable is that Senegal has the lowest rate of child stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa, with under-five stunting decreasing to under 20%. This is truly a testament to the great strides that the country and its people have made.

ACTIVE GOVERNANCE

Senegal has shown exemplary efforts in fighting child stunting. The government has prioritized nutrition and execution of nutrition efforts using a multisectoral approach, health services and maternal education improvements, access to piped water and sanitation facilities, and poverty reduction.

Senegalese population comprises six major ethnic groups, namely, Wolof (37%), Pular (26%), Serer (17%), Mandinka (6%), Jola (5%) and Soninke (1%).
Sandy plains of the western Sahel mainly comprise the country's environment, with occasional climate shocks, floods, erratic rainfall, droughts and locusts. Such conditions put the country at risk for food security, impairing child development.
Poverty and lack of food security put the children at risk of impoverishment. Deprivation of essential social services continues to put children at risk of preventable illnesses and conditions such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and prematurity, and poor healthcare access.
Despite having the most effective and far-reaching nutrition service delivery systems, the lack of nutrition-sensitive interventions in relevant sectors, such as agriculture, education, water and sanitation, social protection and health, continue decelerating efforts to eradicate stunting.

OUR WORK IN SENEGAL

The Hub's whole-child approach aims to bring cohesion to the different policy aspects besides designing interventions at the various stages of child development.

To synchronise with the Senegal landscape, the hub works at the grassroots level.

Intervention Studied:

Synbiotic intervention

What is the effect of synbiotic supplementation on gut health/linear growth administered to infants aged 0-6 months in Senegal?

Evaluation of the feasibility and effect on biomarkers, nutritional status and morbidity/mortality of pre/synbiotics administered to infants aged 0-6 months in Senegal.
To assess the effect of the synbiotic interventions in Senegal on the microbiome and relate any observed differences post-intervention to stunting outcomes.