Nutrition Information Resources

Publication of the WHO tool package of the Landscape Analysis country assessment

The Landscape Analysis of readiness to accelerate action in nutrition is a systematic approach to assessing where to invest and how to best invest to accelerate action in nutrition. It has the following three components:

• Desk analysis of country readiness - This involves comprehensive analysis of secondary-data indicators in 36 countries with a high burden of stunting (these countries were the initial focus of the analysis). The desk analysis uses multiple statistical methods to define country typologies of readiness which was defined by "commitment ̶ willingness to act" and "capacity ̶ ability to act". For the desk review, commitment was measured by "nutrition governance" indicator which was formulated by WHO using key elements required in countries for the processes by which policies and programmes are developed and implemented to achieve nutrition security, and capacity was measured using proxy measure of health care capacity.
• In-depth country assessments - To date, country assessments had been carried out in 18 countries: Burkina Faso, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Timor-Leste.
• Nutrition landscape information system (NLIS) (http://www.who.int/nutrition/nlis/) .  The NLIS is an online system that provides: - country profiles for 194 WHO Member States, with indicators on nutrition and underlying factors (data from WHO and partner agencies); and - online user-defined nutrition data available from all the Nutrition Databases maintained by the WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development

The Landscape Analysis country assessment is a context mapping and assessment of implementation challenges in a country. This will include the review of:
- existing nutrition-related policies and strategie
- nutrition interventions and programmes which are being implemented in the country by different stakeholders
- who the nutrition-related stakeholders are
- existing coordination mechanisms
- existing M&E systems, commitments, capacities and resources available

Such context mapping needs to consider all relevant sectors and partners (i.e. health, agriculture, education, environment, social protection, etc) working in nutrition in the country at different levels (i.e. national, regional, provincial, district, health facility, agriculture extension, communities). In order to create credible results and buy-in, the context mapping should take a participatory approach, where a stakeholders' group (i.e. country team) with representation of all relevant sectors and partners together assess existing implementation challenges in the country.

The tool package of the Landscape Analysis country assessment provides guidance on "how to":

• plan a country assessment
• adapt tools for respective country context
• undertake preliminary desk review (including stakeholder mapping)
• conduct interviews and collect information
• analyse data using the analytical framework which provides indicators for assessing readiness as function of commitment and capacity to scale-up nutrition action
• organise a country stakeholders' consensus meeting

It also contains the interview questionnaires for 1) National level stakeholders, 2) Provincial or regional level stakeholders, 3) District level management staff, 4) Facility manager and/or staff responsible for nutrition (including facility checklist), 5) Health workers, 6) NGO field office, as well as the Data Analysis Sheet to facilitate the data analysis by the country team.

This tool package was tested and verified in those countries which had undertaken the country assessment during 2008 - 2011 mentioned above. The last was in Tanzania where the Landscape Analysis country assessment was undertaken as part of the initial steps in implementing REACH. This updated tool package is being used to undertake the Landscape Analysis country assessment in Guinea at present.

This country assessment tool package is available now in both English and French.

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Link: WHO website page Landscape Analysis Country Assessment tool
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