Radio and Nutrition Project in Mozambique

The project approach is to build capacity through ‘learning by doing’ - rather than simply running training workshops, DMI’s media and behaviour change experts are working directly with staff from radio stations. Capacity building support takes place over four periods (Sept 2016, Jan-Feb 2017, May-June 2017, Sept-Oct 2017). Each period comprises a one-week workshop and three weeks of recording and editing spots at the radio stations, and is followed by a three-month broadcast period. The last broadcast period is scheduled to run until January 2018. In the four workshops, DMI will support radio partners to produce and implement a campaign on nutrition behaviours and other health topics. This will involve the writing of scripts, pre-testing spots with target audience members, producing spots in local languages, and broadcasting the spots on a daily basis.

The capacity building project is being run according to DMI’s approach to changing behaviours, which is based on the Saturation+ methodology. This approach involves three main components:

Saturation - DMI applies a basic but frequently forgotten principle of commercial marketing: saturation (reach and frequency). Media campaigns are only considered effective if they reach the majority of the target audience, even in remote areas, and reach them often enough to drive home the key messages and calls to action. The spots are therefore broadcast at high intensity, with a frequency of up to 10 times per day, to ensure the maximum reach of the audiences. The project plans to broadcast up to 25,000 repetitions of short (1-minute) spots focusing on a range of life-saving health behaviours in Portuguese and relevant local languages.

Science - Media campaigns will only be seen as legitimate interventions if they can show impact. The project will therefore evaluate behaviour change caused by the media intervention, as well as conduct a qualitative assessment of the extent to which the project has built the capacity of the partner radio stations over the course of the project. To be able to attribute impact of the radio campaigns, DMI will undertake regular surveys to allow programmers to conduct time-series analysis of impact; DMI also compares outcomes between intervention and control areas, and analyses dose-response relationships between behaviour change and target groups with low, medium, and high exposure to the campaign.

Stories - Media campaigns should be simple, funny, and engaging, convincing people to change their behaviours, rather than simply providing information, and drama is considered the best way to achieve this - particularly short dramas rooted in everyday lives, and performed by local actors. The radio workshops therefore involve the creative writing of stories to get messages across. This process is supported by formative research to ensure that stories are based on an understanding of the values, motivations, and concerns of the target audience. In addition, rather than reading spots from the paper, the project works with radio producers to enhance the recording of the stories with background sounds and voice-acting to inspire the listeners’ imagination. Researchers also pre-test all of the radio spots with focus groups who are representative of the target audience, to judge clarity and appeal.

Nutrition, Maternal and Child Health

One-third of the Mozambican population is chronically food-insecure, and 43% of children under five are under-nourished. This high rate is caused by factors such as poor dietary diversity and low meal frequency, inadequate maternal nutrition, low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, and poor sanitation and hygiene. These practices are shaped by culture, knowledge, and practices and are underpinned by a lack of equality between men and women within the household.

DMI is a United Kingdom (UK)-based social enterprise. It runs radio, television, and mobile campaigns to change behaviours and improve lives in developing countries. DMI seeks to generate evidence of impact using robust evaluations, and to scale up the most effective campaigns to reach many millions of people. Much of their work has been focused on health (including child survival and family planning), but the organisation also works on other issues (such as early childhood development).