4 Kids Better Life

Short description

Commitment and innovation for an accessible and sustainable solution to combat micronutrient deficiencies during the first 1000 days of life.


Which problem do we aim to solve and why?

We aim to improve the inadequate food behaviors during the first 1000 days of life. We carried out a short field study in three (3) community centers of Cocody-Anono, Mputo and Adjame-220 and a community primary school in Bonoumin. The target population was chosen because of the precariousness of their living conditions. Our study had the following results:

  • i.96% of autistic mothers don’t adopt any special diet because of their baby during the pregnancy
  • ii.100% feed their baby according to what the baby likes without considering the nutritional composition of the food.

Our solution

Our solution includes two aspects: improve the access to information and best practice by emphasizing the urgency of the situation and implementing a simple solution, well known by the population and for low cost.

  • i. Raising awareness using local tongues and utilizing two channels accessible to everyone: phone calls by the phone companies and radio Features.
  • ii. The second aspect concerns the preparation of a drink from the chalices of a plant called Hibiscus Sabdariffa. Its Chalices and the drink prepared from them are commonly known as Bissap in Ivory Coast. It is a very affordable drink that is part of the people’s food habits already. These chalices contain a lot of nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese. Unfortunately, Bissap is currently prepared with very hot or boiling water. A pharmacist who wrote his dissertaton on Bissap as a nutritional drink confirmed that Bissap is better prepared by maceration instead of boiling chalices as maceration helps keeping the nutrients. Women could therefore make good business with more nutritious Bissap by getting organized and packaging it for trade, in hypermarkets included.

Why is our idea innovative, new and different?

First, we build on the womens know-how about the making of Bissap to improve the process and nutritional composition of Bissap. The making process is simplified so that women save time for doing other businesses and it offers a bigger quantity of drink which involves saving money. Second, and especially concerning the drink, is that it is commonplace so that it doesn’t need habit changes. Just keep drinking it more and more. Third, our idea uses mobile telephone technology and local tongues so that everybody feels appreciated.


How is our idea feasible?

More than 76% of the Ivory Coast’s population, including the poorest in the rural areas, has access to the mobile telephone services. And the most basic mobile phone costs under 10-euros, and still integrates the radio and call services.

Bissap is a daily and affordable drink. Just prepare it by maceration is simpler and helps keep all the chalices properties. And everybody loves drinking Bissap in Ivory Coast especially the kids, so that they will adopt it naturally.

Which technologies, channels or methods are we planning to use?

  • i. mobile telephone
  • ii. the Internet,
  • iii. the maceration are the main Technologies.

    In practice, we have begun sensitization actions by our Facebook page (4 Kids Better Life). We are planning other actions such as sensitize and give training to health professionals, organize popular campaigns of lunch twice a year, call 1000 women aged between 16 to 45 twice a week during 2 months. These calls will be done on Tuesday from 6PM to 8PM and on Saturday from 8AM to 10AM to insure effective reception. Radio messages will be integrated to the existing radio program using the local tongue.

What outcome and what improvements do we expect? How do we measure these?

We will measure them in three ways:

  • i. Acknowledgement of receipts from telephone calls for the sensitizing information,
  • ii. Post action survey of the target population for the effectiveness of this information about the change of behavior,
  • iii. Survey within health centers and the target population for the impact of this change of behavior on the health during the 1000 first days of life..

Our budget planning & acquisition of potential partners

The budget incorporates the field studies, the calls, the sensitization and the additional costs. A 10,000-euro sum can cover spend without counting the cost that we’ve already invested in the first field survey and the internet connection.

We’ve got some existing partners: the community centers of Anono, Adjame and Mputo, and a community primary school in Bonoumin.

Those that we expect are the National Nutrition Program, the maternity hospitals, the national mobile telephony companies and RTI (Ivorian radio diffusion and Television).

4 Kids Better Life

Team:   TEBY Coralie Marie Colombe Adjé

KONAN Kra Koffi Kevin

KOUAME kouakou Faustin

N’GORAN SEVIEKAN Abli Louis Hermann

3 Responses

    1. N'GORAN Seviekan

      We are doing our best to please you, especially to contribute to Kids better life. Nothing will be enough!!!

Leave a Reply to N'GORAN Seviekan Cancel Reply

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