Effects of an integrated poultry value chain, nutrition, gender and WASH intervention (SELEVER) on hygiene and child morbidity and anthropometry in Burkina Faso: A secondary outcome analysis of a cluster randomised trial

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture programmes have the potential to improve child nutrition outcomes, but livestock intensification may pose risks related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions. We assessed the impact of SELEVER, a nutrition- and gender-sensitive poultry intervention, with and without added WASH focus, on hygiene practices, morbidity and anthropometric indices of nutrition in children aged 2-4 years in Burkina Faso. A 3-year cluster randomised controlled trial was implemented in 120 villages in 60 communes (districts) supported by the SELEVER project. Communes were randomly assigned using restricted randomisation to one of three groups: (1) SELEVER intervention (n = 446 households); (2) SELEVER plus WASH intervention (n = 432 households); and (3) control without intervention (n = 899 households). The study population included women aged 15-49 years with an index child aged 2-4 years. We assessed the effects 1.5-years (WASH substudy) and 3-years (endline) post-intervention on child morbidity and child anthropometry secondary trial outcomes using mixed effects regression models. Participation in intervention activities was low in the SELEVER groups, ranging from 25% at 1.5 years and 10% at endline. At endline, households in the SELEVER groups had higher caregiver knowledge of WASH-livestock risks (∆ = 0.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.04-0.16]) and were more likely to keep children separated from poultry (∆ = 0.09, 95% CI [0.03-0.15]) than in the control group. No differences were found for other hygiene practices, child morbidity symptoms or anthropometry indicators. Integrating livestock WASH interventions alongside poultry and nutrition interventions can increase knowledge of livestock-related risks and improve livestock-hygiene-related practices, yet may not be sufficient to improve the morbidity and nutritional status of young children.