February 2024 — In Eritrea, a concerning statistic reveals that half of the children under the age of five are experiencing stunted growth, while 15.3 percent suffer from wasting. Additionally, a significant majority of children do not receive the essential nutrients required for healthy growth, with only one in five children consuming foods from the minimum recommended diet. Furthermore, there are indications of hidden hunger in both children and women, highlighting the presence of nutritional deficiencies despite apparent food consumption.

Against this context, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with UNICEF, has formulated a social behavior change (SBC) concept centered around complementary feeding. This concept aims to encourage the consumption of locally accessible and nutritionally rich foods. To ensure optimal outcomes, a task force comprised of experts from UNICEF, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Marine Resources (who later joined the team) has been established. This dedicated team convenes weekly on Thursdays to conduct meetings, pooling their collective expertise to plan and devise effective strategies for addressing the identified issue.

What is DMK?

DMK is a local name for an instant baby food made by blending one or two crops from the different category of crop groups (cereals, legumes, and oily seeds) available in specific geographical areas to make nutritionally satisfactory complementary food. The acronym stood for (Dura - cereals; Milk; Kebkebe - Legumes). The word DMK was first used around 1978 during the armed struggle for independence, a health personnel came up with this nutritious flour to feed infants and children born at that time by mixing sorghum flour, powdered milk and some chickpea flour they found at that time.

Why Advocate on DMK?

• DMK is a nutritious option. This blend of cereals, legumes, and oily seeds compensates for any nutrient deficiencies present in one grain with the availability of those nutrients in another.

• The ingredients are widely available.

• Cost-effective. The grains are locally produced and low cost, making them affordable for most caregivers.

• The simplicity of the preparation. DMK can be easily prepared at home and milled in a local milling shop. 

• Long shelf life. Once prepared DMK will keep for a long time, from two to three months (depending on the storage)

• Versatility. Once made DMK can be added to thicken and boost nutrition to any complementary food recipe.

Aim of the Approach:

• Caregivers feed children 6 to 23 months with age-appropriate frequency, amount, and consistency while continuing to breastfeed them.

• Caregivers use a variety of nutrient-rich foods including DMK each day in meals and snacks for children 6 to 23 months.

Activities Implemented:

• Official Commemoration of World Breastfeeding Week and the Month.

• Conducting Complementary Food Demonstrations in Health Facilities.

• Designing and producing promotional materials (stand banners, street banners, leaflets, and animated bags)

• Conduct a General knowledge contest among mothers.

• Development of newspaper articles on continuous breastfeeding with complementary feeding (DMK).

• Mass media engagement (TV program, Dr’s in studio, TV, and Radio spots on nutrition in 9 languages.

• Organizing traditional Media through local cultural groups (songs, poems, music, and dramas) which amplifies the key messages.

• Zoba level launching and commemoration of the week/month.

Lesson learned:

• Government commitment, partnership and multisector collaboration is key.

• Leveraging various media channels plays a pivotal role in reaching a wider audience and disseminating key messages effectively.

• The complementary food demonstrations highlighted the importance of tailoring recommendations to local contexts and how impacting it was.

• Developing, producing, and distributing context-based/specific promotional materials was very crucial in reaching a wide range of caregivers with IYCF key messages.