Families living in poverty continually face challenges to their food security—the access to, availability of and utilization of food.  Limited resources, short planning horizons and external market and political forces too often undermine the poor’s precarious livelihood strategies.  Chronic health problems and lack of adequate nutrition frequently interrupt people’s efforts to take productive, proactive measures toward improving family health and finances.

Integrated services can help poor families face these challenges by providing much-needed access to savings, loans and other financial products, while also building practical and relevant skills and knowledge. Together, financial and non-financial services have a synergistic effect, helping the poor to protect against and cope with health and financial shocks, seize economic opportunities, meet life-cycle needs and build assets. 

In particular, integrated services improve family food security by enhancing poor people’s ability to

• invest in and manage revenue-generating activities that yield disposable income;
• manage scarce resources to plan for and meet basic household needs;
• recognize and meet the family’s nutritional needs, particularly for children, pregnant women and mothers;
• recognize symptoms and properly treat common deadly illnesses; and
• understand and access health protection services, such as health education, health care services and health insurance. 

Impact studies

To support its strong evidence-based approach, Freedom from Hunger has conducted and commissioned a number of studies on the impact of integrated services on family food security.

In Ghana, researchers from the Noguchi Memorial Medical Institute conducted a dietary intake study of children of Credit with Education members and non-members.  Among other positive results, the researchers found the following:

• Dietary quality of foods consumed by members’ children was higher than that consumed by children of non-members.
• Caloric intake among members’ children was significantly higher than non-members’ children. 
• Nutritional status of members’ one-year-old children—both in terms of weight-for-age and height-for-age—was significantly better than that of non-member children.
• Percentage of members’ children categorized as malnourished decreased over time.     

In Bolivia, researchers from the Program in International Nutrition of the University of California–Davis conducted a dietary intake study of children of Credit with Education members and non-members similar to that completed in Ghana.  Among other positive results, researchers found the following:

• Members reported changes in infant and child feeding according to recommended practices, such as giving newborns colostrum and introducing complementary foods closer to the ideal age of 6 months.
• Use of promoted practices among members for treatment of diarrhea, such as giving children more liquids, positively improved.
• Nutritional status of members’ children—in terms of weight-for-age and malnutrition prevalence—was higher among members who received comparatively higher-quality Credit with Education sessions.

Follow the links to read more of these and other studies exploring the impact of integrated services.