DMI

Location Early childhood development

Mwana

Objective

Approximately 250 million children under the age of five do not reach their developmental potential, many of whom are in low-income countries. In Malawi alone, 83% of young children were identified as at risk of poor development in 2015, with only 35% of children receiving early stimulation at home (UNICEF, 2023). To address this issue, the nationwide radio campaign Mwana (meaning “child” in Chichewa) encourages positive early childhood stimulation (ECS) behaviours amongst caregivers of children under the age of three. This campaign encourages parents to play, sing, talk and praise their children, with the aim of improving developmental outcomes.

Locations

Malawi

Themes

ECD – promoting positive early childhood stimulation (ECS) for the healthy development of children.

Formats

26 x 60-second radio spots in the Chichewa language.

Scope

This project will take place over 14 months, from January 2024 to February 2025. Formative research and production of original radio spots will take place over the first 6 months of the project. The radio campaign will then be broadcast for 6 months on 3-4 of the most popular national radio stations across Malawi.

Our Approach

Science

Informing evidence-based messaging

DMI researchers will conduct focus groups with parents and caregivers of children under 3, to gain deeper understanding of knowledge, attitudes, and practices relating to early childhood stimulation. Radio spots will be pre-tested before broadcasting  to make sure they are relevant to the parents, and post-tested after broadcasting to check they are impactful in their messaging.

Stories

Engaging, high-impact content

DMI will use the findings from these focus groups, as well as our previous experience and knowledge, to develop engaging radio spots in the Chichewa language. These messages will be aimed at parents and other caregivers, and will promote early childhood stimulation behaviours, such as singing, playing and responsive caregiving. The messages will directly target the knowledge and attitude barriers to behaviours identified in the discussions during formative research.

Saturation

26 spots, 3-4 national radio stations, 6 months

We will broadcast radio spots nationally, using a combination of radio stations to reach as many parents and caregivers as possible. DMI will also host capacity building workshops for relevant partners and departments from Malawi’s Ministry of Health. These sessions will provide stakeholders with support and training to run evidence-based and effective social behaviour change campaigns on ECD.

Project impact

Project Impact

Our Evaluation Plans

An impact evaluation will be completed on a subset of districts and will compare self-reported behaviours from baseline compared to 6 months after broadcasting.

Partners & Funders

We are grateful to the JBJ Foundation for funding this campaign.

Related Projects

Early childhood development

SUNRISE: Early Childhood Development Randomised Controlled Trial

Burkina Faso
Early childhood development, Nutrition
A still from a DMI film promoting early childhood development behaviours

ASTUTE

Tanzania
View all projects