Addressing Communications Campaign Development Challenges to Reduce Stunting in Indonesia

Abstract

One in four children under 5 years of age in the developing world are stunted (chronically malnourished). Reducing stunting can be a challenge, especially in populous countries where families are dispersed, as is the case in Indonesia. This paper describes how one government project (Indonesia’s National Nutrition Communication Campaign [NNCC]) delivered effective behavior change communications interventions that reached 40 million people. This paper focuses on four challenges that nutrition campaigns often face and provides useful lessons for similar campaigns, based on the experience of NNCC, which include the following: 1) Fully engaging stakeholders at all levels in campaign design and implementation ensured broad-based support for stunting reduction efforts; 2) Pro-actively involving journalists in nutrition campaigns improved public opinion about stunting and positively influenced decision-making in policy formulation; 3) Use of humorous public service announcements with limited technical information was effective in engaging priority populations; and 4) Social media (YouTube ads, web advertorials, Facebook pages, Twitter, Instagram) extended the campaign’s reach and reinforced messaging from other sources. Based on NNCC’s experience, specific recommendations are provided.