Project: World Vision Canada ENRICH CBA

Launched in 2016, the Enhancing Nutrition Services to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Africa and Asia (ENRICH) has been a multi-year, multi-country program funded by Global Affairs Canada aiming to improve the health and nutrition status of mothers, newborns and children in select regions of Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan and Tanzania. ENRICH is implemented by World Vision Canada (WVC) and The Nutrition International, with WVC as the consortium lead.

WVC asked Limestone to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the ENRICH program with a particular focus on capturing the impacts of ENRICH on morbidity (the condition of suffering from a disease or medical condition) and mortality outcomes. 

The team at World Vision Canada conducted a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to generate a cost-per-averted case of mortality. These results were compared against each country’s gross domestic product, aligning with World Health Organization’s benchmarks for cost-effectiveness. However, while LiST is a robust and accessible tool, at this time, it does not enable users to model averted morbidity, a vital source of the benefit of nutrition programming. 

Under this project, Limestone Analytics will build upon the current CEAs to include morbidity impacts of the ENRICH program in the four countries in a CBA framework. Furthermore, Limestone will use primary and secondary data to improve the accuracy of the estimated benefits and costs.

Limestone will assess the program’s impact on morbidity (such as low birth weight, anemia, or stunting) and propose a methodology for monetizing these impacts in a CBA framework. Finally, based on the program and other available data, Limestone will model the non-health impacts of the ENRICH program (e.g., cost-savings, time-savings, productivity).