Week 11: M&E Plans

This week we are tasked with creating an M&E plan for our project. The assumptions we are making during this project are …

1. Availability of our ingredients
2. Costs of products in Sierra Leone
3. Popularity of sweet potatoes
4. Willingness of women and mothers to allow their children to eat this food
5. The assumption that the adults will actually understand the nutritional value and health benefits
6. Reliable street food market and vendors
7. Labor pool willing to work for us
8. Assumption of the daily economy and that people make around $2 a day because that was used to price our muffins
9. IRB approval and Sierra Leone governmental approval
10. Access to bakery
11. Smooth transition to and for the kids
12. Families will pay the price we’re asking for the cakes

The logic model we created was

inputs	outputs	outcomes	other impacts
Dedication of our time Dedication of staff and advisor time Knowledge base Foundational research Lehigh’s resources Expert opinions and input Lehigh funding, materials, equipment	Number of youth served Number of cakes sold in the markets Number of cakes sold to hospitals	Healthier children Lower rates of micronutrient deficiencies Lower rates of stunting Lower child mortality rate Self-sustaining venture established	Lower rates of cognitive deficits Lower rates of physical deficits Profits of women in the market Days children are going to school Stimulation of the economy

The short and long term plans to measure these are…
1. We will set up a method with the nurses in Sierra Leone to determine whether or not these cakes are working and increasing the health of the children. There will be measurements being taken and compared to the baseline measurements; kids’ height, weight, arm circumference, fingernail growth, hair growth, eye color, skin pigmentation, cognitive functions, etc.

2. Also, the economy’s growth and stimulation can be measured as well through tracking how the economy inflated or deflated or how many more people are having jobs and how much more money is being placed back into the economy.

Our Social Return on the Investment is for every $1 spent on making our product, we generate $240 in social impact. The assumption that we are making is that if kids consume these products as directed for a whole year, they will be significantly healthier and happier.