Nuru International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in remote, rural areas by equipping people with the tools and knowledge they need.
In Kenya, Nuru has been working with smallholder farmers in Kuria West district to prevent the spread of Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease (MLND). MLND is a virus that leads to fungal infections in corn plants, and has a major impact on the livelihood of smallholder farmers, who can easily lose their entire crop to the disease.
This summer, Nuru launched a SMS campaign to provide information to farmers about preventing MLND. To power their communication system, Nuru turned to Telerivet.
The campaign reached its goal: 98.4% of farmers in Nuru's campaign kept their crops free of Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease. Furthermore, farmers expressed that they were really happy to be receiving information by SMS.
Now, Nuru Healthcare and their Social Marketing Teams plan to launch a campaign focused on women attending four antenatal care (ANC) visits. The team plans to utilize Telerivet again as a tool for spreading individual reminders and wider-reaching messages.
Lindsay Cope, Healthcare Senior Program Manager for Nuru explains, “We saw great success with the first SMS-based campaign aimed at helping farmers prevent Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease from devastating their farms. Now we are thrilled to utilize similar methods to improve maternal and child health.”
Nuru’s primary way of connecting with women in the community will be through Telerivet’s informational services. The Social Marketing Team linked Telerivet to their Salesforce database which allows local staff to send relevant, real-time messages to a variety of audiences.
Based on their formative research, the campaign will take a three-pronged messaging approach highlighting factors identified to influence a woman's ability to seek four visits. These will include emphasizing what makes it important and easy to attend the first visit in the first trimester of pregnancy, peer and family approval, and linking ANC visits to a healthy start to a child's life leading to future family contribution.
With only 20% of pregnant women in Nuru’s target community in Kuria, Kenya attending the four recommended antenatal care (ANC) visits, and just 6.2% seeking the first visit in the first trimester, Nuru Healthcare and Social Marketing Teams are eager to launch their upcoming ANC campaign.
