Project Tudienzele, funded by USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), is a multi-sectoral, multi-year project aiming to sustainably improve the food, nutritional and economic security of vulnerable households in Kamonia Territory of Kasai province. The Link NCA study aimed to shed light on the mechanisms of undernutrition at the local level in order to contribute to improving the relevance and effectiveness of strategies to prevent malnutrition in the project intervention zone.

The analyses undertaken during this Link NCA study made it possible to categorize 20 risk factors, likely to have an effect on the prevalence of undernutrition (wasting and stunting) in the study area. Following a triangulation of data from various sources, five (5) risk factors were identified as having a major impact, eleven (11) risk factors were classified as having an important impact and four (4) risk factors were considered to have a minor impact. Among the major risk factors, two were identified in the health sector, namely short birth spacing, early, repetitive or unwanted pregnancies and the poor nutritional status of women, one risk factor was identified in the sector of mental health and care practices, namely non-optimal breastfeeding practices of children 0-6 months, and two risk factors were identified in the sector of food security and livelihoods, namely low access to sources of income and low coping capacities.

Statistical associations through logistic and linear regressions of available data (DHS 2014 and MICS 2018) corroborated the qualitative data, demonstrating the effect of low access to income and short birth spacing on non-optimal breastfeeding practices, and consequently on wasting and stunting.