COWASH IV and the Max Foundation, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and mothers, have established a partnership to integrate their works in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Nutrition and Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA). A joint team from the two organizations is developing a pilot that explores how Max Foundation’s Healthy Village (HV) approach can be effectively integrated within COWASH’s successful WASH systems. This partnership’s first phase focus will be on capacity building and joint learning to prepare for a strong, complementary collaboration in the future.

The partnership seeks to leverage COWASH’s existing community footprint to accelerate progress on child health and nutrition outcomes across Ethiopia. The HV program will add crucial components of nutrition and NSA, with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life, which includes children under two and pregnant and lactating women.

The partnership follows earlier discussions between COWASH IV and the Max Foundation team about the possibility of adding nutrition-focused work to COWASH’s existing efforts. These initial talks were followed by an assessment visit to COWASH IV project Woredas, which took place in Central Ethiopia from August 25–28, 2025. The visit provided valuable insights, enabling the team to decide on integration points and select pilot woredas to strengthen both sectors and benefit communities.

During its visit, the joint team met with local leaders and representatives from various government offices, including the offices of Agriculture, Education, Finance, Health and Water. The team also had a discussion with community members, WASH committee leaders and members of Savings and Loan Associations established for constructing improved household latrines. These meetings focused on the current groundwork, the available opportunities for implementing the potential partnership, and the needs for integrating nutrition programs. Both community members and local officials expressed strong enthusiasm for the idea, noting that nutrition work has been a critical challenge in their area.

This integrated approach aims to go beyond the established COWASH IV system by leveraging existing government structures, such as Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and Agricultural Development Agents (ADAs). The goal is to strengthen frontline capacity and embed nutrition into routine services. The collaboration also seeks to develop a market-based ecosystem that ensures families can reliably access the products and services they need to stay healthy, from improved seeds and fortified flours. To achieve this, the partnership will integrate COWASH IV’s work in SLAs and Market-based Sanitation Centers (MSCs) to create a demand and supply chain for improved seeds and fortified flours, extending beyond sanitation supplies.

The partnership leverages COWASH’s strong community presence to cost-effectively add the Health Village program’s nutrition and NSA components. By creating a holistic, scalable model, this collaboration aims to accelerate progress on diet quality, child growth and learning outcomes, while protecting the gains made in WASH. This direct alignment with government priorities, such as the One WASH National Programme and the National Food and Nutrition Strategy, will allow for rapid expansion at a marginal cost.