The activities of the NCP were always geared towards the prevailing need of the country at the time.  Thus, in the 1970s and 1980s, the thrust was towards developing the infrastructure that would enable the delivery of nutrition services in underserved areas.  

One of the first projects of the NCP was the piloting of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars and the Nutri-Bus Project.  These two projects exemplify how the NCP answer the need to bring health care to the remote areas and modelled approaches to address the gap in health care.

Capability Building : Barangay Nutrition Scholars

In the late 1970s, the NCP recognized the nead to bring health care to the village (barangay) but the human resource infrastructure was not in place.  The NCP initiated and evaluated the training of health workers from the community specifically assigned to nutrition (Barangay Nutrition Scholars).  This has since been enacted into law.  There are over 22,000 barangay nutrition scholars in the country as of 2006.  The scholars together with the village health workers (Barangay Health Workers) serve as the primary change agents in the delivery of nutrition information and services in the community.   

The Nutri-Bus Project

This project is summarized in the publication by Andersen in 1986 (Dev Commun Rep, 1986) and Solon (JOIFCP Rev, 1986)

The NCP demonstrated a systematic approach in the development of communication strategies led to an effective intervention which changed behavior and nutritional status in the communities. The intervention used at that time were Jeep-type buses equipped with video playback equipment and staffed with a nurse communicator trained to interact with mothers and provide feedback and reinforcement during the discussion of the videos.  All audience analysis, design, development, and production of videos were done by NCP staff.  There were 60 communicators who each cover 40-45 villages per month, reaching 5400 targeted children in 2700 villages.

Social Marketing for Nutrition : Using Mass Media

In the early 1980s, the NCP teamed up with an advertising agency to develop a simple but catchy campaign to advocate the values of eating nutritious foods emphasizing vegetables and protein sources. The campaign had broadsheet, radio and TV spots and earned for the NCP and its partner the Catholic Mass Media Award (link to Awards page).

In the early 1990s, the NCP provided support for a project in Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao) that aimed to increase awareness for vitamin A-rich vegetables through a combination of mass media (TV, Cinema, Radio) and interpersonal communication.  There was a documented increase in consumption in intervention areas compared to the control area.  This project was entitled : “Moving to long-term strategies: increasing vegetable gardening and consumption in the Philippines” and was funded by the Academy for Educational Development, the Nutrition Communication Project, The Communication and Marketing for Child Survival Project, and the Opportunities for Micronutrient Interventions Project.