Three bicycles for 39 volunteers: the uphill battle to fund playful parenting in rural Zambia

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The earliest years of a child's life are critical for growth, learning and long-term wellbeing. During this period, children develop rapidly, and experiences in the home and community shape their future health, education and social outcomes. Simple things like talking, singing, telling stories and playing with children can have a powerful impact on how their brains develop in this time.

Playful parenting does not require expensive toys or specialised equipment. Instead, it encourages families to use everyday experiences and any materials found locally as opportunities for learning.

In 2019, Zambia's Ministry of Health, Unicef and other partners launched a playful parenting programme for parents and their infants aged 0-3 years. The programme took support directly into people's homes in Zambia's Eastern Province, with community-based volunteers showing parents practical ways to help their young children learn and develop through play.

The volunteers are part of a group of 90,000 people countrywide who already work with families in the areas of community development, mother and child health, and even social welfare – without any payment.

They also provide nutrition support, encourage parents to take children for vaccinations and other health services, promote early learning, and offer advice and counselling.

I was part of a team of public health and economics scholars who set out to study whether community volunteers could help parents use play to support their young children's development in rural Zambia.

We spoke to parents, volunteers, government officials and community organisations to find out what worked – and what got in the way – when the playful parenting programme was introduced through local health services.

Our research found that parents and communities welcomed the playful parenting programme, and cooperation between health, education and other services helped it work. But shortages of staff and funding, along with limited training and poor coordination, made it difficult to keep the programme going.

Playful parenting can work well through Zambia's rural health services when community volunteers and the health, education and social sectors work together. But expanding the programme will require more funding, better training and support for volunteers, and stronger coordination between the different services involved.

How local volunteers reached families

Trusted community-based volunteers were central to reaching families with playful parenting. This is because they knew how to deliver culturally appropriate services. Because they lived within the communities they served, the volunteers were able to build trust, conduct home visits, provide parenting and nutrition education, identify vulnerable children, and link families to health and social services.

In Zambia, poverty, malnutrition and a lack of opportunities to learn and play can affect children's development in their first years. In rural areas, the government has not invested much in early childhood development activities. There's a lack of services that support young children's growth, and a great need for practical interventions that reach families where they live.

The volunteers enjoyed promoting playful parenting:

We are very much happy and grateful, we have learned a lot and now, we are trying to teach men in our communities that it is important for a man to play with a child at home, communicate with each other and build a relationship between a father, mother and a child.

Many caregivers told us that they too gained a new appreciation for the importance of early learning activities from the playful parenting programme. As a result, they became more intentional about spending quality time with their children. As one mother said:

We always talk about how we are supposed to take care of our husbands, but we have never talked about how to take care of our children… We have a lot of mothers who have new-born babies here; so, if we educate each other, they can also go out there and educate other mothers.

The challenges of reaching every family

Our research found that it was also important for playful parenting to have the support of traditional leaders, teachers, health workers and parents. They all played important roles in shaping how people viewed the programme. In communities where leaders actively supported it, more people tended to take part and stay involved.

Collaboration was also important. Bringing early childhood development into community health services was helped by cooperation between the health, education and social sectors. At district level, coordination brought government departments and development partners together to deliver services more effectively.

Schools and teachers also played an important role. School administrators helped organise activities and raise awareness about child development, while healthcare workers supported volunteers and connected the programme with other health services.

Our research found that training was one of the biggest reasons the programme worked well. Community volunteers learned about early childhood development. They were trained in how to show parents ways to use play and everyday interactions to help their children develop. The training gave volunteers the knowledge and confidence to work with families, while practical guides helped make sure parents received the same advice across different communities.

But there were also obstacles. The people we interviewed reported shortages of staff, funding, materials and transport. Poor roads and long distances between communities also made it harder to reach families and run the programme:

There are only 3 bicycles, and we have 39 community-based volunteers so, transport is an issue.

What needs to happen next

There is growing political commitment to early childhood development in Zambia. But it needs greater funding. Our research argues that these steps must be taken:

• Increase government investment in early childhood development so programmes can reach more families.

• Expand training and ongoing support for community-based volunteers so they have the skills and confidence to help parents and caregivers.

• Improve facilities, equipment and other resources that volunteers need to do their work effectively.

• Make sure that different government services work together on early childhood issues instead of doing separate and different things.

• Give parents and caregivers practical advice on how everyday play, talking and responsive care can help young children learn and develop.

• Build stronger community support systems so every child, regardless of where they live, has the opportunity to grow, learn and reach their full potential.

Health and development economist Chitalu Miriam Chama-Chiliba and health economics researcher Mwimba Chewe co-authored the research this article is based on.

Malizgani Paul Chavula does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Malizgani Paul Chavula, Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of Zambia