Where	At national scale in 32 states. The training and communication strategy is being implemented in 29 states. Three states were temporarily excluded because they were selected as control states for the training impact evaluation.
When	2014—ongoing programme
MNP delivery strategy	Model: Free to beneficiaries of the Prospera (SP) programme Platform: Public health system's primary care services Channel: Physicians and nurses from health centres
Target population	Approximately 6.1 million families are part of Prospera (targets are created every 2 months and based on monitoring data) 1,230,360 children 6–59 months (out of 1,328,646) received the supplements during the period January to February 2016.
MNP schedule	Daily doses year‐round. Mothers receive a bimonthly supply of the product (one box of 60 sachets) during their children's routine medical check‐ups. In rural areas, children 6–12 months receive a fortified porridge and children 12–24 months fortified milk in addition to MNP.
SBCC	A social marketing strategy was developed using formative research with health workers, mothers, fathers, and community leaders. An IYCF strategy was designed including MNP promotion. The strategy was piloted and feedback provided to improve it before scaling up nationally. The strategy is built on existing human resources; staff/infrastructure; and routine activities from within the cash transfer programme. SBCC messaging was standardized for consistency at all levels. Trained physicians/ nurses provide counselling and health promoters conduct workshops about IYCF and MNP use. Programme designed for community volunteers to make home visits to encourage the use of the MNP, help mothers cope with children rejecting food prepared with MNP, and manage side effects, but it is not fully implemented yet. Due to budgetary constraints, mass communication (radio, banners, videos, and TV spots) was funded only in one state targeting the indigenous population.
Training	After an unsuccessful initial traditional cascade training, the government and its partners developed a mixed training model on healthy pregnancy, IYCF, and MNP, which included in‐class and computer‐based courses to increase the reach to more health personnel and their motivation to complete the training. The training of trainers was a 1‐day, face‐to‐face course plus 45 hr for physician and nurses and 35 hr for health promoters that can be taken in a period of 5 weeks online. For health workers (frontline physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and health promoters) training was 1‐day, face‐to‐face, plus a 3‐week offline course. The training included IYCF, use of MNP, and ways to promote MNP. By June 2016, more than 48,000 health workers have been trained, more than half of the 75,000 goal.
Lessons learned	The programme was designed for scale at the onset and included nutrition specific objectives. Developing an enabling policy environment was key to ensure commitment for scaling up and to securing funding. Political pressure for rapid scale up precluded the timely implementation of the SBCC prior to MNP distribution. Integration within the conditional cash transfer programme and the health system was key to reaching a large population and ensuring implementation funding, although funding was not enough for a longer, in‐person training and the use of mass media. Funding constraints may be overcome by incorporating private funding mechanisms that do not represent conflict of interest to strengthen community mobilization efforts and incorporate mass media.

^a IYCF, infant and young child feeding; MNP, micronutrient powders; SBCC, social behavior change communication

^b Based on information from key informant 11.