Peer-reviewed article
The collaborative research and education system on poultry and eggs (CRESCOVA) to achieve balanced nutrition and prevent stunting
Rachmy Rosyida Ro’is, Deviany Hanadia Nuryalestri, Naifa Inggit Kheisya Putri, Sifa Indriani ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study develops the CRESCOVA framework, an integrated model combining nutrition education, small-scale poultry farming, and community engagement to reduce child stunting in Indonesia. The research synthesizes evidence from 52 sources showing that egg and poultry consumption improves children's growth and that participatory education changes caregiver behaviour. The framework connects health, education, and agricultural sectors to address dietary gaps and improve child nutrition outcomes.
Key points
- Egg and poultry consumption significantly improves linear growth and dietary adequacy among children
- Participatory nutrition education enhances caregiver behaviour change
- Cross-sector interventions linking health, education, and agriculture demonstrate greater impact than fragmented programs
- The CRESCOVA model promotes women's empowerment and strengthens household capacity
- Stunting in Indonesia is linked to gaps in dietary diversity, nutrition literacy, and poor sector integration
Limitations
This is a literature review and conceptual framework development study, not a field evaluation. It cannot provide evidence on the actual feasibility, effectiveness, or implementation outcomes of CRESCOVA in real-world Indonesian settings, which the authors acknowledge requires further field testing.
Abstract
Background: Stunting remains one of Indonesia’s most critical public-health challenges, affecting child growth, cognitive development, and long-term human-capital productivity. Despite national efforts to accelerate stunting reduction, gaps persist in dietary diversity, nutrition literacy, and integration between health and agricultural sectors. Poultry and eggs—nutrient-dense, affordable, and widely acceptable—represent a strategic yet underutilized entry point for improving child nutrition. This study aims to synthesize interdisciplinary evidence and develop the CRESCOVA (Collaborative Research and Education System on Poultry and Eggs) framework as an innovative model that integrates nutrition education, small-scale poultry practices, and community empowerment to support Indonesia’s stunting-reduction agenda. Method: This research employed a qualitative descriptive literature-review design. A systematic search was conducted across Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, DOAJ, Google Scholar, FAO, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, Kemenkes, and BKKBN repositories (2019–2025), supplemented with foundational meta-analyses. A total of 52 eligible sources were analyzed using narrative thematic synthesis, covering nutrition-sensitive agriculture, animal-source foods, community-based education, and cross-sector collaboration. Extracted themes were integrated to construct the CRESCOVA conceptual model and validated against national policies and global development frameworks. Finding: Results show consistent evidence that egg and poultry consumption significantly improves linear growth and dietary adequacy among children, while participatory nutrition education enhances caregiver behavior. Cross-sector interventions linking health, education, and agriculture demonstrate greater impact than fragmented programs. Based on these findings, the CRESCOVA model offers a scalable, context-appropriate framework that strengthens household capacity, promotes women’s empowerment, and aligns with SDG 2 and SDG 3 to improve food security and child nutrition outcomes. Conclusion: CRESCOVA provides a practical strategy to operationalize multisectoral stunting-reduction efforts through integrated education and poultry-based learning. Further field implementation and evaluation are recommended to assess feasibility across Indonesia’s diverse regions. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study introduces the CRESCOVA framework as a novel socio-technical intervention that specifically bridges the gap between nutrition-sensitive agriculture and public health education in the Indonesian context.