Download the SEED™ Assessment Guide for Family Planning
The Supply–Enabling Environment–Demand (SEED) Programming Model™ is a holistic programming framework based on the principle that sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs will be more successful and sustainable if they comprehensively address the multifaceted determinants of health, and if they include synergistic interventions that:
- Attend to the availability and quality of services and other supply-related issues;
- Strengthen health systems and foster an enabling environment for SRH-seeking behavior; and
- Improve knowledge of SRH and cultivate demand for services.
In particular, the SEED Programming Model™ emerged from an earlier iteration—the Supply-Demand-Advocacy (SDA) Model, which was developed by EngenderHealth under the ACQUIRE Project. |
The SEED Programming Model™ builds on much of the thinking that has emerged from decades of FP/SRH program experience –both that of EngenderHealth and other technical organizations – in its grounding precept that a combination of interventions in the three interdependent and mutually supportive areas of supply, enabling environment, and demand will better enable programs to improve SRH in the communities they serve.
The SEED Programming Model™ can contribute to a wide range of program planning functions. Using it can help SRH program planners:
- Foster a broad-based approach to program assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation;
- Highlight the need to effectively and synergistically address factors related to service delivery and support systems, culture, and community, as well as policy, governance, and accountability;
- Develop a framework for partnering, given that no single entity is likely to have the capacity, mandate, or expertise to address all components of Supply, Enabling Environment, and Demand; and
- Undertake a range of interventions at various levels—from the national down to the district, facility, and community levels.
Programs dedicated to improving SRH often look to attain specific health outcomes, such as helping clients to achieve safe pregnancy and delivery outcomes, assisting them to meet their reproductive intentions through family planning (FP), or seeking the improved health of people living with HIV/AIDS. For this reason, EngenderHealth has developed multiple versions of the SEED Programming Model to address each of these specific areas within SRH. |
Though not incorporated visually into the SEED Model, EngenderHealth subscribes to four underlying principles of good program design and implementation – The Fundamentals of Care, Evidence-Based Programming, Gender Equity, and Stakeholder Engagement.
Ultimately, the SEED Programming Model™ can help those involved in designing and implementing SRH programs (be they technical organizations, ministries of health, donors, or others involved in SRH programming activities) to take a comprehensive approach to their work, thus increasing the likelihood of programmatic success and sustainability, and as a result, improving the health of individuals, families, and communities.