Home visiting to support early childhood care and development: challenges and opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa

The global pandemic has highlighted the inadequacies of centre-based provision for children in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Most young children in sub-Saharan Africa reside with families, and delivery of services in the home is becoming increasingly important. In pre-pandemic times, home visiting programmes surfaced as a modality to support young children and families in disadvantaged contexts. In current times, this modality continues to be underdeveloped and trapped in the broader challenges of making early childhood care and education public provision. The aim of this paper is to engage with challenges and opportunities in home visiting directed at supporting early childhood care and education. In so doing, a call is made for more structured government support to enable the development of high-quality home visiting programmes.