Predictors of Program Participation in a Nutrition-Sensitive Agroecological Intervention in Singida, Tanzania

Abstract Objectives Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions are theorized to improve child's diet through asset provision and program participation. Although some programs measure participation, predictors of participation are understudied. We therefore investigated predictors of men's and women's program participation in Singida Nutrition and Agroecology Project (SNAP-Tz; NCT02761876). Methods In SNAP-Tz, ‘mentor farmers’ led their peers (smallholder farmers with children < 1 year at baseline) in learning about agroecology, nutrition, and gender equity through meetings and household visits. At baseline, we collected data on demographics, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (0–27), men's involvement in 7 household tasks (0–7), and Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (AWEAI). Participating men (n = 262) and women (n = 283) were asked to recall their program participation biannually. Predictors of high participation, defined as attendance in ≥60% participant meetings and household visits, were identified using multiple logistic regressions, controlling for clustering at the village level. Results Only 59% and 37% of women and men, respectively, had high participation. Women's high participation was associated with their spouse's participation (OR = 4.23, P < 0.01), greater food insecurity (OR = 1.03, P = 0.03), years of education (OR = 1.13, P = 0.02), and being empowered (OR = 5.88, P < 0.01). Men's high participation was associated with their spouse's participation (OR = 4.22, P < 0.01), greater food insecurity (OR = 2.23, P = 0.01), involvement in household tasks (OR = 1.25, P = 0.04), and age (OR = 1.03, P < 0.01). Conclusions Associations between an individual's and their spouse's participation indicate the importance of spousal dynamics. The association between participation and baseline gender equity (i.e., women's empowerment, men's involvement in household tasks) highlights the challenges of gender programming in nutrition-sensitive interventions. Analysis of program participation was simple and revealed valuable lessons for program implementation and design; more programs should therefore analyze participation. Funding Sources This study was funded by the McKnight Foundation, the Borlaug Fellowship in Global Food Security Research, and NIH K01 Award.

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Production Diversity, Men's Help with Household Tasks, & Lower Women's Depression Mediate Impact of an Agriculture Intervention on Child's Dietary Diversity in Tanzania (FS01-06-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz034.fs01-06-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Marianne Santoso ◽

Rachel Bezner Kerr ◽

Neema Kassim ◽

Haikael Martin ◽

Elias Mtinda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Household Tasks ◽

Household Chores ◽

Women's Mental Health ◽

Nutrition Sensitive ◽

Production Diversity ◽

The Impact

Abstract Objectives Production diversity and women's empowerment are two ways by which nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions are thought to improve children's diet, but, few empirical studies have tested these pathways. We therefore investigated the impact of the Singida Nutrition and Agroecology Project (SNAP-Tz; NCT02761876) on child's dietary diversity, as well as the mediating role of production diversity and women's empowerment on that relationship. Methods SNAP-Tz is a randomized trial of a participatory agroecology and nutrition intervention on which mentor farmers lead their fellow farmers with children < 1 y.o. at baseline (n = 587) in learning and experimentation on agroecology, nutrition, and gender equity. We estimated the intention-to-treat impact of SNAP-Tz on Child's Dietary Diversity Score (CDDS) [0–7] using difference-in-difference analysis between 2016 and 2018. Average Causal Mediation Effect (ACME5) were estimated for production diversity (Crop Nutritional Functional Richness; 0–7) and 4 measures of women's empowerment: Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (AWEAI, 0–1), women's ability to allocate income (WEAI questions; 0–1), men's help with household chores (with 7 activities; 0–7), and women's depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; 0–60). All analyses were done on Stata14 and controlled for geographic clustering and social desirability bias. Results SNAP-Tz significantly improved child's dietary diversity (β = 0.53, P < 0.01). Increased production diversity, greater male involvement in household chores, and lower women's depression mediated 11% (ACME: .06; 95%CI: .01-.11), 6% (ACME: .04; 95CI: .00-.08), and 7% (ACME: .03; 95%CI: .00-.07) of SNAP-Tz's impact on child's dietary diversity, respectively. Mediation of AWEAI and income allocation decision making, on the other hand, were not significant. Conclusions SNAP-Tz improved child's dietary diversity through increasing agricultural production diversity, men's involvement in household chores, and women's mental health. By engaging men in household tasks and prioritizing women's mental health, we can optimize the impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture projects. Funding Sources SNAP-Tz is funded by the McKnight Foundation. SLY was supported by the NIH (K01MH098902).

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Production Diversity, Men's Help with Household Tasks, & Lower Women's Depression Mediate Impact of an Agriculture Intervention on Child's Dietary Diversity in Tanzania (FS01-06-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz028.fs01-06-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Marianne Santoso ◽

Rachel Bezner Kerr ◽

Neema Kassim ◽

Haikael Martin ◽

Elias Mtinda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Household Tasks ◽

Household Chores ◽

Women's Mental Health ◽

Nutrition Sensitive ◽

Production Diversity ◽

The Impact

Abstract Objectives Production diversity and women's empowerment are two ways by which nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions are thought to improve children's diet, but, few empirical studies have tested these pathways. We therefore investigated the impact of the Singida Nutrition and Agroecology Project (SNAP-Tz; NCT02761876) on child's dietary diversity, as well as the mediating role of production diversity and women's empowerment on that relationship. Methods SNAP-Tz is a randomized trial of a participatory agroecology and nutrition intervention on which mentor farmers lead their fellow farmers with children <1 y.o. at baseline (n = 587) in learning and experimentation on agroecology, nutrition, and gender equity. We estimated the intention-to-treat impact of SNAP-Tz on Child's Dietary Diversity Score (CDDS) [0–7] using difference-in-difference analysis between 2016 and 2018. Average Causal Mediation Effect (ACME5) were estimated for production diversity (Crop Nutritional Functional Richness; 0–7) and 4 measures of women's empowerment: Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (AWEAI, 0–1), women's ability to allocate income (WEAI questions; 0–1), men's help with household chores (with 7 activities; 0–7), and women's depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; 0–60). All analyses were done on Stata14 and controlled for geographic clustering and social desirability bias. Results SNAP-Tz significantly improved child's dietary diversity (β = 0.53, P < 0.01). Increased production diversity, greater male involvement in household chores, and lower women's depression mediated 11% (ACME: .06; 95%CI: .01-.11), 6% (ACME: .04; 95CI: .00-.08), and 7% (ACME: .03; 95%CI: .00-.07) of SNAP-Tz's impact on child's dietary diversity, respectively. Mediation of AWEAI and income allocation decision making, on the other hand, were not significant. Conclusions SNAP-Tz improved child's dietary diversity through increasing agricultural production diversity, men's involvement in household chores, and women's mental health. By engaging men in household tasks and prioritizing women's mental health, we can optimize the impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture projects. Funding Sources SNAP-Tz is funded by the McKnight Foundation. SLY was supported by the NIH (K01MH098902).

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Donor-Funded Women’s Empowerment in Tajikistan: Trajectories of Women’s NGOs and Changing Attitudes to the International Agenda

Studies in Comparative International Development ◽

10.1007/s12116-021-09343-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karolina Kluczewska

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Gender Equity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Safety Net ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Capitalist Economy ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Non Governmental Organizations ◽

Empowerment Model

AbstractThis article investigates internationally funded women’s empowerment initiatives in Tajikistan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent Tajik civil war (1992–1997), this newly independent, Muslim-majority country has experienced an influx of foreign aid, including in the field of women’s rights. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the article analyzes the growth and diversification of local, Western-funded women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) between 1991 and 2020, paying attention to their leadership and aims, as well as changing perceptions of donors’ interventions. It is argued that, initially, local activists were supportive of international projects, which promoted gender equality by supporting women’s integration into the new, capitalist economy. In the last decade, however, an increasing conditionality of funding and deteriorating donor-NGO relations has fueled local contestations of the international agenda. The donor-enhanced women’s empowerment model, which fosters individual responsibility and self-reliance, is increasingly criticized for aggravating the conditions of local women in the context of a growing economic insecurity characterizing the local capitalist economy. Against this resentment, an alternative women’s empowerment model, advancing gender equity based on complementarity of male and female social roles and stressing the importance of family as a safety net against economic precarity, is gaining prominence locally.

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Gender equity, labor rights, and women’s empowerment: lessons from Fairtrade certification in Ecuador flower plantations

Agriculture and Human Values ◽

10.1007/s10460-020-10171-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Laura T. Raynolds

Keyword(s):

Gender Equity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Labor Rights

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Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Impact Pathways to Nutrition Outcomes

Advances in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/advances/nmaa103 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Indu K Sharma ◽

Sabina Di Prima ◽

Dirk Essink ◽

Jacqueline E W Broerse

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Food Production ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Food Prices ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Local Institutions ◽

Impact Pathways ◽

Study Results ◽

Nutrition Sensitive ◽

The Impact

ABSTRACT The role of agriculture in reducing undernutrition is widely recognized, yet there is also consensus on the need to make the sector nutrition-sensitive. Evidence on the impact pathways from nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions, agricultural interventions with specific nutrition objectives, and actions detailing each temporal stage to reach nutrition outcomes is limited, however. We thus synthesized study results regarding impact of NSA interventions on nutrition outcomes relating to undernutrition, and constructed an impact pathway by mapping the evidence on each temporal stage from interventions to nutrition outcomes. We used Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to conduct and report our systematic review of studies on NSA interventions implemented in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Forty-three studies that met the inclusion criteria were extracted and synthesized across impact and pathways analyses. We carried out a thematic analysis of the effect of NSA interventions using evidence-based indicators and constructed the pathways by adopting a published framework on agriculture to nutrition pathways. Our findings reveal that NSA interventions can significantly improve dietary practices, and have the potential to enhance care practices and reduce occurrence of diseases, indicating their effectiveness in simultaneously addressing multiple determinants of undernutrition. However, NSA interventions have a lesser impact on nutritional status. NSA interventions lead to nutrition outcomes through 5 key pathways: food production, nutrition-related knowledge, agricultural income, women's empowerment, and strengthening of local institutions. We emphasize the need to carefully design, implement, and evaluate interventions with consideration for factors affecting impact pathways. Future research should focus on the effect of interventions combining multisector components, and pathways through non-food-production-related income, women's empowerment, strengthening of local institutions, food prices at intervention level, and expenditure on health care.

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The Impact of ‘Women's Empowerment in Agriculture’ on Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in the KwaZulu-Natal Province

Forum for Development Studies ◽

10.1080/08039410.2014.997792 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 195-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stanley Sharaunga ◽

Maxwell Mudhara ◽

Ayalneh Bogale

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

Household Vulnerability ◽

The Impact

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Divulgação de informações sociais Relativas a Gênero pelas empresas Brasileiras Signatárias dos Women’s Empowerment Principles

Journal on Innovation and Sustainability RISUS ISSN 2179-3565 ◽

10.24212/2179-3565.2017v8i4p3-23 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 3

Author(s):

Manuel Salgueiro Rodrigues Júnior ◽

Marcelle Colares Oliveira ◽

Isadora Maria Aragão Roberto Alves Marcos ◽

Gabriel Ramos Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Gender Equity ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

High Level

Given the presence of women in jobs that are less prone to benefits, it is natural for organizations to seek to encourage gender equity. Of particular note is the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) initiative, developed by the UN. We analyzed the 99 companies based in Brazil whose CEO signed the Declaration of Support for WEP, assuming that WEP signatories have a high level of dissemination of information on practices implemented seeking gender equity.

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