scholarly journals 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)

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).

scholarly journals 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)

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).

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

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.

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

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 903-903
Author(s):  
Marianne Santoso ◽  
Rachel Bezner-Kerr ◽  
Neema Kassim ◽  
Elias Mtinda ◽  
Haikael Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Household Tasks ◽  
High Participation ◽  
Nutrition Sensitive ◽  
Men’S Involvement

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 &lt; 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 &lt; 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 &lt; 0.01). Men's high participation was associated with their spouse's participation (OR = 4.22, P &lt; 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 &lt; 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.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Through Microfinance - A Case of Rural Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.

Women’s Education May Be Even Better Than We Thought: Estimating the Gains from Education When Schooling Ain’t Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Kaffenberger ◽  
Lant Pritchett
Keyword(s):  
Child Mortality ◽  
Women's Education ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Primary Schooling ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Financial Practices ◽  
Attenuation Bias

Women’s schooling has long been regarded as one of the best investments in development. Using two different cross-nationally comparable data sets which both contain measures of schooling, assessments of literacy, and life outcomes for more than 50 countries, we show the association of women’s education (defined as schooling and the acquisition of literacy) with four life outcomes (fertility, child mortality, empowerment, and financial practices) is much larger than the standard estimates of the gains from schooling alone. First, estimates of the association of outcomes with schooling alone cannot distinguish between the association of outcomes with schooling that actually produces increased learning and schooling that does not. Second, typical estimates do not address attenuation bias from measurement error. Using the new data on literacy to partially address these deficiencies, we find that the associations of women’s basic education (completing primary schooling and attaining literacy) with child mortality, fertility, women’s empowerment and the associations of men’s and women’s basic education with positive financial practices are three to five times larger than standard estimates. For instance, our country aggregated OLS estimate of the association of women’s empowerment with primary schooling versus no schooling is 0.15 of a standard deviation of the index, but the estimated association for women with primary schooling and literacy, using IV to correct for attenuation bias, is 0.68, 4.6 times bigger. Our findings raise two conceptual points. First, if the causal pathway through which schooling affects life outcomes is, even partially, through learning then estimates of the impact of schooling will underestimate the impact of education. Second, decisions about how to invest to improve life outcomes necessarily depend on estimates of the relative impacts and relative costs of schooling (e.g., grade completion) versus learning (e.g., literacy) on life outcomes. Our results do share the limitation of all previous observational results that the associations cannot be given causal interpretation and much more work will be needed to be able to make reliable claims about causal pathways.

scholarly journals Assessing the impact of a combined nutrition counselling and cash transfer intervention on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh: a randomised control trial protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e044263
Author(s):  
Elizabeth K Kirkwood ◽  
Michael John Dibley ◽  
John Frederick Hoddinott ◽  
Tanvir Huda ◽  
Tracey Lea Laba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Randomised Control Trial ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Rural Bangladesh ◽  
Nutrition Counselling ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Unconditional Cash Transfer

IntroductionThere is growing interest in assessing the impact of health interventions, particularly when women are the focus of the intervention, on women’s empowerment. Globally, research has shown that interventions targeting nutrition, health and economic development can affect women’s empowerment. Evidence suggests that women’s empowerment is also an underlying determinant of nutrition outcomes. Depending on the focus of the intervention, different domains of women’s empowerment will be influenced, for example, an increase in nutritional knowledge, or greater control over income and access to resources.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the impact of the Shonjibon Cash and Counselling (SCC) Trial that combines nutrition counselling and an unconditional cash transfer, delivered on a mobile platform, on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh.Methods and analysisWe will use a mixed-methods approach, combining statistical analysis of quantitative data from 2840 women in a cluster randomised controlled trial examining the impact of nutrition behaviour change communications (BCCs) and cash transfers on child undernutrition. Pregnant participants will be given a smartphone with a customised app, delivering nutrition BCC messages, and will receive nutrition counselling via a call centre and an unconditional cash transfer. This study is a component of the SCC Trial and will measure women’s empowerment using a composite indicator based on the Project-Level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, with quantitative data collection at baseline and endline. Thematic analysis of qualitative data, collected through longitudinal interviews with women, husbands and mothers-in-law, will elicit a local understanding of women’s empowerment and the linkages between the intervention and women’s empowerment outcomes. This paper describes the study protocol to evaluate women’s empowerment in a nutrition-specific and sensitive intervention using internationally validated, innovative tools and will help fill the evidence gap on pathways of impact, highlighting areas to target for future programming.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (Ref. PR 17106) and The University of Sydney (Ref: 2019/840). Findings from this study will be shared in Bangladesh with dissemination sessions in-country and internationally at conferences, and will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

scholarly journals The impact of self-help groups on pastoral women’s empowerment and agency: A study in Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adedamola F. Badejo ◽  
Ayodele O. Majekodunmi ◽  
Peter Kingsley ◽  
James Smith ◽  
Susan C. Welburn
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Self Help Groups ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Gender discrimination, victimisation and women's mental health

2018 ◽  
Vol 213 (6) ◽  
pp. 682-684
Author(s):  
Georgina M. Hosang ◽  
Kamaldeep Bhui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
British Journal ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Women’S Mental Health ◽  
Women's Mental Health ◽  
The Impact

SummaryGender inequality and discrimination, as well as violence and victimisation towards women, have recently hit the headlines creating a media furore. We provide a timely discussion surrounding the impact of these issues on women's mental health and a discussion of the role of psychiatry in this context.Declaration of interestK.B. is the editor for the British Journal of Psychiatry but has not played a role in the decision to accept this editorial for publication in this journal. G.H. has no conflict of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Association between women’s empowerment and infant and child feeding practices in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3155-3165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muzi Na ◽  
Larissa Jennings ◽  
Sameera A Talegawkar ◽  
Saifuddin Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Meal Frequency ◽  
Child Feeding ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Minimum Dietary Diversity

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the relationship between women’s empowerment and WHO recommended infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in sub-Saharan Africa.DesignAnalysis was conducted using data from ten Demographic and Health Surveys between 2010 and 2013. Women’s empowerment was assessed by nine standard items covering three dimensions: economic, socio-familial and legal empowerment. Three core IYCF practices examined were minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet. Separate multivariable logistic regression models were applied for the IYCF practices on dimensional and overall empowerment in each country.SettingBenin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe.SubjectsYoungest singleton children aged 6–23 months and their mothers (n 15 153).ResultsLess than 35 %, 60 % and 18 % of children 6–23 months of age met the criterion of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet, respectively. In general, likelihood of meeting the recommended IYCF criteria was positively associated with the economic dimension of women’s empowerment. Socio-familial empowerment was negatively associated with the three feeding criteria, except in Zimbabwe. The legal dimension of empowerment did not show any clear pattern in the associations. Greater overall empowerment of women was consistently and positively associated with multiple IYCF practices in Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. However, consistent negative relationships were found in Benin and Niger. Null or mixed results were observed in the remaining countries.ConclusionsThe importance of women’s empowerment for IYCF practices needs to be discussed by context and by dimension of empowerment.

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