scholarly journals Benefits and Risks of Smallholder Livestock Production on Child Nutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dehao Chen ◽  
Karah Mechlowitz ◽  
Xiaolong Li ◽  
Nancy Schaefer ◽  
Arie H. Havelaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Household Income ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Enteric Pathogens ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Gut Health ◽  
Livestock Species ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Nutritional Benefits

Livestock production may improve nutritional outcomes of pregnant women and children by increasing household income, availability of nutrient-dense foods, and women's empowerment. Nevertheless, the relationship is complex, and the nutritional status of children may be impaired by presence of or proximity to livestock and their pathogens. In this paper, we review the benefits and risks of livestock production on child nutrition. Evidence supports the nutritional benefits of livestock farming through income, production, and women's empowerment. Increasing animal source food consumption requires a combination of efforts, including improved animal management so that herd size is adequate to meet household income needs and consumption and addressing sociocultural and gendered norms. Evidence supports the inclusion of behavior change communication strategies into livestock production interventions to facilitate the sustainability of nutritional benefits over time, particularly interventions that engage women and foster dimensions of women's empowerment. In evaluating the risks of livestock production, evidence indicates that a broad range of enteric pathogens may chronically infect the intestines of children and, in combination with dietary deficits, may cause environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), a chronic inflammation of the gut. Some of the most important pathogens associated with EED are zoonotic in nature with livestock as their main reservoir. Very few studies have aimed to understand which livestock species contribute most to colonization with these pathogens, or how to reduce transmission. Control at the point of exposure has been investigated in a few studies, but much less effort has been spent on improving animal husbandry practices, which may have additional benefits. There is an urgent need for dedicated and long-term research to understand which livestock species contribute most to exposure of young children to zoonotic enteric pathogens, to test the potential of a wide range of intervention methods, to assess their effectiveness in randomized trials, and to assure their broad adaptation and sustainability. This review highlights the benefits and risks of livestock production on child nutrition. In addition to identifying research gaps, findings support inclusion of poor gut health as an immediate determinant of child undernutrition, expanding the established UNICEF framework which includes only inadequate diet and disease.

scholarly journals Simulating Impact of Technical Efficiency of Livestock Production On Women’s Empowerment in Feed The Future Zone of Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paresh Kumar Sarma
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Future ◽  
Feed The Future ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study explores the impact of technical efficiency (TE) on women empowerment in livestock index (WELI) in feed the future zone of Bangladesh. Considering the livestock farming households a total of 906 data (out of 2064) were extracted from the national representative data set of the Bangladesh integrated household survey (BIHS) in 2018. The descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, Alkire Forster methodology, stochastic frontier model, and ordered probit regression modeling were applied for achieving the objective. The results found that the overall WELI score was 0.735 where about 26.65% (WELI score ≥0.80) of women were empowered. The TE score was 0.941 and 0.942 for male and 0.940 for female and male-headed households, respectively. The research revealed found that a positively significant (P<0.05) relationship between TE and WELI. Moreover, higher levels of TE are associated to reduce with the gender disparities. The researchers suggest that encouraging women to participate in livestock production is a good idea; as a result, women's empowerment has a lot of potentials to boost livestock productivity. Hence, our findings provide important evidence showing the positive impact of technical efficiency on women’s empowerment and gender parity within the livestock farming household and may higher level associatively with SDGs.

scholarly journals Tourism development, entrepreneurship and women's empowerment – Focus on Serbian countryside

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darko B. Vukovic ◽  
Marko Petrovic ◽  
Moinak Maiti ◽  
Aleksandra Vujko
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Character ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe starting premise of this study is that women's empowerment is the goal for self-realization and that the support that comes from local tourism stakeholders represents an adequate base. In many rural areas, women have established self-help groups (SHGs), which facilitate the interaction with a wide range of stakeholders. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of SHGs on female entrepreneurship and self-employment in tourism.Design/methodology/approachTo examine the research question, this study adopted a quantitative research that included a sample of 513 women in a less-advanced rural area in Serbia. For the data analysis, the generalized linear regression model (GLM) was used.FindingsAccording to the results, self-employment is the leading goal of women's empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation in the research and the authors’ suggestion for future research is to increase the sample size of female respondents, so examination of their attitudes and role in the travel business in their local settings might reach higher significance. The second issue that the authors would like to point out is a highly local character of our study, so the future research should involve other rural areas in the country and from abroad (e.g. similar undeveloped countryside with noticeable, active women's role in local entrepreneurship).Practical implicationsThe most important practical implications of this paper are twofold: (1) the results of the research have shown that the tourist potential of rural areas can be enhanced through local tourism stakeholders' support; (2) women without professional interest or jobs in rural areas, especially in the areas where the population is traditionally dominated by men (husband/brother/father), have a chance to earn and to be economically more independent. This research can affect future studies to investigate other aspects of empowerment depending on the difference of regions, from one side, and also alternative opportunities for tourism and local development in less-advanced rural areas, from another side.Originality/valueThe study analyzes the tourism potential of the rural areas (which are less advanced and mostly very poor in developing countries, such as Serbia). In this case, there are opportunities to increase employment, social inclusion of women, development of new tourism strategies, implementation of destination marketing, etc. Moreover, it contributes to future research in the field of stakeholders in tourism strategies.

scholarly journals Women’s Empowerment Mitigates the Negative Effects of Low Production Diversity on Maternal and Child Nutrition in Nepal

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 1097-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel Jean L. Malapit ◽  
Suneetha Kadiyala ◽  
Agnes R. Quisumbing ◽  
Kenda Cunningham ◽  
Parul Tyagi
Keyword(s):  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Maternal And Child Nutrition ◽  
Production Diversity

scholarly journals Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific: Reflections on the Beijing+25 Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Cai Cai ◽  
Bharat Dahiya
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Made In

This article reviews the 25-year progress made in implementing the ‘Beijing Platform for Action’ and the challenges that remain towards achieving gender equality in the Asia-Pacific region. Adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women, the ‘Beijing Platform for Action’ has been hailed as the most progressive policy blueprint for gender equality and women’s empowerment. In November 2019, over 600 participants from 54 countries, comprising representatives from Governments, international organisations and civil society organisations attended the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review in Bangkok. The delegations reviewed the “achievements, challenges and priority areas for realizing gender equality and women’s empowerment” (UNESCAP, 2019a:1) in Asia-Pacific. For 25 years, since the adoption of the ‘Beijing Platform for Action’, Asia-Pacific has witnessed significant progress in girls’ education and women’s health. Unprecedented progress has been made in and reducing maternal deaths and enhancing women’s representation in national parliaments and local governments in several countries. However, there are some enduring challenges, including women’s economic empowerment and political participation, and violence against women. Whilst women play a pivotal role in protecting the environment and natural resources, they have been underrepresented in environment-related decision making and negotiations. Accordingly, the key actions outlined by the ‘Asia-Pacific Declaration on Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Beijing+25 Review’ cover a wide range of issues, from women’s economic empowerment, political participation, to women’s full and effective participation in environment conservation, climate action and peace building process.

scholarly journals Evaluating interventions to improve child nutrition in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Doocy ◽  
Jillian Emerson ◽  
Elizabeth Colantouni ◽  
Johnathan Strong ◽  
Kimberly Amundson-Mansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Farmer Field Schools ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Republic Of The Congo

AbstractObjectiveThe prevention of malnutrition in children under two approach (PM2A), women’s empowerment and agricultural interventions have not been widely evaluated in relation to child diet and nutrition outcomes. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of PM2A, women’s empowerment groups (WEG), farmer field schools (FFS) and farmer-to-farmer training (F2F).DesignCommunity-matched quasi-experimental design; outcome measures included children’s dietary diversity, stunting and underweight.SettingCommunities in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.ParticipantsA total of 1312 children from 1113 households.ResultsAchievement of minimum dietary diversity ranged from 22·9 to 39·7 % and was significantly greater in the PM2A and FFS groups (P<0·05 for both comparisons). Fewer than 7·6 and 5·8 % of children in any group met minimum meal frequency and acceptable diet targets; only the PM2A group differed significantly from controls (P<0·05 for both comparisons). The endline stunting prevalence ranged from 54·7 % (PM2A) to 69·1 % (F2F) and underweight prevalence from 22·3 % (FFS) to 34·4 % (F2F). No significant differences were found between intervention groups and controls for nutrition measures; however, lower prevalences of stunting (PM2A, −4 %) and underweight (PM2A and FFS, −7 %) suggest potential impact on nutrition outcomes.ConclusionsChildren in the PM2A and FFS groups had better child diet measures and nutrition outcomes with the best results among PM2A beneficiaries. Interventions that address multiple aspects nutrition education, health, ration provision and income generation may be more effective in improving child diet and nutrition in resource-poor settings than stand-alone approaches.

scholarly journals Women’s empowerment in agriculture and child nutritional status in rural Nepal

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3134-3145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenda Cunningham ◽  
George B Ploubidis ◽  
Purnima Menon ◽  
Marie Ruel ◽  
Suneetha Kadiyala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Rural Nepal

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the association between women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional status among children under 2 years of age in rural Nepal.DesignCross-sectional survey of 4080 households conducted in 2012. Data collected included: child and maternal anthropometric measurements; child age and sex; maternal age, education, occupation and empowerment in agriculture; and household size, number of children, religion, caste and agro-ecological zone. Associations between the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)’s Five Domains of Empowerment (5DE) sub-index and its ten component indicators and child length-for-age Z-scores (LAZ) and weight-for-length Z-scores (WLZ) were estimated, using ordinary least-squares regression models, with and without adjustments for key child, maternal and household level covariates.SettingTwo hundred and forty rural communities across sixteen districts of Nepal.SubjectsChildren under 24 months of age and their mothers (n 1787).ResultsThe overall WEAI 5DE was positively associated with LAZ (β=0·20, P=0·04). Three component indicators were also positively associated with LAZ: satisfaction with leisure time (β=0·27, P<0·01), access to and decisions regarding credit (β=0·20, P=0·02) and autonomy in production (β=0·10, P=0·04). No indicator of women’s empowerment in agriculture was associated with WLZ.ConclusionsWomen’s empowerment in agriculture, as measured by the WEAI 5DE and three of its ten component indicators, was significantly associated with LAZ, highlighting the potential role of women’s empowerment in improving child nutrition in Nepal. Additional studies are needed to determine whether interventions to improve women’s empowerment will improve child nutrition.

scholarly journals Women's empowerment and child nutrition: The role of intrinsic agency

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 100475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jones ◽  
Regine Haardörfer ◽  
Usha Ramakrishnan ◽  
Kathryn M. Yount ◽  
Stephanie Miedema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment

scholarly journals Role of Women's Empowerment in Child Nutrition Outcomes: A Systematic Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1138-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne V Santoso ◽  
Rachel Bezner Kerr ◽  
John Hoddinott ◽  
Priya Garigipati ◽  
Sophia Olmos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Longitudinal Study Design ◽  
The Many ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACT Women's empowerment has gained attention as critical for child nutrition during the first 1000 days of life. However, the ways in which various women's empowerment measures are applied and the evidence for how they are differentially related to child nutrition is unclear. In this systematic review, therefore, we 1) systematically parse the many ways in which women's empowerment has been quantitatively measured in the context of child nutrition through the use of a theoretically driven application of dimensions and domains of empowerment; 2) summarize evidence for each of the various pathways between women's empowerment and child nutrition, based on dimensions and domains of empowerment; and 3) offer suggestions for future research to better articulate the relationship between women's empowerment and child nutrition. A search of evidence yielded 62 quantitative studies that used 200 unique indicators of women's empowerment, tested in 1316 associations with various child nutrition outcomes. Despite the large number of unique indicators, indicators for time resource allocation and reproductive decisions and indicators for men's engagement in child care and nutrition, all pertinent to child nutrition, were missing. Overall, the findings indicated an inconclusive relationship between women's empowerment and child nutrition: 379 out of 461 (82% weighted) and 217 out of 258 (84% weighted) associations found with stunting and wasting outcomes, respectively, were not significant. The current lack of evidence is likely not due to the absence of an underlying relationship between women's empowerment and child nutrition, but rather limitations in study design. Future research should carefully select women's empowerment indicators in context-specific ways, aggregate them meaningfully, and use a longitudinal study design to conduct pathway and lifecycle analysis in appropriate populations to clarify the relationship between women's empowerment and child nutrition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document