Helen Keller International’s Enhanced-Homestead Food Production (E-HFP)

Program:

Impacts on Women's Ownership and Control Over Assets, Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Dietary Diversity,

and Children’s and Women’s Nutritional Status

Presented by: Deanna Olney

IFPRI research team: Andrew Dillon, Mara van den Bold, Julia Behrman, Esteban Quiñones, Lilia Bliznashka, Agnes Quisumbing and Marie Ruel

HKI program implementation team: Marcellin Ouedraogo, Abdoulaye Pedehombga, Hippolyte Rouamba and Olivier Vebamba

Enhanced-Homestead Food Production (E-HFP) program in Burkina Faso

Targeted to women with children 3-12 months of age at baseline Eastern region, Gourma Province, Fada district Water shortages inhibit having a second cultivation

season High prevalence of malnutrition (stunting 30%,

underweight 30%, wasting 14%, anemia 92%) Food insecurity Suboptimal maternal and child health and nutrition

practices Limited availability, access and use of health services

Overall goal to improve women’s and children’s nutritional status

Program impact pathways for HKI’s E-HFP program in Burkina Faso

BCC training on ENA for beneficiaries

Outcomes ImpactInputs Process Outputs

HKI, APRG and governmental

structures (Ministries of

Health, Agriculture,

Animals, Environment, and the Promotion of

Women, local authorities and officials) work

together

Training in plant and

animal production

techniques for master trainers

BCC training on ENA for community

level nutrition trainers

Develop a training strategy in animal;

and plant production techniques

BCC training on ENA for

master trainers 

Develop a behavior change

communication (BCC) strategy with regards to

Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA)

Training in plant and

animal production

techniques for Village Farm

Leaders (VFL)

Village Model Farms (VMF) established

Training in plant and animal

production techniques for beneficiaries

Establishment of individual

farms (40 women per village)

Improved maternal and child health and nutrition

outcomes  

Agriculture and zoological inputs

distributed

Improvements in small

ruminant and poultry

production

Improvements in fruit and vegetable

production  

Improvements in household

consumption  

Increased Income  

Beneficiaries received and understood

BCC training on ENA

Improvements in nutrition and

feeding practices for children,

pregnant women and breastfeeding

mothers  

Adoption of agriculture practices

Women’s empowerment

improved  

Women’s assets increased

  

Increased availability of micronutrient-rich fruits and

vegetables  

Adoption of ENA

practices by beneficiaries

Improvements in care & hygiene

practices for children, pregnant

women and breastfeeding

mothers  

Beneficiaries received and understood agriculture training

Increased availability of

food from animal origin

  

Comprehensive Evaluation Design Impact evaluation

Cluster-randomized controlled trial

15 “older women leader” villages (OWL villages)

15 “health committee” villages (HC villages)

25 control villages (Control villages)

Longitudinal design

Baseline Feb-May 2010

Endline Feb-May 2012

Quantitative household survey along with children’s growth and hemoglobin measures

Two rounds of process evaluation including specific qualitative research on gender related topics including ownership and control over agricultural assets

Random sample of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries Purposive sample of key informants Longitudinal design

First round May-June 2011 Second round May-June 2012

Qualitative semi-structured interviews

Key Questions for GAAP

Key Questions Impact evaluatio

n

Qualitative research

1. Did the E-HFP program influence men’s and women’s ownership of assets?

x

2. Were women able to maintain control over the E-HFP activities and outputs?

x x

3. Did the E-HFP program influence community norms related to women’s land ownership or land rights?

x

4. Did exposure to nutrition education diffused through village health committee members (HC) increase knowledge and uptake of new practices as compared to that diffused through older women leaders (OWL) or vice versa?

x

Did the E-HFP program increase women’s and/or men’s ownership of assets?

Impact of the E-HFP program on men’s and women’s ownership of assets

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Treatment Control

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Treatment Control

***

***

Note: Comparison is to a control group that did not receive any program services. All estimates controlled for clustering, and attrition. All values are coefficient (SE). ** p < 0.05, *** p <0.01

Men

's sm

all a

nimals bas

elin

e

Men

's sm

all a

nimals en

dline

Wom

en's

small a

nimals bas

elin

e

Wom

en's

small a

nimals en

dline

0

5

10

15

20

25

Treatment Control

***

**

Figure 1: Change in men’s and women’s ownership of household durables

Figure 2: Change in men’s and women’s ownership of agriculture assets

Figure 3: Change in men’s and women’s ownership of small animals

Were women able to maintain control over the E-HFP activities and outputs?

Perceived ownership and responsibility for making decisions and managing revenue from produce and chickens

Owns land for garden (2011)

Owns land for garden (2012)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Beneficiary Husband

0%30%60%90%

Beneficiary Husband

0%30%60%90%

Beneficiary Husband

0%

20%

40%

60%

Beneficiary Husband

Did the E-HFP program influence community norms related to women’s land ownership or land rights?

Perceived obstacles to women’s ability to own and use land

Land for agricultural production is primarily obtained through inheritance and gifts.

In general, men obtain land through inheritance

Women generally obtain land through marriage/widowhood or through gifts.

Respondents in both beneficiary villages (56%m-63%f) and non-beneficiary villages (46%m-51%f) reported obstacles to women’s ability to own land, mainly due to traditional / social barriers

Respondents in both beneficiary villages (36%m-40%f) and non-beneficiary villages (24%m-36%f) reported obstacles to women’s ability to use land, mainly due to lack of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers or tools and lack of rainfall as well as traditional practices.

Perceived changes in women’s ability to own and use land by both women and men

Women Men

HC(n=70)

OWL(n=7

5)

Treatment

(n=145)

Control

(n=75)

HC(n=58

)

OWL(n=60

)

Treatment

(n=118)

Control(n=63)

Change in opinion about who can own and use land

46 (66) 49 (65) 95 (62) 11 (15) 32 (55) 36 (60) 68 (57) 14 (22)

Change in women’s ability to own land

18 (26) 15 (20) 33 (23) 1 (1) 16 (28) 15 (25) 31 (26) 2 (3)

Change in women’s ability to use land

29 (41) 32 (43) 61 (42) 3 (4) 27 (47) 21 (35) 48 (41) 1 (2)

Illustrative quotes from program implementers and beneficiaries

“Thanks to HKI, women gain access to land when they ask for it.”

“The women possess more and more land granted by their husbands.”

“Thanks to HKI, I realized that a woman can garden. And the case of the VMF convinced me of the benefit.”

“the women proved that they had the capabilities to manage the land well”

Did exposure to nutrition education diffused through village health committee members (HC) increase knowledge and uptake of new practices as compared to that diffused through older women leaders (OWL) or vice versa?

Impacts on maternal knowledge of optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and on dietary diversity

Variable Control1Treatment:

OWL1 DID2

Treatment: HC1 DID2

Knowledge about IYCF practices 503 389   365  

Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 mo of age    

Baseline 57% 73%   64%  Endline 45% 30% 31%*** 22% 29%***Introduction of liquids at 6 mo of age    Baseline 39% 25%   33%  Endline 54% 68% 28%*** 76% 27%***Introduction of semi-solid foods at 6 mo of age    Baseline 41% 33%   39%  Endline 63% 73% 17%*** 76% 15%***Dietary Diversity    Household (1-12 food groups in past 7 days) (N) 596 441 440Baseline 5.75 5.44 5.59

(1.68) (1.91) (1.94)Endline 5.11 5.42 0.540 5.77 0.78*

(2.14) (2.01) (0.460) (2.13) (0.430)Children’s (4 out of 7 food groups in past 24 hours) (N) 310 220 231Baseline 3% 3% 2%Endline 6% 15% 8.6% 18% 12.9%*Note: Comparison is to a control group that did not receive any program services. All estimates controlled for baseline age, sex, clustering, and attrition. All values are coefficient (SE). ** p < 0.05, *** p <0.01

Summary

From the impact evaluation and process evaluations we found positive impacts of the E-HFP program in treatment compared to control villages on: Women’s agriculture asset ownership (with a similar size negative impact

on men’s ownership of agriculture assets) (combined treatment groups compared to control).

Women’s and men’s ownership of small animals (combined treatment groups compared to control).

Women's nutrition-related knowledge (Both HC and OWL compared to control).

Women’s ability to maintain and increase their control over products, assets and revenue related to the E-HFP program products.

Changes in perceptions and opinions about who can own and use land for agricultural production (combined treatment groups compared to control)

We also found positive impacts on dietary diversity but these positive impacts were limited to HC compared to control villages.

Conclusions

Women’s participation in the E-HFP program increases their ownership and control over agriculture assets, has a positive influence on changing perceptions related to women’s ability to own and use land for agriculture purposes and improves their health and nutrition-related knowledge.

These positive changes were likely related to the positive changes we found on household and children’s dietary diversity although these were limited to HC villages.

Increasing women’s control over assets – specifically financial and physical assets such as land – has been shown to have positive impacts on food security, child nutrition, education, and women’s own well-being (Quisumbing 2003; Smith et al. 2003; World Bank 2001).

Acknowledgements

Study participants

Helen Keller International (HKI) – especially the core E-HFP team in Burkina Faso (Abdoulaye Pedehombga, Marcellin Ouedraogo, Hippolyte Rouamba, Olivier Vebamba)

Data collectors in Burkina Faso

Research team at IFPRI and Michigan State University: Andrew Dillon, Julia Behrman, Esteban Quiñones, Mara van den Bold, Malek Abu-Jawdeh, Lilia Bliznashka, Agnes Quisumbing and Marie Ruel

Funding:

The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project (GAAP), supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

THANKS!