IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v168y2023ics0305750x23000852.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Learning together: Experimental evidence on the impact of group-based nutrition interventions in rural Bihar

Author

Listed:
  • Raghunathan, Kalyani
  • Kumar, Neha
  • Gupta, Shivani
  • Chauhan, Tarana
  • Kathuria, Ashi Kohli
  • Menon, Purnima

Abstract

India accounts for a large proportion of the global prevalence of maternal and child undernutrition, and recent trends have renewed the call for large-scale concerted efforts to improve outcomes. With their reach to millions of rural Indian women, self-help groups (SHGs) offer a possible solution. We provide evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in the state of Bihar of the impact of a health and nutrition intervention that provided behavior change communication to SHG members and worked to strengthen utilization of services. Over the course of 2.5 years, the intervention resulted in a 7% increase in the number of food groups consumed by children and a 30% increase in the proportion of women achieving minimum dietary diversity but had no impact on women’s body mass index or child underweight and wasting. Both knowledge and adoption of key behaviors along the impact pathway improved as a result of the treatment. SHGs certainly have the potential to effect social change and accelerate improvements in maternal and child health and nutrition outcomes, but in resource-constrained settings such as these, information-only interventions delivered through these platforms will likely have limited impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Raghunathan, Kalyani & Kumar, Neha & Gupta, Shivani & Chauhan, Tarana & Kathuria, Ashi Kohli & Menon, Purnima, 2023. "Learning together: Experimental evidence on the impact of group-based nutrition interventions in rural Bihar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0305750x23000852
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106267
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X23000852
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106267?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menon, Purnima & Ruel, Marie T. & Nguyen, Phuong H. & Kim, Sunny S. & Lapping, Karin & Frongillo, Edward A. & Alayon, Silvia, 2020. "Lessons from using cluster-randomized evaluations to build evidence on large-scale nutrition behavior change interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Datta, Upamanyu, 2015. "Socio-Economic Impacts of JEEViKA: A Large-Scale Self-Help Group Project in Bihar, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-18.
    3. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Ahmed, Akhter & Gilligan, Daniel O. & Hoddinott, John & Kumar, Neha & Leroy, Jef L. & Menon, Purnima & Olney, Deanna K. & Roy, Shalini & Ruel, Marie, 2020. "Randomized controlled trials of multi-sectoral programs: Lessons from development research," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. David Roodman & James G. MacKinnon & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Matthew D. Webb, 2019. "Fast and wild: Bootstrap inference in Stata using boottest," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 19(1), pages 4-60, March.
    5. Alan de Brauw & Tomoko Harigaya, 2007. "Seasonal Migration and Improving Living Standards in Vietnam," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 430-447.
    6. Siwach, Garima & Paul, Sohini & de Hoop, Thomas, 2022. "Economies of scale of large-scale international development interventions: Evidence from self-help groups in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Majumdar,Shruti & Rao,Vijayendra & Sanyal,Paromita, 2017. "On the frontlines of scaling-up : a qualitative analysis of implementation challenges in a CDD project in rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8039, The World Bank.
    8. Derek Headey & Kalle Hirvonen & John Hoddinott, 2018. "Animal Sourced Foods and Child Stunting," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(5), pages 1302-1319.
    9. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    10. Sanyal,Paromita & Rao,Vijayendra & Majumdar,Shruti, 2015. "Recasting culture to undo gender : a sociological analysis of Jeevika in rural Bihar, India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7411, The World Bank.
    11. Deininger, Klaus & Liu, Yanyan, 2013. "Economic and Social Impacts of an Innovative Self-Help Group Model in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 149-163.
    12. Hoffmann, Vivian & Rao, Vijayendra & Surendra, Vaishnavi & Datta, Upamanyu, 2021. "Relief from usury: Impact of a self-help group lending program in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siwach, Garima & Paul, Sohini & de Hoop, Thomas, 2022. "Economies of scale of large-scale international development interventions: Evidence from self-help groups in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Demont, Timothée, 2022. "Coping with shocks: How Self-Help Groups impact food security and seasonal migration," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Hoffmann, Vivian & Rao, Vijayendra & Surendra, Vaishnavi & Datta, Upamanyu, 2021. "Relief from usury: Impact of a self-help group lending program in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Khanna, Madhulika & Majumdar, Shruti, 2020. "Caste-ing wider nets of credit: A mixed methods analysis of informal lending and caste relations in Bihar," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    5. Jean-Marie Baland & Rohini Somanathan & Lore Vandewalle, 2019. "Socially Disadvantaged Groups and Microfinance in India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(3), pages 537-569.
    6. Dupuy, Jules & Barnay, Thomas & Defebvre, Eric, 2024. "Clear as a bell? Policy stringency and elderly health during Covid-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    7. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "Food Aid and Violent Conflict: A Review of Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 16574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Parkhi, Charuta M. & Liverpool-Tasie, Saweda & Reardon, Thomas A., 2022. "Food systems transformation and changing demand for animal proteins: Evidence from Nigeria," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322594, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Eva-Maria Egger & Julie Litchfield, 2019. "Following in their footsteps: an analysis of the impact of successive migration on rural household welfare in Ghana," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Paul Anand & Swati Saxena & Rolando Gonzales Martinez & Hai-Anh H. Dang, 2020. "Can Women’s Self-help Groups Contribute to Sustainable Development? Evidence of Capability Changes from Northern India," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 137-160, April.
    11. Òscar Jordà & Alan M. Taylor, 2024. "Local Projections," NBER Working Papers 32822, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Gerard, Andrew & Lopez, Maria Claudia & Mason, Nicole M. & Bizoza, Alfred R., 2022. "Do government zoning policies improve buyer-farmer relationships? Evidence from Rwanda’s coffee sector," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Delesalle, Esther, 2021. "The effect of the Universal Primary Education program on consumption and on the employment sector: Evidence from Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    14. Deshpande, Ashwini & Khanna, Shantanu, 2021. "Can weak ties create social capital? Evidence from Self-Help Groups in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    15. Jeffrey D. Michler & Anna Josephson, 2022. "Recent developments in inference: practicalities for applied economics," Chapters, in: A Modern Guide to Food Economics, chapter 11, pages 235-268, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Steinberg, Philip J. & Urbig, Diemo & Procher, Vivien D. & Volkmann, Christine, 2021. "Knowledge transfer and home-market innovativeness: A comparison of emerging and advanced economy multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4).
    17. Kajisa, Kei & Vu, Trang Thu, 2023. "The importance of farm management training for the African rice Green Revolution: Experimental evidence from rainfed lowland areas in Mozambique," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    18. Hoff,Karla & Jalan,Jyotsna & Santra,Sattwik, 2021. "Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9680, The World Bank.
    19. Mansuri, Ghazala & Palaniswamy, Nethra & Rao, Vijayendra & Shrestha, Slesh A., 2023. "Money versus Kudos: The impact of incentivizing local politicians in India," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    20. Kumar, Neha & Raghunathan, Kalyani & Arrieta, Alejandra & Jilani, Amir & Chakrabarti, Suman & Menon, Purnima & Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2019. "Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women’s self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 28-41.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Maternal nutrition; India; Self-help groups; Behavior change communication; Randomized controlled trial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • O0 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0305750x23000852. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.