A 2022 study published in Maternal & Child Nutrition found that participatory videos and women’s group meetings significantly improved dietary diversity among women and children in rural Odisha, India, empowering women to make more decisions on agricultural activities, and reduced pregnant women’s workloads. 

Majority of the participating families adopted homestead gardening, leading to diversified diets. Notably, women’s decision-making capacity increased, empowering them to prioritize nutrition-sensitive agricultural production. Moreover, participatory videos proved effective in providing women with the knowledge and confidence to refine their diets and adopt seasonal crops, ultimately enhancing their agricultural practices and nutritional well-being.

The researchers tested three nutrition-sensitive interventions using participatory videos through the Upscaling Participatory Action and Videos for Agriculture and Nutrition (UPAVAN) project, adopted from the participatory video approach designed by Digital Green. 

The study highlights the importance of family dynamics in empowering women in agriculture. Future interventions should adopt a more family-centric approach, assessing women’s capacity to decide on household issues. Additionally, involving in-laws and husbands in participatory video interventions can significantly improve their effectiveness, ultimately promoting more inclusive and sustainable agricultural practices.

References

Prost, A., Harris-Fry, H., Mohanty, S., Parida, M., Krishnan, S., Fivian, E., Rath, S., Nair, N., Mishra, N.K., Padhan, S., Pradhan, R., Sahu, S., Skordis, J., Danton, H., Koniz-Booher, P., Beaumont, E., James, P., Allen, E., Elbourne, D., & Kadiyala, S. (2022). Understanding the effects of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions with participatory videos and women’s group meetings on maternal and child nutrition in rural Odisha, India: A mixed-methods process evaluation. Maternal & Child Nutrition. 18(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13398 

Photo credits: Audrey Prost, Helen Harris-Fry, Satyanarayan Mohanty and colleagues (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/c54c3ccf-1e6a-4453-8fcc-7af716aea6fd/mcn13398-fig-0001-m.jpg) 

Article contributed by Naomi Ida Marie C. De los Reyes, ComdevAsia/CCComdev intern