UPAVAN Project Targets Improved Maternal and Child Nutrition in Rural India

It can be used as a tool to promote more inclusive and sustainable development processes, mirroring local realities, and helping a wide array of stakeholders share knowledge and make informed decisions about specific challenges and opportunities.

UPAVAN Project Targets Improved Maternal and Child Nutrition in Rural India

The UPAVAN project used community-led videos to disseminate information on nutrition and agriculture. These videos were designed to be culturally relevant and easily understandable, facilitating better adoption of recommended practices among participants.

Project Background and Rationale

The UPAVAN project (Upscaling Participatory Action and Videos for Agriculture and Nutrition) is an intervention-based research targeted toward women’s groups in Odisha, India. Its primary aim is to improve maternal and child nutrition through a combination of PV and women’s group meetings.

This PV case study built on the earlier successes of Digital Green’s video-based agricultural extension model, which demonstrated that locally made, farmer-led videos could effectively spread information and encourage the adoption of improved practices. The UPAVAN project conducted cluster randomized controlled trials (RCT) from 2017 to 2020. It aimed to generate robust evidence on how integrated, scalable approaches can impact dietary diversity, agricultural practices, and maternal and child nutrition outcomes. 

Target Audience

The project is designed to benefit the following audiences:

  • Rural Women and Mothers: The target audience of the project are mainly the women of Odisha, India, who are directly involved in agriculture and are responsible for household nutrition. They are the primary beneficiaries of the participatory videos and agricultural extension activities.
  • Children: Although they are indirect beneficiaries, the children are important stakeholders of the project. By improving maternal knowledge and practices around nutrition, the project aims to enhance the nutrition and dietary diversity of children, especially during the critical early years.
  • Community Members and Farmers: Broader farming households benefit from improved agricultural practices, including those related to home gardening, food diversity, and sustainable farming methods.

Objectives

  1. Estimate the impact of the participatory intervention methods on material  and child nutrition among the women of Odisha, India.
  2. Determine the effects of the participatory interventions on key hypothesized impact pathways: improve agriculture diversity, increased household income, increased women’s decision-making, and reduced women’s workload.
  3. Evaluate the cost effectiveness of the project.
  4. Describe the processes of change that facilitated the adoption of the recommended practices among women of Odisha, India.

Implementation Plan

Prior to the trials, community members were trained to create short videos on topics related to agriculture, health, and nutrition. The videos focused on locally relevant, culturally appropriate, and practical actions (e.g., growing nutrient-rich crops, preparing balanced meals, hygiene practices). During the trials, three different approaches were implemented (Kadiyala, 2020):

TRIAL 1: Women’s groups meeting fortnightly to view and discuss locally made videos on nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

  • Nutrition-sensitive video topics included mushroom cultivation, Sustainable Rice Intensification, techniques to increase Indian spinach yields, methods to reduce chicken mortality, budget and kitchen garden planning, and more.

TRIAL 2: Women’s group meeting fortnightly to view and discuss videos on nutrition-sensitive agriculture AND nutrition specific topics.

  • In place of half of the agricultural videos, groups watched nutrition-specific videos about topics such as key food groups, nutrient-rich recipes, rest-taking in pregnancy, and advice on breastfeeding.

TRIAL 3: Women’s group meeting fortnightly to view and discuss nutrition-sensitive agriculture videos, combined with a Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) approach.

  • Recognizing the need for community and interactive, participatory methods, we partnered with Ekjut, an Indian non-profit organization who specialized in Participatory Learning and Action approaches. In a PLA cycle of meetings, groups identify and prioritize health problems, identify feasible strategies, implement these strategies with help from the wider community, and informally evaluate the process. Previous work has shown dramatic improvements in birth outcomes, and nutrition outcomes when combined with creches.

Key Findings of the Project

At the end of the project, the researchers came to the following conclusions:

  • Participatory video interventions led to increased awareness and adoption of nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices.
  • There was a notable improvement in dietary diversity among women and children in the intervention groups.
  • The approach proved effective in engaging communities and promoting behavior change.

Source

Prost. A., Harris-Fry, H., Mohanty, S., Parida, M., Krishnan, S., Fivian, E.,  … & 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), e13398.

Kadiyala, S. (2020, October 2). Upscaling Participatory Action and Videos for Agriculture and Nutrition (UPAVAN): A cluster randomized controlled trial in Odisha, India. ANH Academy. https://www.ahn-academy.org/community/projects/upavan

Read the Study Here