Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

doi:10.1080/00220388.2018.1448069

. 2018 Mar 20;55(8):1670-1686.

doi: 10.1080/00220388.2018.1448069. eCollection 2019.

Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

Lu Gram¹, Joanna Morrison¹, Naomi Saville¹, Shyam Sundar Yadav², Bhim Shrestha², Dharma Manandhar², Anthony Costello³, Jolene Skordis-Worrall¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
² Mother Infant Research Activities, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³ Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 31218298
PMCID: PMC6540743
DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2018.1448069

Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

Lu Gram et al. J Dev Stud. 2018.

. 2018 Mar 20;55(8):1670-1686.

doi: 10.1080/00220388.2018.1448069. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Lu Gram¹, Joanna Morrison¹, Naomi Saville¹, Shyam Sundar Yadav², Bhim Shrestha², Dharma Manandhar², Anthony Costello³, Jolene Skordis-Worrall¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
² Mother Infant Research Activities, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³ Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 31218298
PMCID: PMC6540743
DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2018.1448069

Abstract

Participatory learning and action women's groups (PLA) have proven effective in reducing neonatal mortality in rural, high-mortality settings, but their impacts on women's agency in the household remain unknown. Cash transfer programmes have also long targeted female beneficiaries in the belief that this empowers women. Drawing on data from 1309 pregnant women in a four-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial in Nepal, we found little evidence for an impact of PLA alone or combined with unconditional food or cash transfers on women's agency in the household. Caution is advised before assuming PLA women's groups alone or with resource transfers necessarily empower women.

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Sampling strategy and trial flow.

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References

1. Acharya D. R., Bell J. S., van Tijlingen E. R., & Regmi P. R. (2010). Women’s autonomy in household decision-making: A demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health, 7, 1–12. - PMC - PubMed
1. Acharya M., & Bennett L. (1983). Women and the subsistence sector. Economic participation and household decision-making in Nepal (Rep. No. 526). Washington, DC: World Bank.
1. Adato M., & Hoddinott J. (Eds.). (2010). Conditional cash transfers in the second decade: Current debates and new frontiers In Conditional cash transfers in Latin America (pp. 351–371). Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.
1. Alkire S. (2005). Subjective quantitative studies of human agency. Social Indicators Research, 74, 217–260.
1. Bastagli F., Hagen-Zanker J., Harman L., Barca V., Sturge G., & Schmidt T. (2016). Cash transfers: What does the evidence say? A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features. London: Overseas Development Institute.

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[1] Acharya D. R., Bell J. S., van Tijlingen E. R., & Regmi P. R. (2010). Women’s autonomy in household decision-making: A demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health, 7, 1–12. - PMC - PubMed

[2] Acharya D. R., Bell J. S., van Tijlingen E. R., & Regmi P. R. (2010). Women’s autonomy in household decision-making: A demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health, 7, 1–12. - PMC - PubMed

[3] Acharya M., & Bennett L. (1983). Women and the subsistence sector. Economic participation and household decision-making in Nepal (Rep. No. 526). Washington, DC: World Bank.

[4] Acharya M., & Bennett L. (1983). Women and the subsistence sector. Economic participation and household decision-making in Nepal (Rep. No. 526). Washington, DC: World Bank.

[5] Adato M., & Hoddinott J. (Eds.). (2010). Conditional cash transfers in the second decade: Current debates and new frontiers In Conditional cash transfers in Latin America (pp. 351–371). Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

[6] Adato M., & Hoddinott J. (Eds.). (2010). Conditional cash transfers in the second decade: Current debates and new frontiers In Conditional cash transfers in Latin America (pp. 351–371). Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

[7] Alkire S. (2005). Subjective quantitative studies of human agency. Social Indicators Research, 74, 217–260.

[8] Alkire S. (2005). Subjective quantitative studies of human agency. Social Indicators Research, 74, 217–260.

[9] Bastagli F., Hagen-Zanker J., Harman L., Barca V., Sturge G., & Schmidt T. (2016). Cash transfers: What does the evidence say? A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features. London: Overseas Development Institute.

[10] Bastagli F., Hagen-Zanker J., Harman L., Barca V., Sturge G., & Schmidt T. (2016). Cash transfers: What does the evidence say? A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features. London: Overseas Development Institute.

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Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

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Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

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