Delivering development? Evidence on self‐help groups as development intermediaries in South Asia and Africa

Gugerty, Mary Kay; Biscaye, Pierre E.; Anderson, C. Leigh

doi:10.1111/dpr.12381

Cited by 58 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 72 publications

(375 reference statements)

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“…More evidence on the impact of FOs is urgently needed for governments and donor organizations to identify effective interventions to achieve the SDGs, including target 2.1 to fight hunger, 2.3 to improve the income of smallholders and 2.4 to promote environmentally friendly agricultural practices and responses to climate change. Although several studies have reviewed the contributions of FOs towards those objectives, most have focused on a subset of FO types and/ or individual countries 12,21,22 . Many have not applied a systematic approach 23 .…”

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confidence: 99%

A scoping review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture

et al. 2020

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Farmers’ organizations (FOs), such as associations, cooperatives, self-help and women’s groups, are common in developing countries and provide services that are widely viewed as contributing to income and productivity for small-scale producers. Here, we conducted a scoping review of the literature on FO services and their impacts on small-scale producers in sub-Saharan Africa and India. Most reviewed studies (57%) reported positive FO impacts on farmer income, but much fewer reported positive impacts on crop yield (19%) and production quality (20%). Environmental benefits, such as resilience-building and improved water quality and quantity were documented in 24% of the studies. Our analysis indicates that having access to markets through information, infrastructure, and logistical support at the centre of FO design could help integrate FOs into policy. Natural resource management should also be more widely incorporated in the services provided by FOs to mitigate risks associated with environmental degradation and climate change. Finally, farmers who are already marginalized because of poor education, land access, social status and market accessibility may require additional support systems to improve their capacities, skills and resources before they are able to benefit from FO membership.

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confidence: 99%

A scoping review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture

et al. 2020

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“…Women's groups can be 'closed', i.e., restricted to members who fulfil specific criteria, for example, those who make financial contributions, or 'open' to all women and other community members, in which case they are akin to community groups. [6][7][8][9] Some community interventions use existing groups as a platform to share health information or seek to leverage group cohesion to improve members' health. 10 Others aim to improve population health through community mobilisation, defined as 'a capacity building process through which community members, groups or organizations plan, carry out, and evaluate activities in a participatory and sustained basis to improve their health and other conditions'.…”

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confidence: 99%

Community interventions with women’s groups to improve women’s and children’s health in India: a mixed-methods systematic review of effects, enablers and barriers

et al. 2020

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IntroductionIndia is home to over 6 million women’s groups, including self-help groups. There has been no evidence synthesis on whether and how such groups improve women’s and children’s health.MethodsWe did a mixed-methods systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies on women’s groups in India to examine effects on women and children’s health and to identify enablers and barriers to achieving outcomes. We searched 10 databases and included studies published in English from 2000 to 2019 measuring health knowledge, behaviours or outcomes. Our study population included adult women and children under 5 years. We appraised studies using standard risk of bias assessments. We compared intervention effects by level of community participation, scope of capability strengthening (individual, group or community), type of women’s group and social and behaviour change techniques employed. We synthesised quantitative and qualitative studies to identify barriers and enablers related to context, intervention design and implementation, and outcome characteristics.FindingsWe screened 21 380 studies and included 99: 19 randomised controlled trial reports, 25 quasi-experimental study reports and 55 non-experimental studies (27 quantitative and 28 qualitative). Experimental studies provided moderate-quality evidence that health interventions with women’s groups can improve perinatal practices, neonatal survival, immunisation rates and women’s and children’s dietary diversity, and help control vector-borne diseases. Evidence of positive effects was strongest for community mobilisation interventions that built communities’ capabilities and went beyond sharing information. Key enablers were inclusion of vulnerable community members, outcomes that could be reasonably expected to change through community interventions and intensity proportionate to ambition. Barriers included limited time or focus on health, outcomes not relevant to group members and health system constraints.ConclusionInterventions with women’s groups can improve women’s and children’s health in India. The most effective interventions go beyond using groups to disseminate health information and seek to build communities’ capabilities.Trial registration numberThe review was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42019130633.

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“…The results showed that participation in self-help groups improved savings rates and access to credit, facilitating investment in income-generating activities. Studies have shown similar results by showing that group members are more proactive in implementing IGAs(Gugerty et al 2019, Greaney et al 2013). …”

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confidence: 75%

Self- help groups and women’s empowerment: Evidence from Gaoua in Burkina Faso

Dah¹,

Zalle²,

Sigue³

2020

ijssei

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Self- help groups are increasingly becoming platforms used by development organizations to induce behavioural change and especially to target women’s empowerment, but little is known about the effectiveness of such policies. This paper examines the contribution of Self- help groups to women’s empowerment in Burkina Faso, focusing on the case of the township of Gaoua through data collection from a reasoned choice sample of beneficiaries. The results show that membership of women in these groups enables them to increase their purchasing power, which in turn enables them to participate in the primary needs of their households and thus improve their empowerment. Therefore, it is suggested to the development actors intervening in the township of Gaoua to put together their efforts to cover all the villages of the Self- help groups in order to enable a large number of women to benefit from the spin-offs of these projects.

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Delivering development? Evidence on self‐help groups as development intermediaries in South Asia and Africa

Cited by 58 publications

References 72 publications

A scoping review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture

A scoping review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture

Community interventions with women’s groups to improve women’s and children’s health in India: a mixed-methods systematic review of effects, enablers and barriers

Self- help groups and women’s empowerment: Evidence from Gaoua in Burkina Faso

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