Perceived Health Impacts of Watershed Development Projects in Southern India: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Watershed development (WSD) projects—planned for over 100 million ha in semi-arid areas of India—should enhance soil and water conservation, agricultural productivity and local livelihood, and contribute to better nutrition and health. Yet, little is known about the health impacts of WSD projects, especially on nutrition, vector breeding, water quality and the distribution of impacts. We conducted a qualitative study to deepen the understanding on perceived health impacts of completed WSD projects in four villages of Kolar district, India. Field data collection comprised: (i) focus group discussions with local women (n = 2); (ii) interviews (n = 40; purposive sampling) with farmers and labourers, project employees and health workers; and (iii) transect walks. Our main findings were impacts perceived on nutrition (e.g., food security through better crop survival, higher milk consumption from livestock, alongside increased pesticide exposure with expanded agriculture), potential for mosquito larval breeding (e.g., more breeding sites) and through opportunistic activities (e.g., reduced mental stress due to improved water access). Impacts perceived varied between participant categories (e.g., better nutrition in woman-headed households from livelihood support). Some of these findings, e.g., potential negative health implications, have previously not been reported. Our observations informed a health impact assessment of a planned WSD project, and may encourage implementing agencies to incorporate health considerations to enhance positive and mitigate negative health impacts in future WSD projects.

Association of livestock ownership and household dietary quality: results from a cross-sectional survey from rural India

“…The advantage of owning land and irrigation access for meeting fodder and water needs of dairy animals was reported by other studies [7,12]. Indeed some local farmers from nearby villages revealed cultivating only fodder crops in their irrigated elds, focusing solely on dairy for livelihood [13]. This indicates that while dairy animals have the potential to contribute dietary quality and diversity, the impact may be disproportionately higher for richer households, as has been shown in an earlier study [12].…”

“…An adult woman (aged ≥ 15 years) of the household was requested to be the respondent, and the alternative was an adult man. Details on the recruitment of eld staff and pilot testing of the questionnaire have been described elsewhere [15,16].…”

“…When we recently conducted a qualitative study in Kolar district, a rural semi-arid area in southern India, we found that households that adopted dairy animals for livelihood through the support of watershed development (WSD) projects perceived positive impacts on milk consumption and dietary quality [13].…”

“…This pointed to a need for additional quantitative research to deepen the understanding of contextrelevant factors, especially keeping in mind the planned promotion of livestock rearing as part of WSD projects in India [14,15]. Hence, the basis for the current paper was set, and the opportunity for this analysis presented itself when we conducted a cross-sectional baseline survey as part of a health impact assessment (HIA) of a planned WSD project in four villages of Kolar district [15,16].…”

“…This pointed to a need for additional quantitative research to deepen the understanding of contextrelevant factors, especially keeping in mind the planned promotion of livestock rearing as part of WSD projects in India [14,15]. Hence, the basis for the current paper was set, and the opportunity for this analysis presented itself when we conducted a cross-sectional baseline survey as part of a health impact assessment (HIA) of a planned WSD project in four villages of Kolar district [15,16]. The speci c objectives of this paper were to (i) assess the baseline status of socio-demographic factors and health determinants of households based on dairy animal ownership; (ii) determine the correlation of milk consumption with other sources of nutrition; and (iii) examine the association between livestock ownership and milk consumption in the designated project area.…”