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Designing, implementing and assessing effectiveness of integrating agriculture and health to improve nutrition outcomes: the evaluative process for the Mama SASHA project (132.5)
Author(s) -
Levin Carol,
Grant Frederick,
Low Jan,
WebGirard Aimee,
Cole Donald
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.132.5
Subject(s) - formative assessment , medicine , agriculture , voucher , cohort , medical education , environmental health , gerontology , nursing , family medicine , psychology , business , geography , pedagogy , accounting , archaeology
Responding to the call for improved evaluation of agriculture’s impact on nutrition, we describe the evaluation process that shaped the Mama SASHA project from its inception and highlight critical findings at each stage. We started with formative research to clarify how to introduce vitamin A rich orange‐fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to pregnant women through antenatal health visits and supportive community support, deciding on vouchers for vines. We then developed an impact pathway that informed project monitoring indicators, a first round of operational research (OR) to refine the design of the project, a second round of OR to assess feasibility and acceptability and a household survey and complementary cohort study that will evaluate impact on vitamin A status and health outcomes of pregnant women and their children. In this community, where vitamin A deficiency affects approximately 20% of pregnant women and children under 2 years, the integrated agriculture and health approach was feasible and acceptable among implementers, stakeholders and beneficiaries, reaching 3,281 pregnant or lactating women with vouchers and OFSP vines.