Search

Complex humanitarian emergencies are a main driver of food and nutritional insecurity. Agricultural interventions are key to improving nutrition and food security, and their positive impacts are well-documented in stable developing countries. However, it is unclear if their positive effects on food security hold in complex emergency settings, too. In this paper, we systematically review empirical articles that apply rigorous designs to assess the causal impacts of agricultural interventions on food security, nutrition, or health outcomes in complex humanitarian emergencies. We only find six articles matching these criteria, which have mixed results on dietary diversity and food security, and little evidence on child nutrition. Our review underscores the need for more rigorous research on the impacts of agricultural interventions in complex humanitarian emergency settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of refugees into host countries' formal labor markets is increasingly recommended as a durable solution to forced migration. Yet, this policy response is a contentious political topic with little empirical evidence, especially in low- and middle-income host countries available to support policy. This article examines the impacts of integrating Syrian refugees into Jordan's formal labor market. We use robust greedy one-to-one propensity score matching on comprehensive high-quality data from almost 75,000 Syrian refugee households collected between 2017 and 2019 to generate novel evidence on the socio-economic benefits of refugee labor market integration. Our findings show that the ability to access formal jobs, reflected by holding a work permit, is significantly associated with increased refugee income, strengthens food security, and reduces protection needs and child labor. These findings contribute to a better and knowledge-based understanding of a prominent policy response for forced migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integrated school and home garden interventions can improve health outcomes in low-income countries, but rigorous evidence remains scarce, particularly for school-aged children and to reduce anemia. Objective: We test if an integrated school and home garden intervention, implemented at pilot stage, improves hemoglobin levels among school children (aged 9-13 years) in a rural district in the mid-hills of Nepal. Methods: We use a cluster randomized controlled trial with 15 schools each in the control and treatment groups (n = 680 school children). To test if nutritional improvements translate into a reduction of anemia prevalence, hemoglobin data were collected 6 months after intervention support had ended. Using structural equation modeling, we estimate the direct and indirect effects of the treatment through several pathways, including nutritional knowledge, good food and hygiene practices, and dietary diversity. Results: The integrated school and home garden intervention did not lead to a direct significant reduction in anemia. Causal positive changes of the treatment on nutritional outcomes, although significant, are not strong enough to impact hemoglobin levels. The program improved hemoglobin levels indirectly for children below 12 by increasing the use of good food and hygiene practices at home. These practices are associated with higher hemoglobin levels, particularly for girls, young children, and in households where caregivers are literate. Conclusions: Even integrated school and home garden interventions are not sufficient to reduce anemia among school children. Incorporating behavioral change components around food and hygiene practices into integrated garden interventions is important to unlocking their health impacts. Plain language title: Effect of a Joint School and Home Garden Programme on Child Health Among School-Aged Children in Nepal Plain language summary: The effects of agricultural and nutritional support programs on health are not fully understood. This article looks at school and home gardens, which are gaining attention in the research and development community, but evidence for their effects is limited, particularly for lower-income countries. We examine whether a joint school and home garden program improves blood iron levels among school children (aged 9-13 years) in rural Nepal. Low levels are an indicator for anemia—a common nutritional disorder in South Asia. Our data come from an experiment involving 30 schools and 680 children and was measured via a finger prick method 6 months after program support ended. We also evaluate if the program influenced blood iron levels through the nutritional knowledge of children and their caregivers; through the use of good food and hygiene practices at home and the children's dietary diversity. Our results indicate that the program did not lead to a direct reduction in anemia. However, for children under the age of 12, the program indirectly improved blood iron levels through behavioral changes in the use of good food and hygiene practices (e.g., washing hands before eating). We therefore argue that including education on nutrition and good food and hygiene practices as part of integrated garden support programs is key to improving children's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitions of fragility are focused at the level of the state, but this should not be considered to suggest that individuals with heterogeneous endowments experience a state of fragility in the same way. Nor does it suggest that all subregions of a fragile country exist in this state. In turn, experience of fragility varies not just at national level but also between districts and between individuals. To test this idea, we develop a fragility exposure module, which was inserted into the standard household survey. We consider three components of fragility: human security, economic inclusion, and social cohesion. We index data collected from a survey in Kenya. We show that experience of fragility in Kenya is in the midrange for most individuals, with notable heterogeneities. Those living in Nairobi experience higher levels of fragility than those in other areas. Young people experience higher levels of fragility than older individuals. We find no evidence of overall differences between men and women. These findings demonstrate the importance of capturing the experience of fragility at the individual level. More specifically, they also provide an important base to understanding which groups would benefit most from pro‐stability interventions and for testing the performance of such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food systems in many countries are experiencing a shift from traditional foods toward processed foods high in sugar, fat and salt, but low in dietary fiber and micronutrients. There is an urgent need to better understand drivers of changing food behavior, particularly for lower-income countries. This study analyzes drivers of food choice among children and parents in rural Nepal. It uses qualitative data collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions with school children, parents and teachers. The study reveals substantial changes in food behavior during the past decade with increased consumption of rice, meat, and highly processed snack foods while an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is not evident. It identifies cash availability is the main driver of increased rice, meat and snack food consumption. The second driver is the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which accelerated the transition from homegrown food to purchased food as people got habituated to eating more meat and snack foods while reconstruction tripled local wages and changed the food environment. This shows how humanitarian assistance in the wake of extreme shocks can unintentionally contribute to unhealthy eating habits. An integrated school and home garden intervention appears to contribute to healthier diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated home garden interventions combine training in gardening practices with education about nutrition knowledge. Such interventions have been shown to improve nutrition behaviour in low income countries. However, to date rigorous evidence is lacking for their long-term impact. We test the impact of an integrated home garden intervention on vegetable production and consumption three years after the intervention ended. We analyse three rounds of survey data for 224 control and 395 intervention households in rural Bangladesh. Three years after the intervention, the average impact on vegetable production per household was 43 kg/year (+ 49% over baseline levels; p < 0.01), and the effect was not statistically different from the impact one year after the intervention, which demonstrates that impact was maintained in the long-term. The impact on the micronutrient supply for iron, zinc, folate and pro-vitamin A from home gardens was maintained in the long-term. These impacts may have been driven by the long-term improvements in women's nutrition knowledge and gardening practices, explaining the sustainability of the behavioural nutrition change. We also identify positive impacts on women's empowerment and women's output market participation, highlighting how integrated programs, even if modest in scope, can be drivers of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School gardens have become a widely used approach to influence children's food knowledge, preferences and choices in low- and high-income countries alike. However, evidence indicates that such programs are more effective at influencing food knowledge and preferences than actual food choices. Such finding may occur because school gardens insufficiently influence the food behavior of parents and because healthy food items are not always available in children's homes. We tested this hypothesis using a one-year cluster randomized controlled trial in Nepal with 15 treatment and 15 control schools and a matched sample of 779 schoolchildren (aged 8–12) and their caregivers. Data were collected before and after the intervention during the 2018–2019 school year. In addition, children's food consumption was monitored using a monthly food logbook. Average treatment effects were quantified with a double-difference estimator. For caregivers, the intervention led to a 26% increase in their food and nutrition knowledge (p < 0.001), a 5% increase in their agricultural knowledge (p = 0.022), a 10% increase in their liking for vegetables (p < 0.001), and a 15% increase in home garden productivity (p = 0.073). For children, the intervention had no discernible effect on food and nutrition knowledge (p = 0.666) but led to a 6% increase in their liking for vegetables (p = 0.070), healthy food practices (p < 0.001), and vegetable consumption (October–December +15%; p = 0.084; January–March +26%; p = 0.017; April–June +26%; p = 0.088). The results therefore indicate both schools and parents matter for nudging children toward healthier food choices. • Past studies showed limited effects of school gardens on children's food choices. • We test a novel design that trains children and caregivers in gardening and nutrition. • The cluster-RCT included 30 schools and 779 children/caregivers in Nepal. • Children's rate of vegetable consumption increased 15–26%, depending on season. • School gardens need to affect household-level food availability/preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis affecting everyone. Yet, its challenges and countermeasures vary significantly over time and space. Individual experiences of the pandemic are highly heterogeneous and its impacts span and interlink multiple dimensions, such as health, economic, social and political impacts. Therefore, there is a need to disaggregate "the pandemic": analysing experiences, behaviours and impacts at the micro level and from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Such analyses require multi-topic pan-national survey data that are collected continuously and can be matched with other datasets, such as disease statistics or information on countermeasures. To this end, we introduce a new dataset that matches these desirable properties - the Life with Corona (LwC) survey - and perform illustrative analyses to show the importance of such micro data to understand how the pandemic and its countermeasures shape lives and societies over time. • New Life with Corona survey collects data across domains, time and SARS-CoV-2 rates. • Analysis of data reveals multidimensional challenges and inequalities in the pandemic. • The LwC survey also helps to grasp the societal impacts created by countermeasures. • Results show need for joined-up thinking in how impacts of the pandemic are analyzed. • Results show need for data structured in a way that supports this joined-up thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]