Promoting sustainable livelihoods for tribal communities: insights from the integrated tribal development project in Assam

s screened (n = 3498) Records excluded (n = 3136) Full-text articles assessed for eligibility (n = 362) Full-text articles excluded, with reasons (n = 257) Studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 11) Studies included in quantitative synthesis (n = 23) Refined screening of remaining 107 full-text articles; 74 excluded with reasons

Introduction: This research project is an assessment of the extent of women’s empowerment in mixed Self Help Groups (SHGs) established by Nepal Leprosy Trust in Dhanusha District of Nepal, which is endemic for leprosy and has a high number of people disabled due to leprosy. Objectives: This study had four main objectives: (1) To assess the participation of women in mixed SHGs; (2) To assess the barriers to women’s empowerment in mixed SHGs; (3) To compare the self-efficacy of women participants of SHGs with that of women who are not participants of SHGs; and (4) To assess the impact of female leadership in mixed-gender SHGs. Methods: Seven Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 10 Key Informant Interviews (KII) and 68 interviews using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE-H) were carried out by involving a purposively selected sample of 40 women in SHGs, 20 women not in SHGs, 8 women SHG leaders and 10 males of SHGs in Dhanusha District. Quantitative data were summarized into frequencies and percentages using Microsoft Excel 2007, and chi-square tests were done in EPI INFO 7.0. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed in Graph Pad Prism 7.0. Results: The results showed that SHG women have a significantly higher level of self-efficacy, than non-SHG women. Furthermore, the SHG women reported increased levels of confidence and self-esteem. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for gender awareness and equity in the SHG programme and that more women facilitators are important when working with women in SHGs.

PROTOCOL: The Effects Of Economic Self‐Help Group Programs On Women's Empowerment: A Systematic Review

This chapter intends to inform about the artificial intelligence intervention for enhancing the marketing of products as India is climbing new heights through the “Digital India” movement. Technologies lessen the market gaps globally. There are numerous domains where the digital arm can prove to be efficient. Online shopping and online educational facilities already proved to be sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter discusses one of the segments of society among many segments that suffered during the pandemic: women's self-help groups. As a traditional means, women's self-help groups used to sell their products using exhibitions, but the pandemic and frequent lockdowns hampered the marketing strategy of such self-help groups. Digitalization can reach the smallest need, and research can provide need-based directions for application development. This chapter discusses how artificial intelligence can give wings to such women's self-help groups for marketing and market predictions.

BackgroundThis study evaluates an eight-session behavior change health intervention with women’s self-help groups (SHGs) aimed to promote healthy maternal and newborn practices among the more socially and economically marginalized groups.MethodsUsing a pre-post quasi-experimental design, a total of 545 SHGs were divided into two groups: a control group, which received the usual microcredit intervention; and an intervention group, which received additional participatory training around maternal, neonatal, and child health issues. Women members of SHGs who had a live birth in the 12 months preceding the survey were surveyed on demographics, practices around maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH), and collectivization. Outcome effects were assessed using difference-in-difference (DID) methods.ResultsWomen from the SHGs with health intervention, relative to controls over time (time 1 to time 2), were more likely to: use contraceptive methods (DID: 9 percentage points [pp], p<0.001), have institutional delivery (DID: 9pp, p<0.05), practice skin-to-skin care (DID: 17pp, p<0.05), delay bathing for 3 or more days (DID: 19pp, p<0.001), initiate timely breastfeeding (DID: 21pp, p<0.001), exclusively breastfeed the child (DID: 27pp, p<0.001), and provide age-appropriate immunization (DID: 9pp, p<0.001). Additionally, women from the SHGs with health intervention when compared to the control group over time were more likely to report: collective efficacy (DID: 17pp, p<0.001), support through accompanying SHG members for antenatal care (DID: 8pp, p<0.05), receive a visit from SHG member within 2 days post-delivery (DID: 32pp, p<0.001), and receive reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health information from an SHG member (DID: 45pp, p<0.001).ConclusionFindings demonstrate that structured participatory communication on MNCH with women’s groups improve positive health practices. In addition, SHGs can reach a substantial proportion of women while providing an avenue for pregnant women and young mothers to be assisted by others in learning and practicing healthy behaviors, thus building social cohesion on health.

Women's self-help groups (WSHGs) have arisen as an important tool for women's empowerment and socioeconomic development in many nations, particularly in developing areas. Skill development and vocational education programs aimed at women in these categories have received attention as possible catalysts for increasing their economic independence, social status, and general well-being. The purpose of this article is to look at the influence of skill development and vocational education efforts on women's self-help groups, with a particular emphasis on economic empowerment, community development, and female agency. Drawing on empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks, this study investigates the mechanisms by which skill development and vocational education programs contribute to women's empowerment in self-help groups, as well as the broader implications for gender equality and sustainable development.

BackgroundDespite the health system efforts, health disparities exist across sub-populations in India. We assessed the effects of health behaviour change interventions through women's self-help groups (SHGs) on maternal and newborn health (MNH) behaviours and socio-economic inequalities. MethodsWe did a quasi-experimental study of a large-scale SHG program in Uttar Pradesh, India, where 120 geographic blocks received, and 83 blocks did not receive health intervention. Data comes from two cross-sectional surveys with 4,615 recently delivered women in 2015, and 4,250 women in 2017. The intervention included MNH discussions in SHG meetings and community outreach activities. The outcomes included antenatal, natal and postnatal care, contraceptive use, cord care, skin-to-skin care, and breastfeeding practices. Effects were assessed using multilevel mixed-effects regression adjusted difference-in-differences (DID) analysis adjusting for geographic clustering and potential covariates, for all, most-marginalised and least-marginalised women. Concentration indices examined the socio-economic inequality in health practices over time. FindingsThe net improvements (5–11 percentage points [pp]) in correct MNH practices were significant in the intervention areas. The improvements over time were higher among the most-marginalised than least-marginalised for antenatal check-ups (DID: 20pp, p<0•001 versus DID: 6pp, p = 0•093), consumption of iron folic acid tablets for 100 days (DID: 7pp, p = 0•036 versus DID: -1pp, p = 0•671), current use of contraception (DID: 12pp, p = 0•046 versus DID: 10pp, p = 0•021), cord care (DID: 12pp, p = 0•051 versus DID: 7pp, p = 0•210), and timely initiation of breastfeeding (DID: 29pp, p = 0•001 versus DID: 1pp, p = 0•933). Lorenz curves and concentration indices indicated reduction in rich-poor gap in health practices over time in the intervention areas. InterpretationDisparities in MNH behaviours declined with the efforts by SHGs through behaviour change communication intervention.

Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers’ access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of extension advice is poor. We investigate whether a women's self‐help group (SHG) platform could be an effective way of improving access to information, women's empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. We use cross‐sectional data on close to 1,000 women from five states in India and employ nearest‐neighbor matching models to match SHG and non‐SHG women along a range of observed characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women's access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women's domestic responsibilities. SHGs need to go beyond provision of information to changing the dynamics around women's participation in agriculture to effectively translate knowledge into practice.

This paper sought to understand the pandemic's effect on Women's Self-Help Groups (WSHGs) operations in Kenya and the strategies stakeholders could adopt to mitigate the effects. The social capital theory was used to guide the research. It holds that social networks are valuable assets and interactions are critical in self-help groups to promote trustworthiness and reciprocity. The desktop review method was used to gather the information from studies on WSHGs and Covid-19 in Kenya (15 studies in 9 out of 47 Counties). The study analysed the public health measures adopted and how they affected WSHGs operations. It established that they adversely affected interactions that are critical in WSHGs operations. The mitigation strategies entail embracing technology, subsidised technological devices, affordable data bundles, social safety nets, and evidence-based interventions. This paper recommends that the government should establish partnerships with more WSHGs to reach the hard-to-reach population. It should empower WSHGs to offer the much-needed social safety nets for vulnerable groups in society. The containment measures should be context-tailored to help WSHGs operate following public health protocols.

This article discusses and analyses the experience of women involved in a non-government organisation-funded women's empowerment project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Women involved in the project encounter ideas about community development and urban poverty reduction – in particular, outsider-imposed notions of self-help group formation, women's empowerment, and community solidarity. The article explores the ways in which power dynamics and social structures in this post-conflict setting affect the outcome of women's self-help groups. We argue that for some women, vulnerability and social exclusion are reinforced, because of assumptions that both ‘the community’ and ‘women’ are homogenous groupings. In fact, unequal power and diversity among women can derail ideas of solidarity and shared interests in women's self-help groups.

Starting a new firm is a very important decision to an individual, which has become the focal point in the investigation of entrepreneurship regarding an individual's qualities as an entrepreneur. The Kudumbashree is a project under the state's aegis comprising women's self-help groups (SHGs). KS women leaders seem to be able to enter the panchayats more readily and thus form an important section of lower-level leaders of the state's political parties. The main objective of this chapter is to understand the role of ICT for Kudumbashree group in the economic upliftment of women the factors for it being education, work, financial ability, collective action, social relationships, and unpaid care and work burden. The Purpose of this study is to know how ICT helps in achieving economic upliftment by the most successful women's self-help group: Kudumbashree.

Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of advice they provide is poor. We investigate whether another platform that of women s self-help groups could be an effective way of improving access to information, women s empowerment in agriculture, improved agricultural practices, and production diversity. We used cross-sectional data on close to 3000 women from 5 states in India, and employ nearest-neighbor matching models to match SHG and non-SHG women along a range of pre-determined characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women s access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes. Other constraints like income and social norms could be limiting the translation of knowledge into practice. Since SHGs are uniquely placed to change even these constraints, it is important to identify and account for them when advocating the use of these groups in improving agriculture and livelihoods. Acknowledgement : This work was undertaken as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). The opinions expressed here belong to the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of A4NH or CGIAR. We acknowledge the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the research project Women Improving Nutrition through Group-based Strategies, OPP1132181. The authors would also like to thank Purnima Menon for useful feedback on this paper.

This research was undertaken as part of the Women Improving Nutrition through Group-based Strategies (WINGS) study, and was aimed at understanding ways to improve agricultural practices among women farmers in India. Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers’ access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of extension advice is poor. We investigate whether a women’s self-help group platform could be an effective way of improving access to information, women’s empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. We use cross-sectional data on close to 1000 women from 5 states in India, and employ nearest-neighbor matching models to match self-help group (SHG) and non-SHG women along a range of observed characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women’s access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women’s domestic responsibilities. SHGs need to go beyond provision of information to changing the dynamics around women’s participation in agriculture to effectively translate knowledge into practice.

In the present study Hisar district was selected from western zone of Haryana with the objectives of examine the socio-economic features and performance men and women SHGs. From the selected district, a list of SHGs was collected from Haryana Gramin Bank and categorized into two groups i.e . men SHGs and women SHGs. The selected sample 30 members were selected each from women SHG and men SHG i.e . total 60 members were selected. In the selected respondents 80 per cent of women SHG members were illiterate and among the men SHGs members 40 per cent had secondary education while 16.66 per cent were illiterate. The women SHGs members were not having any land in their name and working as a agricultural laborers. The members who belong to men SHG groups had an average land holding size of 2 acres including 1.5 acres as leased in land. Dairy farming was the main occupation and adopted by 50 per cent by men and 40 per cent by women SHGs. The fund utilization pattern was found to be more than 90 per cent in all the groups which were working more than past 4 years. In the study area there were 80 per cent were belongs to young age group of 20 to 45 years.

Women's self-help groups (SHGs) have increasingly been used as a vehicle for social, political, and economic empowerment as well as a platform for service delivery. Although a growing body of literature shows evidence of positive impacts of SHGs on various measures of empowerment, our understanding of ways in which SHGs improve awareness and use of public services is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper first examines how SHG membership is associated with political participation, awareness, and use of government entitlement schemes. It further examines the effect of SHG membership on various measures of social networks and mobility. Using data collected in 2015 across five Indian states and matching methods to correct for endogeneity of SHG membership, we find that SHG members are more politically engaged. We also find that SHG members are not only more likely to know of certain public entitlements than non-members, they are significantly more likely to avail of a greater number of public entitlement schemes. Additionally, SHG members have wider social networks and greater mobility as compared to non-members. Our results suggest that SHGs have the potential to increase their members' ability to hold public entities accountable and demand what is rightfully theirs. An important insight, however, is that the SHGs themselves cannot be expected to increase knowledge of public entitlement schemes in absence of a deliberate effort to do so by an external agency.