96173 A g r i c u lt u r e G l o b a l P r a c t i c e N o t e 01 Promoting Agriculture– Nutrition Convergence Through Participatory Extension Videos Rikin Gandhi, Ritika Pandey,1 Terhi Havimo, and Eija Pehu The nutrition challenge in South Asia is complex due to its varying scale from hunger to hidden hunger.2 The region has the highest rates of hunger and under- nutrition in the world, and overweight and obesity is increasing in prevalence, especially in India. These complex and multicausal nutritional challenges need to be met with equally varying cross-sectoral interventions. Recognizing that an effective way to ensure food and nutrition security is to explore the interconnec- tions between agriculture and nutrition, the SAFANSI Trust Fund3 supported the promotion of nutritional practices as part of an existing agricultural extension program among the farming community in Bihar, India. A pilot program was conducted in partnership with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (also known as JEEViKA) to investigate how locally produced videos could increase community knowledge and the adoption of improved nutrition practices, as well as evaluate the feasibility of integrating nutrition information into the existing agricultural program. The pilot targeted 42 villages in three districts. This Note presents the key findings of piloting the participatory nutrition messaging videos. AN INNOVATIVE, TECHNOLOGY- medium is well suited for interpersonal behavior change communication with smallholder farmers because it ENABLED MEANS OF BEHAVIOR overcomes problems associated with illiteracy and is an CHANGE COMMUNICATION intuitively accessible technology, especially when local The nutrition information approach using videos as a farmers convey the advice and information in the video. basis for disseminating best practices is a cost-effective Local social networks are tapped to connect farmers with and scalable solution that brings together researchers, experts; the thrill of appearing on video motivates farmers, development practitioners, and community members and social cohesion is leveraged to minimize the distance to produce and share locally relevant information. The between teacher and learner. AGRICULTURE GLOBAL PRACTICE NOTE — APRIL 2015 Aishwarya Pillai, Digital Green Women’s self-help group members. Nalanda District, Bihar. The approach operates through a hub-and-spoke model using low-cost, battery-operated pico projectors among in which nongovernmental organizations and public the women’s self-help groups that they worked with. sector agencies collaborate to train community intermedi- aries to produce and screen locally tailored video content DEFINING TOPICS AND PRODUCING to social organizations, primarily women’s self-help groups. In a controlled evaluation, the video approach was shown THE VIDEOS to be at least 10 times more effective, on a cost per adop- The video topics were selected for their relevance to the tion basis, than a conventional approach to agricultural local landscape, and the content specifically focused on extension, with a sevenfold increase in the rate of behavior themes related to agriculture and nutrition. Sample topics change.4 included cultivating kitchen gardens to increase access to nutrient-rich vegetables; better balancing maternal work- load related to agriculture during pregnancy; improving BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF dietary quality and diversity for women and children; and COMMUNITIES TO PRODUCE AND increasing the consumption of animal proteins, primarily DISSEMINATE VIDEOS milk and eggs. The following topics were identified that relate to both agriculture and nutrition: The objective of the pilot was to develop community-based instructional videos on nutrition topics (including food • Nutritional garden preparation, dietary diversity, crops rich in vitamin A, kitchen • Cultivation of vegetables in sacks gardens) to enable access to and adoption of best practices by • Recipe for a nutritional sweet called laddu community members. • Nutritional value of moringa trees • Community Health and Nutrition Care Centers The videos were produced within the communities with (CHNCCs) the help of trained community resource people, who • Diet during pregnancy effectively serve as extension agents for JEEViKA and were taught to produce locally relevant videos. These same Though not directly related to agriculture, other topics, individuals then facilitated the screening of these videos such as the importance of personal hygiene and breast- 2 | AGRICULTURE GLOBAL PRACTICE NOTE — APRIL 2015 feeding, were also considered from a more general public • The local dialect used in the videos was familiar to health and nutrition perspective given JEEViKA’s interest in viewers. improving the nutritional status of the communities that it • Community members said that the messages were works with through a combination of means. clear. Some videos were screened more than once on demand from the viewers, for better reiteration Once the topics were identified, JEEViKA’s district- and of the messages. block-level staff produced storyboards in which key messages were outlined. Strong emphasis was placed on These videos give us valuable knowledge. We can do the validation of the practices. The key messages in the everything that is being said in these videos. Earlier, videos were validated by JEEViKA’s nutrition experts, and a we didn’t have this information. Our knowledge has state-level health and nutrition program manager verified increased after watching these videos. the technical accuracy of the storyboards, approving them —Babita Kumari for video production. Community Member, 37 years of age Khagaria District, Bihar TESTING THE VIDEOS THROUGH Increased knowledge on health and MEDIATED VIDEO SCREENINGS nutrition best practices After showcasing the videos, feedback was collected from • Community members said that they learned about the community on each of the 15 videos produced under new maternal and child health practices from the the pilot. In each village, the community resource person videos. screened the videos among women’s self-help groups • The women found the nutrition content especially (SHGs). These affinity-based SHGs were mobilized by useful as they have quite a bit of influence in the JEEViKA and are engaged in microcredit and savings activi- household nutrition decisions. ties. The SHGs were familiar with Digital Green’s approach as they were already watching videos on a biweekly basis These videos will increase the knowledge of the women in the community, which will improve their health and pertaining to improved agricultural practices. Many of the well-being. women belonging to these SHGs had prior experience of —Reena Kumari applying the practices that they were watching. As a part Nutrition Specialist, 32 years of age of the screening process, the community resource person Gaya District, Bihar would pause the video at strategic points and engage the group in purposeful and productive discussion on their [The] videos increased our knowledge about health issues. These videos should be shown to men also. understanding of the featured practice. The typical size of a group was 15 to 20 people. Small groups created an — S. Devi JEEViKA Saheli, 30 years of age informal and intimate environment, enabling all members Khagaria District, Bihar to interact, ask questions, and clarify their doubts. The cross-sectional nature of SHGs, which include pregnant and lactating mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and Sociocultural myths addressed other peers, has shown to be quite influential in encourag- • Prevalent myths related to pregnancy and childbirth ing them to adopt a new practice or behavior beneficial (for example, not eating pumpkin during preg- for their and their families’ nutrition and health. nancy) were dispelled and communities felt more informed about health and nutrition practices. KEY FINDINGS The participatory video pilot on agriculture and nutrition Strong message recall and comprehension successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a technology- enabled platform for locally producing and distributing • Community members remembered key messages improved agricultural, food, and nutrition practices as part in the videos. of an existing public extension system. So far, these videos AGRICULTURE GLOBAL PRACTICE NOTE — APRIL 2015 | 3 The pilot outputs, including videos produced and [The] videos have dispelled our myths and miscon- community usage data of this project, are available on ceptions. Earlier, we used to think that food must be Digital Green’s knowledge management platform: http:// cooked on high flame, but after watching the video on cooking method we got to know that cooking on high digitalgreen.org/discover. A video summarizing the flame adversely affects the nutrition content. processes involved in this pilot is available at http://www. digitalgreen.org/blog/safansi-pilot-in-bihar/. Additional —Chandrani Bharti reports, presentations, and videos can be accessed at JEEViKA Saheli, 27 years of age Khagaria District, Bihar http://www.digitalgreen.org/events/#workshop_agnu. have been disseminated to more than 2,000 community Notes members who JEEViKA works with, and there is an interest 1. Rikin Gandhi and Ritika Pandey are from Digital Green in sharing the videos more broadly to the 1 million self- (http://www.digitalgreen.org). help groups that they work with across Bihar. The subjects 2. Hidden hunger refers to the lack of vitamins and minerals, of the videos covered a variety of topics, including those such as vitamin A and iron. primarily related to nutrition behaviors and those in which agricultural messages were made nutrition-sensitive. The 3. The South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative stakeholders inolved in this project are keen to see how (SAFANSI) is supported by the World Bank and the U.K.’s the links between agriculture and nutrition, especially for Department for International Development. women, can be strengthened and to rigorously evaluate 4. Gandhi, R., R. Veeraraghavan, K. Toyama, and V. Ramprasad. how messaging, related to agriculture, health, and a 2009. “Digital Green: Participatory Video for Agricul- combination of these subjects, ultimately improves the tural Extension.” Information Technologies for International food and nutrition security of the rural communities that Development, 5 (1): 1–15. Available at http://itidjournal.org/ we engage with. itid/article/view/322/145. Table 1 Nutrition Videos Produced through the SAFANSI-Supported Project Video topics Video links Nutritional garden http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7285/ Cultivation of vegetables in sacks http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7283/ Recipe for a nutritional sweet called laddu http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7284/ Nutritional value of the moringa tree http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7473/ Purpose of Community Health and http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7269/ Nutrition Care Centers Diet during pregnancy http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7279/ Documentation of the entire process of http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7281/ cooking at CHNCCs Training a group of community members http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7282/ on hygienic cooking Importance of breast-feeding http://www.digitalgreen.org/discover/video/7267/ This material has been funded by UK aid from the UK government through the South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (SAFANSI), which is administered by the World Bank. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK gov- ernment’s official policies or the policies of the World Bank and its Board of Executive Directors. Internet: www.worldbank.org/agriculture http://twitter.com/wb_agriculture