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Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller
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Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Mar 26, 2015

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Page 1: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Women First: An Innovative Link Between

Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique

Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller

Page 2: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Today’s Presentation

• GW Capstone project overview• Women First program overview • Mozambique country context• Background research• Fieldwork goals & methodology• Findings • Conclusions • Q & A

Page 3: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Capstone Project Overview

• Part of the Master of Arts program in International Development Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University

• Teams of graduate students perform background research and fieldwork for development organization partners based on mutual interests and needs

• Emphasis on research design, developing relationships, subject mastery, professional skills development, writing and presenting

Page 4: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Women First: Program Overview Microenterprise, income generation program

focusing on family health outcomes Managed by International Relief & Development

Links income generation and business skills with health knowledge Provides knowledge and means to act on

information Targets at-risk women (generally female heads

of household) Program Benchmarks

2005: Began in Inhambane 2007: Expansion to Zambezia Over 400 participants to date

Page 5: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Program ObjectivesIncrease household

income Reduce HIV/AIDS rate

(via behavior change)Improve basic education

& business skillsImprove household

health & nutrition status

Reinforce healthy decision making skills

Mulheres Primeiro

Page 6: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Functional Program Details

• Targets 22 World Vision women’s groups – Affiliated through Ovata community

advocacy and health programs• Private sector partners sell goods on credit

that are loaned to women to sell in communities and markets through progressive kits

• Sales activities monitored by IRD staff• Weekly health training modules presented

by IRD staff

Page 7: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Participants by Kit

Graduates 33.8%

1st Kit 13.8%

3rd Kit 28.8%

2nd Kit 33.8%

Attendee 10.0%

Value (MT)

Sale Price (MT)

Profit (MT)

Kit 1 500 800 300

Kit 2 750 1300

550

Kit 3 1000

1600

600

Grad

- - -

Page 8: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Mozambique: A Country Context

• Former Portuguese colony– Independence July 25, 1975

• Brutal & protracted civil war lasted from 1975-1992

• Per capita GDP: $900• Population: 19.8 million• Population below the

poverty line: 70%• UN’s Human Development

Index: Ranked 172 out of 177

• GDP growth of 8% in 2007

Page 9: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Background Research• The Intersection Between Health, Education

and Income

– Income helps. Education helps. Income + education helps more.

• Health, Poverty & Gender

– Income in the hands of women has greater impact on family health than in hands of men

• Nutrition Status and HIV/AIDS Mortality

– Negative correlation

Page 10: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Research Goals and Hypotheses

• Evaluating the extent to which the program has achieved its intended health knowledge outcomes;

• Identifying the programmatic strategies that have been employed to ensure the program’s success; and

• Identifying whether two program elements - health and income generation - are effectively connected to strengthen the impacts of both.

Page 11: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Initial Hypotheses

• The Women First program is performing well with respect to its stated health objectives.

• IRD strategies are relevant and effective for achieving Women First program goals

– Ability to identify and address gaps or shortcomings

• The Women First program provides a successful model for incorporating health education into an income generation program

Page 12: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Methodology

• Conducted focus group discussion with 14 groups– One new group and one former group– Asked about:

• Experience with selling products• Community response to program• Opinions of program

• Conducted individual interviews with 90 women– Asked about:

• Demographic data• Health knowledge and behaviors• Program impacts

• Interviewed key staff

Page 13: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Research Challenges

Unable to address: Business model, partnership roles, social cohesion, technical health outcomes

Limited access to baseline data for participants

Limited information available about program operations and objectives

Concerns about objectivity/neutrality

Logistical issues hindered random selection of interviewees

Logistics of interview process - multiple translators, time constraints

Page 14: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Interview Findings

Page 15: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Participant Feedback

Reaction to program overwhelmingly positive 97% of women state program has had positive impact on

their life/health 97% have never considered quitting 99% of women want the program to continue 98% of women are willing to mentor new participants

Community response generally positive Only one group experienced negative reaction from non-

participant market sellers Most groups want more women to be able to

participate

Page 16: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

335.45

458.11

535.82 525.25

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1st Kit 2nd Kit 3rd Kit Graduate

Average Weekly Income by Status

Obvious and expected correlation between higher kits and higher earnings.

Supports women’s assertion that it is harder to continue making money after graduation.

Page 17: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Average Weekly Sales by Group

Page 18: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Marital Status Husband’s Occupation

Fisherman

70% of spouses do not contribute income to

household

Page 19: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

The occupation of the husband does not appear to have an impact on the average weekly sales of the wife

Correlation is NOT statistically significant

Page 20: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Number of school eligible-children not attending school, by case

Total children: 355Total not in school: 26

School AttendanceMozambique: 60%*Women First: 93%

School-eligible Children Not in School

* UNICEF, 2000-2006

Page 21: Women First: An Innovative Link Between Income Generation and Health Education in Mozambique Bethany Brown, Cosmin Florescu, Erin Dodson and Ailea Sneller.

Othrincome by Graduate

Farm prodOthr busnsNone

0%

100%

0Attendee

First kit2nd kit

3rd kitGraduate

50%

33%

17% 33%33%

67%

13%

53%

55%

17%

28%

None

Other Bus.

Cultivating

Other sources of income, by kit status