Engaging Men for improved Family Planning and Nutrition outcomes

Situation

Pilot implementation took place in 2 blocks of Samastipur district in Bihar, one of the states in India. The project was rolled out amongst low-income communities in these blocks where maternal and child diet diversity was low and there was a high unmet contraceptive need.

Assignment

PCI India in partnership with Dalberg implemented and tested design solutions that were aimed to improve child diet diversity and contraceptive uptake in intervention blocks through increasing male participation for better nutrition and sexual reproductive health of the families.

Approach

The project started with rapid prototyping, iterating and refining concept which culminated in 2 final design interventions. These 2 design interventions were then implemented for over a year in 2 blocks of a district. Implementation phase also incorporated multiple iterations to increase engagement with targeted communities. Finally it was seen that there was a significant difference in baseline and end line survey of the project success indicators indicating a success of the concepts tested.

Results

As a result of the project, there was an increase in uptake of consumption of diverse food groups among children up to 2 years of age thereby increasing child diet diversity and nutrition outcomes in the family. Spousal communication significantly increased leading to an increase in contraceptive uptake and shared decision-making amongst couples. This helped to improve financial planning and maternal health. Men’s participation in decision-making on child’s nutrition also led to better health outcomes for the family. ​

This project was commissioned by Project Concern International India and performed by Vidhi a former employee of Project Concern International India who is also a member of the Proportion Global community. If you’ve enjoyed reading this case and want to dive deeper, we’d love to hear from you and we will connect you with the relevant designers like Vidhi, who worked on this project Contact Us