Analyzing the building blocks of resilience: Findings from a baseline survey of the Tuungane Population, Health, and Environment Project in western Tanzania

Although the value of population, health, environment (PHE) programs is appreciated by the development community and the conceptual linkages they incorporate are sound, little evidence exists to demonstrate their short- and long-term impacts—particularly the role that the family planning (FP) component of PHE projects plays in building resilience, improving livelihoods, and helping people adapt to climate change. To contribute to filling this gap, the Evidence Project collaborated with Tuungane, a PHE project jointly implemented by The Nature Conservancy and Pathfinder International, to conduct further analysis of their existing data and examine the evidence base around integrated PHE programming, FP, climate change adaptation, and resilience. This paper analyzes data from the Tuungane Project baseline survey to show the pre-project level of knowledge and attitudes among village residents regarding their understanding and use of FP. We hope to use this analysis to inform future efforts that will look more deeply at the relationships among and between: FP and climate change adaptation, FP and resilience, and the pathways through which the FP and other components of PHE projects like Tuungane contribute to building resilience and enhancing the ability to adapt to climate change

Family planning and resilience: Associations found in a Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) project in Western Tanzania

Using 2016 household survey data from Tanzania, we define and measure resilience within the context of Population, Health, and Environment programming and quantify the link between resilience and family planning. We created a multicomponent model using confirmatory factor analysis in a structural equation modeling context. Factor loadings for eight defined latent factors of resilience were statistically significant (p \u3c 0.001). We created a factor called “FP-MCH” reflecting awareness, attitudes, and access to family planning (FP) and health care services and use of maternal and child health care (MCH) facilities. Analysis, with controls, shows that a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in FP/MCH was associated with a 0.68 SD increase in resilience (p \u3c 0.01), suggesting that the association between FP/MCH and resilience is robust across a range of factors. Analyses showed that the association between FP/MCH is broadly related to the construct of resilience and not through any single component. This study supports the importance of including FP/MCH as part of integrated projects to enhance resilience