Scale-up supply and utilization of precooked beans for food and nutrition security, incomes and environmental conservation by leveraging on public-private partnerships in Kenya and Uganda

The project aimed at leveraging public-private partnerships to scale up utilization of precooked bean innovations for food and nutrition security, income generation and environmental conservation in a gender equitable manner. The project worked with 20,558 farmers (6,962 men; 9,893 women; and 3,703 youth) adding 1,659 farmers in this phase compared to Phase 1 (18,899). This report provides details of project results including: increasing productivity by 17% with a trading value of CAD$154,667 along with decreased energy demand (such as charcoal and wood burning); and as well, freeing up women’s time constraints. The project was successful even considering pandemic conditions

Accroître l’accès des femmes à des marchés ables grâce à la commercialisation collective

English version available in IDRC Digital LibraryCultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CULTIAF

Increasing women’s access to reliable markets through collective marketing

French version available in IDRC Digital LibraryWhile some household challenges emerged from collective marketing, the project enabled women to participate in male-dominated marketing activities and to benefit from the income generated. The project identified 65 mixed farmer groups and linked them to the Community Enterprise Development Organization (CEDO) which supplies bean seed on credit to farmer groups to produce grain on a contractual basis. Group marketing has been identified as one of the most viable ways of increasing women’s participation in agricultural marketing and improving their access to market information, as well as strengthening their bargaining power.Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CULTIAF

Acceptability and feasibility of mobile phone-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention in Uganda: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Valid, reliable behavioral data and contextually meaningful interventions are necessary for improved health outcomes. Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention (EMAI), which collects data as behaviors occur to deliver real-time interventions, may be more accurate and reliable than retrospective methods. The rapid expansion of mobile technologies in low-and-middle-income countries allows for unprecedented remote data collection and intervention opportunities. However, no previous studies have trialed EMAI in sub-Saharan Africa. We assessed EMAI acceptability and feasibility, including participant retention and response rate, in a prospective, parallel group, randomized pilot trial in Rakai, Uganda comparing behavioral outcomes among adults submitting ecological momentary assessments (EMA) versus EMAI. After training, participants submitted EMA data on five nutrition and health risk behaviors over a 90-day period using a smartphone-based application utilizing prompt-based, participant-initiated, and geospatial coordinate data collection, with study coordinator support and incentives for >50% completion. Included behaviors and associated EMAI-arm intervention messages were selected to pilot a range of EMAI applications. Acceptability was measured on questionnaires. We estimated the association between high response rate and participant characteristics and conducted thematic analysis characterizing participant experiences. Study completion was 48/50 participants. Median prompt response rate was 66.5% (IQR: 60.0%-78.6%). Prior smartphone app use at baseline (aPR 3.76, 95%CI: 1.16–12.17, p = 0.03) and being in the intervention arm (aPR 2.55, 95% CI: 1.01–6.44, p = 0.05) were significantly associated with the top response rate quartile (response to >78.6% of prompts). All participants submitted self-initiated reports, covering all behaviors of interest, including potentially sensitive behaviors. Inconsistent phone charging was the most reported feasibility challenge. In this pilot, EMAI was acceptable and feasible. Response rates were good; additional strategies to improve compliance should be investigated. EMAI using mobile technologies may support improved behavioral data collection and intervention approaches in low and middle-income settings. This approach should be tested in larger studies

Pre-cooked beans for improving food and nutrition security and income generation in Kenya and Uganda - final technical report

The precooked beans project aimed to increase affordable bean consumption, increase income, improve diets, and reduce cooking time, while creating a sustainable lucrative market for farmers. The project set up two grain production models; the Community Production and Marketing System (COPMAS) and the Collective Marketing Model (CMM) with Seed Credit. Also, two seed production models were set up to support seed production. The project directly or indirectly created employment for 24,615 people at production, aggregation and intermediate processor levels and successfully reached 52,802 farmers with information critical to bean production and group management, as well as tackling gender issues

Acceptability and feasibility of mobile phone-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention in Uganda: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Valid, reliable behavioral data and contextually meaningful interventions are necessary for improved health outcomes. Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention (EMAI), which collects data as behaviors occur to deliver real-time interventions, may be more accurate and reliable than retrospective methods. The rapid expansion of mobile technologies in low-and-middle-income countries allows for unprecedented remote data collection and intervention opportunities. However, no previous studies have trialed EMAI in sub-Saharan Africa. We assessed EMAI acceptability and feasibility, including participant retention and response rate, in a prospective, parallel group, randomized pilot trial in Rakai, Uganda comparing behavioral outcomes among adults submitting ecological momentary assessments (EMA) versus EMAI. After training, participants submitted EMA data on five nutrition and health risk behaviors over a 90-day period using a smartphone-based application utilizing prompt-based, participant-initiated, and geospatial coordinate data collection, with study coordinator support and incentives for >50% completion. Included behaviors and associated EMAI-arm intervention messages were selected to pilot a range of EMAI applications. Acceptability was measured on questionnaires. We estimated the association between high response rate and participant characteristics and conducted thematic analysis characterizing participant experiences. Study completion was 48/50 participants. Median prompt response rate was 66.5% (IQR: 60.0%-78.6%). Prior smartphone app use at baseline (aPR 3.76, 95%CI: 1.16-12.17, p = 0.03) and being in the intervention arm (aPR 2.55, 95% CI: 1.01-6.44, p = 0.05) were significantly associated with the top response rate quartile (response to >78.6% of prompts). All participants submitted self-initiated reports, covering all behaviors of interest, including potentially sensitive behaviors. Inconsistent phone charging was the most reported feasibility challenge. In this pilot, EMAI was acceptable and feasible. Response rates were good; additional strategies to improve compliance should be investigated. EMAI using mobile technologies may support improved behavioral data collection and intervention approaches in low and middle-income settings. This approach should be tested in larger studies