Quantitative Impact Evaluation of the SHOUHARDO II Project in Bangladesh on Household Food and Livelihood Outcomes

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the Government of Bangladesh, the project is being implemented by CARE and its Bangladeshi NGO partners in eleven of the poorest and most marginalized districts in Bangladesh. The project takes a novel approach to reducing malnutrition by integrating nutrition-specific interventions with those that address key underlying determinants of stunting. Child malnutrition is a significant problem in Bangladesh, with a stunting prevalence of 41 percent among children under five. The project's predecessor, SHOUHARDO I, was successful in reducing child stunting, and early indications from the mid-term evaluation of SHOUHARDO II suggest that similar reductions in stunting are likely to occur. The project's baseline, midterm, and endline surveys provide rich data that can be used to determine whether and why the project brought about these recorded reductions in child stunting. The project's overall objective is to determine whether and by how much the SHOUHARDO II project as a whole, and four sets of interventions implemented at the household level, served to reduce stunting among children under five in the project area. The four sets of interventions are: nutrition-specific interventions, interventions aimed at enhancing women's empowerment, interventions aimed at increasing food production and incomes, and interventions aimed at increasing access to safe water and sanitation. The project's research questions include: did the SHOUHARDO II project's activities cause the reduction in stunting that took place among project beneficiaries over the life of the project? Did the project's nutrition-specific interventions serve to reduce child stunting? Did the project's women's empowerment intervention serve to reduce child stunting? Did the project's interventions to increase food production and incomes serve to reduce child stunting? Did the project's interventions to improve access to safe water and sanitation serve to reduce child stunting? Were greater impacts observed when combining nutrition-specific interventions with those addressing underlying determinants of malnutrition? The SHOUHARDO II project's integrated approach to reducing malnutrition has the potential to provide valuable lessons for future projects striving to reduce child malnutrition in Bangladesh and other developing countries. The project's data and findings can help improve understanding of the effectiveness of different interventions and the synergistic impacts of combining nutrition-specific interventions with those addressing underlying determinants of malnutrition. Bangladesh has one of the highest stunting prevalences in the world, with 41 percent of all children under five affected. The SHOUHARDO II project is being implemented in eleven of the poorest and most marginalized districts in Bangladesh, where child malnutrition is a significant problem. The project's integrated approach to reducing malnutrition includes nutrition-specific interventions, interventions aimed at enhancing women's empowerment, interventions aimed at increasing food production and incomes, and interventions aimed at increasing access to safe water and sanitation. The project's research questions are focused on determining the overall impact of the project, the impact of specific types of interventions, and the synergistic impacts of combining nutrition-specific interventions with those addressing underlying determinants of malnutrition. The project's data and findings can help improve understanding of the effectiveness of different interventions and the synergistic impacts of combining nutrition-specific interventions with those addressing underlying determinants of malnutrition.