Browsing by Author "Roy, Rita Das"

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A qualitative exploration of some socioeconomic issues in south uddomdi, Matlab
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1995-06) Mahbub, Amina; Mayeed, MaIiha; Roy, Rita Das
The qualitative study tested the feasibility of utilizing the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to understand the baseline situation and the mechanism of change. The purpose of this study was to exploring the baseline situation regarding socioeconomic issues such as income, occupation, wealth category, kinship, power structure. Education, cohesiveness, poverty situation and coping in crisis in South Uddomdi village of Matlab. Apart from this basic objective the study also looked to: identify indigenous indicators of socioeconomic situation and poverty situation, investigate people's perception about changes in the community and mechanism of changes over time regarding the above issues and to seek out - areas for future research. The study was a repeated cross sectional one that took note of the situation prevailing at the current moment by using PRA methods. Matlab was specifically selected for the to learn about the socioeconomic impact of both BRAC and ICDDR,B interventions. The study reveals that the villagers have their own perception about economic stratification. According to them, stratification is mainly dependent on the regularity of income. So, in other words~ the job a man does for living and the degree of dignity assigned to it by the community determines his status. Most of the villagers are farmers who also do other miscellaneous jobs according to the season. Those who also do salaried job in addition to farming are the wealthiest ones. The day laborers or fisher men are normally looked down upon because they earn less. Bari or group of household is the base of social stratification. Status is depended on the prestige of a king group of a Bari. Traditionally prestige is constructed on educational attainment, solvency, manner and the role of that Bari in power practice. The villagers are experiencing that economic solvency and honor is mostly dependent on education; so they want their children to be educated, particularly the boys. Girl’s education is still not regarded as important. There are some traditional institutions in South Uddomdi that reflects the cohesiveness of the village; the mosques, as such which were built decades ago by the villagers and are still being maintained through the villager's joint contribution. Nowadays, there are youth clubs, cooperatives and other social institutions. External institutions like BRAC also works as an agent of change. The poverty situation of the villager's is influenced by the lean and pick agricultural periods, as the area is predominantly an agricultural one. The wealthy class is least affected by this because they have a continual flow of money generated multiple sources. The villagers identified Ashwin, Kartik, Falgun and Chaitra as the months of greatest poverty. The amount of work availability during this these seasons is very limited. The villagers shared some common crises. The biggest crisis is 'No job no food' followed by the dowry payment and the consequences'. But these are not the only crises. The villagers described how they take loans, sell property and seek help from neighbors, relatives and patrons to cope with the crises. A preferential order was also found about their crisis moment network depending on type of different crisis. To overcome a big crisis, most of the time the villagers were found to take loan with exorbitant rate of interest from the professional money lenders. The villagers want to pay back their loan as early as possible. So they sell their harvested crops, reduce the numbers of meals taken, sell their valuables or take out another loan. But very often they are found too destitute and broken to repay the loan. They even migrate to another village if they fail to repay loan. Poverty situation also influences the food intake of the vulnerable group; both the number of meals taken and the type of food taken are affected in the lean periods. Intra household food distribution discrepancies are far more common in rich households than in poor households. The villagers identified some major changes that have taken place in the village over the last two decades. They are: the introduction of IRRI dhaan cultivation, growing interest in education, practice of dowry as an integral part of marriage. Changing role in power practice, the increase in the use of fancy commodities in the recent years, emergence of a vulnerable class and the participation of women in income generating activities. The study also identified village organization (VO) and community level change of the VO members. But since the VOs in the village were then new, no mentionable change was observed. This attempt was taken just on a trial basis. As this study has provided very detailed qualitative baseline information supplementary to the quantitative one, it is hoped that a repeated cross sectional study on the same issues will help to identify the strategies that will be effective in bringing about socioeconomic change in the village. All the names in this text have been changed; but the words tell the real story•
A qualitative exploration of some socioeconomic issues in South Uddomdi, Matlab[book]
(Dhaka:BRAC-ICDDR,B Joint Research Project, 1995. viii, 53 p., 1995) Mahbub, Amina; Mayeed, Maliha; Roy, Rita Das
An emic towards well-being
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1997-07) Mahbub, Amina; Roy, Rita Das
Usually much attention has not been paid to people's perspective towards their own wellbeing in the nation level. In fact it is rare to find national level studies on realities about people's well-being and People's idea in the development process usually are not considered (UNDP, 1996). But people are conscious about their own well-being and they have a transparent idea about their need and priorities as well. The present study is a part of BRAC-ICDDR, B joint research project. The main objectives of the research project is to assess the effect of BRAC and lCDDR, B interventions on health status and human wellbeing and also to explore the pathways and causal mechanism through which these development efforts influence (Chowdhury and Bhuiya, 1995). Since the impact of the development interventions on the well-being of individuals and families in rural Bangladesh is primarily concerned here; to get an outlook about what is 'well-being' to the people is very much crucial to be identified.
An emic towards well-being[book]
(Dhaka: BRAC-ICDDR,B Joint Research project, 1997. ii, 31p., 1997) Mahbub, Amina; Roy, Rita Das
Does a community based nutrition project work? an evaluation of the Muktagachha pilot nutrition initiative in Bangladesh
(Research and Evaluation Division, Brac, 2001) Hyder, SM Ziauddin; Jalal, Chowdhury S B; Roy, Rita Das; Chowdhury, AMR; Yusuf, HKM
A study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of the multidisciplinary Muktagacha pilot nutrition project on the nutritional status of under-2 children, adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating mothers in three areas covered by the project - Paratongi, Gabtoli and Chcchua. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study. Quantitative data included infonnation on nutritional status of the target population. Data were taken only for January and July of the years from 1994 to 2000. Qualitative data, collected mainly through focal group discussions (FGD), included infonnation on health and nutrition status of the target population and perception at household, village and community levels about the nutrition project. Results showed that the project made partial success in achieving the target objectives.
Does food supplementation increase efficacy of a school-based nutrition education programme for adolescent girls? lessons learned at BRAC
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 2000) Roy, Rita Das; Hyder, S.M. Ziauddin; Chowdhury, AMR; Mahmud, Zeba
Does involvement of women in BRAC influence ses bias in intra-household food distribution
(Dhaka: BRAC-ICDDR,B Joint Research Project, 1998. ii, 19 p., 1998) Roy, Rita Das; Hyder, SM Ziauddin; Chowdhury, Mushtaque; Adams, Alayne
Does involvement of women in BRAC influence sex bias in intra-household food distribution?
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1997) Roy, Rita Das; Hyder, SM Ziauddin; Chowdhury, AMR; Adams, Alayne
This study aimed to assess the sex preference in intra-household food distribution among school going siblings in a rural area of Bangladesh. The study also examines the effect of women's involvement in BRAC's rural development programme in reducing gender gaps in intrahousehold food allocation. The study was conducted in 14 villages of :Matlab thana as one of the sub-studies of the BRAC-ICDDR,B joint research project. A total of 376 school-going siblings (188 brothers and 188 sisters) aged 10-14 years from BRAC member and no~-member households were included in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used for data collection. One of the villages was chosen for direct observation of food distnoution behaviour of the food servers. The methodology also included six focus group discussions with mothers of the siblings in two selected villages; this helped to have further understanding of the issue. The survey found no significant sex bias in food distribution for 3 major daily meals. However, boys were given preference in distributing special foods such as meat, fish and milk products. Brothers conswned higher amount of special foods compared to their sisters (p<0.001). Direct observation of food distribution and focus group discussions indicated that preferential food distribution pattern favouring sons, which existed in the rural community irrespective of social classes. It was also found that food was more equitably distributed between sons and daughters within BRAC member households compared to non-member households.
Does mobilisation help change mothers' behaviour towards health and nutrition?
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 2000) Hyder, S.M. Ziauddin; Jalal, Chowdhury S B; Roy, Rita Das; Chowdhury, AMR; Yusuf, Harun KM
A study was done to assess the impact of mobilization on the change of mothers' behaviour towards health and nutrition practices. Mobilization was given by adolescent girls trained on various aspects of health and nutrition. Like regular growth monitoring of their children, immunization, colostrums feeding, complementary feeding, night blindness, hookworm infestation and hand washing practices before eating and after defecation. The adolescent girls were trained in BRAC non-formal schools in some villages of Muktagachha Upazila of Mymensingh district. They made house to house visits and mobilized and motivated the mothers on the above subjects. Mothers living in neighbouring areas but not visited by the ·adolescent girls were considered as non-mobilized. Results show that mobilization has important effects on some aspects of health and nutrition behaviour such as age at which complementary feeding should be started, vegetables as sources of vitamin A nightblindness, and personal hygiene like hand washing practice before eating. However, no significant difference was found between mobilized and non-mobilized mothers in respect of importance of growth monitoring, immunization, colostrum feeding and washing of hand after defecation. The reason for this is not know at present but it may be due to weakness of the mobilization procedure/programme, leakage of information from mobilized mothers to non-mobilized mothers, or gaining of knowledge by the non-mobilized mothers from other source like radio and TV. Further in-depth study is needed to resolve the question.
Evaluation of the WFP assisted wheat-soya blended (WSB) food supplementation on nutrional status
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 2000-06) Hyder, S.M. Ziauddin; JalaI, Chowdhury S B; Roy, Rita Das; Rahman, Mizanur
Wheat soya blended (WSB) food was distributed ~ong 74,000 'poorest of the poor' households in 5 highly flood-affected districts in Bangladesh under an agreement signed in May 1999 between BRAC and World Food Programme. Each selected household received 10 kg WSB per month, and only under-5 children and pregnant/lactating mothers were entitled to consume the food for a period of five months. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of WSB supplementation programme with special emphasis on nutritional status of under-5 children. Other aspects · of the programme such as efficacy of targeting, quality of the WSB food distributed, acceptability and consumption of WSB food were also evaluated. The study followed a pre-post design with a comparison group. Karnarkhond thana (subdistrict) in Sirajganj district was selected as the intervention area (n=760 under-5 children), while Dhunot thana in Bogra district was selected as the comparison area (n=764 under-5 children). Data were collected at baseline and after 5 months intervention in both the areas. In addition, monthly data were also collected on some selected indicators. The Salter scale was used to collect weight data to nearest 1 00 g and TALC MUAC tape was used to collect mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) to nearest 1 mm. Age of children was recalled by mothers with the help of a local calendar of events specifically developed for this study. Gomez classification was used to define severity of malnutrition and underweight was defined according to criterion set by WHO (weightfor- age <80% NCHS median). Severe malnutrition was defined as MUAC <125 mm. The results indicate that selection of the households according to the set socio-economic criteria was quite accurate. All the selected households belonged to the poorest of the poor as indicated by household landholding, occupation of household head, sanitation and literacy. As high as 98% of the selected households did not have BRAC RDP membership. The quality of WSB food at the point of distribution was not acceptable since 85% of the children received the food infested with insects during first month. Although the situation improved over time, 64% of the children received WSB food either infested (11 %) or damp/clustered (53%) during the last round of the distribution. Most women (88%) could prepare the WSB as per instruction given prior to distribution by BRAC staff. On average, 1.5 children shared WSB food per households. Consumption of WSB food by pregnant/lactating mothers was at minimum level. About 98% of the children liked the taste of WSB food. Median consumption of WSB in 24 hours was 300 g per child during the first month, which went down to 200 g during second and third month, and finally to 100 g during the last month. The reason for such downward trend of WSB food consumption was probably sharing of the food by other 'family members, which often-- remained unreported. The 5-month WSB food supplementation showed a significant impact on reducing the prevalence of malnutrition. The intervention was also found effective in treating underweight as well as severe malnutrition. The reduction of the prevalence of underweight was 9% in supplemented children compared to 6% in non-supplemented children (p=O.OO). In regression analysis, the intervention showed significant effect on increasing mean MUAC (p=O.OO) and mean weight-for-age {p=0.03) after controlling for important confounding factors, such as sex and age of the children, total duration of diarrhoea in days during the five months supplementation period and nutritional status at baseline. A subset of children was analysed to study the effectiveness of the intervention in treating underweight and severe malnutrition. Children who were found underweight and severely malnourished at baseline were included. A significantly higher reduction of the prevalence of underweight was observed among children in the intervention area compared to the nonintervention area (68% vs. 76%; p=0.007). Similarly, the prevalenc~ of severe malnutrition reduced to 28% from the baseline figure of 100% in the intervention area compared to its reduction to 43% in the non-intervention area (p=0.02).
Health and nutritional status of 'target population' in Kachua thana, Bangladesh: baseline survey 1999
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999) Hyder, S.M. Ziauddin; Roy, Rita Das; JalaI, Chowdhury SB; Yusuf, Harun KM
The state of nutrition in Bangladesh is precariously poor. The diet, being heavily deficient in calories and seriously imbalanced, leads to the obvious consequences of widespread protein-energy and micronutrient malnutrition among infants, children and women. This is a great loss of human resources potential for productivity and much of ·the low per capita gross domestic product (GOP) and low human development index (HOI) of the country (0.336) is attributable to this scourge of malnutrition. The overall health situation of the Bangladeshi population is also far below any acceptabie standard. This is particularly true for women and children with worst possible health statistics in terms of both morbidity and mortality. For example, the maternal mortality rate has been over 600 per 100,000 live births for many years. This has now improved slightly to about 470 per 100,000 live births. The latter figure is still one of the highest in the world. Similarly, 1 in 10 infant in Bangladesh does not live up to his/her first birthday; the infant mortality rate is around 80 per 1000 live births. The above circumstances had led the Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD) to find out innovative and appropriate programs to overcome the deplorable health, nutrition and basic education scenario of the people of some selected areas in Bangladesh. The proposed project titled "Shadaron Shikha 0 Prathomic Shastho Sheba Prokolpo (SSP SSP)" has been formulated on the basis of that realisation. The Kachua Thana under Chandpur District is one such area where such a project has been taken up. On request from IIRD, the Research and Evaluation Division (RED) of BRAC undertook a baseline survey among the target households of the project area under Kachua thana of Chand pur District.
Pilot study on intrahousehold food distribution in a rural area of Bangladesh
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1995) Roy, Rita Das; Hyder, SM Ziauddin
Pregnant women's knowledge on health and iron supplementation
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1996-05) Hyder, SM Ziauddin; Roy, Rita Das; Tarannum, Sabah
Revisiting health of the population: agenda for the future*
(Research and Evaluation Division, Brac, 2001) Ahmed, Syed Masud; Hadi, Abdullhel; Roy, Rita Das; Sarkar, Malabika; Chowdhury, AMR