Identifying nutrition-sensitive development options in Madagascar through a positive deviance approach

Abstract

Context-adapted interventions are needed to alleviate the burden of food and nutrition insecurity on resource-poor rural households in southeastern Madagascar. The Positive Deviance approach implies identifying locally viable development solutions by focusing on particularly successful, innovative individuals. To identify promising practices that could be promoted as part of food and nutrition security (FNS) interventions in the Atsimo Atsinanana region of southeastern Madagascar, positive deviance was searched among smallholder farmers. Positive deviants are defined as households with overall optimal performance across four aspects of FNS: household-level food security, women’s diet quality, child’s diet quality, and low diarrhea incidence. To identify positive deviants, a two-step procedure was followed. Based on quantitative survey data from 413 rural smallholder households (mother-child pairs) with a child aged between 6 and 23 months, each household’s four performance scores were adjusted by removing the average effects of household resources. Then, households with Pareto-optimal performance were identified regarding the four aspects. Subsequently, 16 positive deviants were revisited and positive deviant practices were identified through in-depth interviews. A set of practices were validated through focus group discussions with local nutrition and agriculture experts. Positive deviant practices include the adoption of agricultural innovation, such as new cash crops, as well as nutrition-sensitive market behaviors and reliance on off-farm activities. In addition, some ethno-cultural factors help to explain positive deviance. These diverse positive deviant practices may serve as examples and inspiration for locally grounded development interventions targeting FNS in southeastern Madagascar.

Southern Madagascar, polycrisis and project failures: A scoping review

“…Regarding the analysis of the results, we chose to examine the main themes prevalent in the collection of records: gender [ 14 – 22 ], anthropological factors [ 1 , 6 , 2 , 9 , 15 , 21 , 23 – 40 ], climatic factors [ 1 , 14 , 25 , 27 , 41 – 48 ], institution [ 2 , 7 , 14 , 15 , 18 , 20 , 25 , 33 – 38 , 40 , 43 , 48 – 56 ], technical project management [ 2 , 6 , 9 , 20 , 25 , 30 , 31 , 39 , 41 , 49 , 56 – 64 ], human and technical capital [ 14 , 16 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 60 , 62 , 64 – 68 ], and finally, nutrition and food insecurity […”

“…Despite advancements in understanding the organization of work and the distribution of activities [ 17 , 41 , 57 ], most agricultural or livestock projects remain blind to gender. Although integrating a gender approach into development activities has become a commitment of development actors and a condition for accessing funding, it is evident that this field is still underexplored [ 14 – 16 ]. It is crucial to better document project contexts from this perspective, which is rarely done before interventions, except in certain NGOs [ 6 , 58 , 70 ].…”

Empowering local communities with strategies for monitoring and eliminating poverty in urban areas (Case study, District 9 of Tehran)

“…At the same time, this policy and its goals have been primarily aimed at creating infrastructures and, in the best case, increasing the welfare of society (Darcy et al, 2023). Asset development is the basis of a strategy for sustainable community-based development that involves locating and listing the assets, skills, and capacities of residents, civic associations, and local institutions, as well as building relationships, developing visions for the future, and using internal and external resources to achieve goals (Taliep et al, 2023;Rafanomezantsoa et al, 2023). Asset development is the basis of a valid development strategy; it allows communities and individuals to promote development and move away from the structural forces of dependency (Stoltenberg, 2015;Claridge, 2023;Luca et al, 2024).…”

Does Raising Livestock Improve Household Food Security and Child Dietary Diversity in a Rural Region of Madagascar?

“…Many studies have investigated the principal determinants of child undernutrition and food insecurity in Madagascar [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. However, the links between livestock rearing, household food security, and children's dietary diversity are not entirely understood.…”