Can Women's Self Help Groups Improve Agricultural Practices and Information Access?
Raghunathan et al. (2019) examined PRADAN’s SHG program in five states across India to see whether the groups are an effective platform for improving access to information, women’s empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. They used cross-sectional data on about 1,000 women, comparing SHG members and non-SHG members. They found that SHG participation does increase women’s access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women’s domestic responsibilities. SHG membership did have large impacts on access to bank accounts, loan taking behavior and consumer durable expenditure. Women improved their decision-making power around agriculture, and the gender gap in empowerment within the household decreased.