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 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.
Read MoreIn an evidence review that studied 46 high quality evaluations of interventions delivered through SHGs in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, Gugerty et al. (2019) found that though the impacts of SHG-based interventions were generally positive, the evidence base was limited and did not generally test whether alternative delivery mechanisms might be more effective.
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