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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

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researcher spotlight

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin is the Acting Director for Africa in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He conducts research on national strategies and public investment for accelerating food systems transformation in Africa and provides analytical support to the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.

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Nutrition, Diets, and Health

Lilia Bliznashka

Research Fellow

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Bio

Lily Bliznashka is a Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, based in Washington, DC. She is an interdisciplinary researcher with expertise in global health and nutrition, program evaluation, development economics, and quantitative methods. Her research focuses on assessing the effectiveness of multi-input nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions and the mechanisms through which they work to improve maternal and child health and nutrition globally. Lily also has expertise in early childhood development, including using qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how parenting interventions influence early childhood development and conducting implementation research to improve programming for young children and their parents. She has worked in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Lily has a PhD in Population Health Science from Harvard University. She also holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Tufts University and a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Lily’s publications are available on Google Scholar.

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Publications

Publications

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Journal Article

Evidence of potential impacts of a nutrition-sensitive agroecology program in Andhra Pradesh, India, on dietary diversity, nutritional status, and child development

2024
Ch, Lakshmi Durga; Bharath, Yandrapu; Bliznashka, Lilia; T., Vijay Kumar; Jonnala, Veerendra; Chekka, Vijayalakshmi; Yebushi, Srileka; Roy, Aditi; Venkateshmurthy, Nikhil Srinivasapura; Prabhakaran, Poornima
…more Jaacks, Lindsay M.
Details

Evidence of potential impacts of a nutrition-sensitive agroecology program in Andhra Pradesh, India, on dietary diversity, nutritional status, and child development

Introduction While a number of studies have examined the nutritional impacts of agroecological interventions, few have examined impacts on child development, maternal and child anemia, and men’s dietary diversity. Moreover, there have been few such evaluations at scale. We evaluated the impact of a large-scale, multi-component food-based nutrition intervention involving homestead food production, nutrition counselling, cooking demonstrations, and crop planning exercises. Methods A cross-sectional assessment was conducted in 2021–2022 of 50 intervention villages where the nutrition-sensitive agroecology program had been implemented since 2018 and 79 control villages where only the agroecology program had been implemented. Data on self-reported dietary intake, caregiver-reported early child development, anthropometric measurements, and hemoglobin concentrations were collected using standardized procedures by trained Nutrition Farming Fellows, who were also responsible for implementing the program. Results A sample of 3,511 households (1,121 intervention and 2,390 control) participated in the survey. Dietary diversity scores (DDS) among women and men were mean (SD) 6.53 (±1.62) and 6.16 (±1.65), respectively, in intervention villages and 5.81 (±1.58) and 5.39 (±1.61), respectively, in control villages (p<0.01). DDS among children 6–24 months of age in intervention and control villages was 2.99 (±1.52) and 2.73 (±1.62), respectively (p<0.01). Children <2 years of age were less likely to be anemic in intervention versus control villages (59% versus 69%, p<0.01). Children 18–35 months age in intervention villages had higher child development scores than children in control villages (all p<0.05). Conclusion Nutrition-sensitive agroecological programs may be effective in improving diets, nutrition, and child development in rural India.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ch, Lakshmi Durga; Bharath, Yandrapu; Bliznashka, Lilia; T., Vijay Kumar; Jonnala, Veerendra; Chekka, Vijayalakshmi; Yebushi, Srileka; Roy, Aditi; Venkateshmurthy, Nikhil Srinivasapura; Prabhakaran, Poornima; Jaacks, Lindsay M.

Citation

Ch, Lakshmi Durga; Bharath, Yandrapu; Bliznashka, Lilia; T., Vijay Kumar; Jonnala, Veerendra; Chekka, Vijayalakshmi; Yebushi, Srileka; Roy, Aditi; et al. 2024. Evidence of potential impacts of a nutrition-sensitive agroecology program in Andhra Pradesh, India, on dietary diversity, nutritional status, and child development. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0286356. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286356

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agroecology; Capacity Development; Child Development; Dietary Diversity; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286356 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial

2024The Maziko Trial Team; Gelli, Aulo; Duchoslav, Jan; Gladstone, Melissa; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Katundu, Mangani; Maleta, Ken; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Bliznashka, Lilia; Ahun, Marilyn
Details

Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Children in Malawi face high rates of malnutrition and are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. Community-based childcare centres (CBCCs) can be cost-effective platforms for scaling-up early childhood development (ECD) and nutrition social behaviour change (SBC) interventions. However, evidence also suggests potential synergies from coupling nutrition SBC with cash transfers (CT), given that rural households in Malawi face high levels of poverty and recurring extreme lean season food-security shocks. The Maziko trial is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using CBCCs and parenting care groups as platforms to improve maternal diets and child nutrition and development by providing nutrition-sensitive SBC and CT intervention packages in communities already receiving a standard of care Government SBC program.

Year published

2024

Authors

The Maziko Trial Team; Gelli, Aulo; Duchoslav, Jan; Gladstone, Melissa; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Katundu, Mangani; Maleta, Ken; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Bliznashka, Lilia; Ahun, Marilyn

Citation

The Maziko Trial Team. 2024. Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Trials 25: 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07782-3

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Maternal and Child Health; Nutrition; Community Organizations; Child Care; Child Development; Rural Areas; Food Security; Cash Transfers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07782-3 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

Associations between women’s empowerment and maternal depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional analysis from Balaka and Ntcheu districts in Malawi

2023Becker, Karoline; Bliznashka, Lilia; Doss, Cheryl; Gelli, Aulo; Kachinjika, Monice; Munthali, Alister; Mvula, Peter; Nwabuikwu, Odiche; Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Details

Associations between women’s empowerment and maternal depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional analysis from Balaka and Ntcheu districts in Malawi

Enhanced women’s empowerment has been linked to improvements in various areas of women’s lives, such as in creased access to resources, decision-making power, and a manageable workload. It can also have positive effects on child health out comes, including nutritional status and early childhood development. However, there can also be trade-offs for women, such as their own nutritional outcomes. While the relationship between women’s empowerment and child health outcomes has been extensively studied, there is limited research on the relationship between women’s empowerment and their own mental health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). One aspect of mental health, maternal depressive symptoms is prevalent in these countries and can have a negative impact on both the mothers and their children. In Malawi, Stewart et al. (2010) find that 30 percent of mothers of young children, attending a child health clinic grapple with depressive episodes. In this study, we explore the relationship between women’s empowerment, as measured by the pro-WEAI, and maternal depressive symptoms, as measured by the 20 symptom Self-Reported Questionnaire (SRQ-20). The Pro-WEAI is particularly useful because it allows us to explore the relationship of various components of women’s empowerment with maternal depressive symptoms.

Year published

2023

Authors

Becker, Karoline; Bliznashka, Lilia; Doss, Cheryl; Gelli, Aulo; Kachinjika, Monice; Munthali, Alister; Mvula, Peter; Nwabuikwu, Odiche; Quisumbing, Agnes R.

Citation

Becker, Karoline; et al. 2023. Associations between women’s empowerment and maternal depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional analysis from Balaka and Ntcheu districts in Malawi. IFPRI Project Note December 2023. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Women’s Empowerment; Decision Making; Child Nutrition; Mental Health; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137078 Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Brief

News

July 11, 2023 | Press Release

Women key to crop success in low-income countries

This post is a slightly modified version of the original press release issued by the University of Edinburgh. Empowering women farmers in low and middle-income countries can lead to greater crop diversity helping to improve year-round supply of healthy foods, suggests a new article published in The Lancet Planetary Health by a group of authors including […]

July 11, 2023 | In the News

Editorial: Empower women to grow (The Lancet Planetary Health)

“Almost half of the world’s agricultural workers are women and women farmers produce up to 80% of the food grown in LMICs. Despite their large contribution to agricultural labor, fewer than 20% of landowners globally are women,” writes The Lancet Planetary Health in an editorial featuring a new article co-authored by IFPRI’s Lilia Bliznashka, Aulo Gelli, and […]