1.2 Aim and
Objectives
The
Aim
The aim
of this TFL campaign is to test the social marketing techniques that will
motivate people to increase the dietary use of vitamin A rich drumstick leaves
in 20 selected villages of Bargarh district of Orissa.
Objectives
This
motivation must be achieved through community and family participation and be
self-generated. The motivation should lead people to the following actions:
- Creating awareness in their communities regarding the benefits of drumstick leaves,
- Motivating members of their communities to plant drumstick trees, and
- An increase in the dietary use of drumstick leaves.
The TFL
test project was initiated in April ‘96 and is expected to be completed by the
end of March 1997. This baseline study was conducted to establish a benchmark regarding:
- The level of existing awareness regarding the benefits of the drumstick leaves,
- The number of drumstick trees in selected villages, and
- Dietary use of these leaves in the sample area.
What
follows in the next section is the methodology of the baseline survey. Section
3 describes the detailed findings of the baseline survey. In section 4 of this
report, major findings, conclusions and recommendations are provided.
Section 2: Baseline
Survey Methodology
2.1
Baseline Survey
A
baseline study is part of TFL’s evaluation design. The effectiveness of the
social marketing techniques applied in this test is to be evaluated using a
pretest posttest comparison.
Although
the project was initiated in April 1996, the data collection for the baseline
study could not be conducted until November-December 1996. This was due to the
overall strategy of TFL to involve and empower local people to conduct such a
study. It took more time than anticipated for the local cadre to be identified
and properly trained.
This
strategy, however, presented a problem for this study because in most of the programme
villages at least some information had been provided and a “pure” baseline
study could not be conducted.
Since
the socioeconomic conditions in the villages of the neighboring block are
almost identical to the programme villages, it was considered that this baseline
study may be done in the neighboring villages where no inputs had been made.
TFL
management made a decision to conduct this study in both sets of villages. A
decision was made to establish a baseline in the neighboring villages as well
as a set of programme villages where “least” inputs had been made up to that
time.
In
these programme villages some inputs had been made to the students, but the
community activities and educational programs for the women had not as yet been
conducted. Since our real target was the mothers, it was decided to include
these villages in the study. The fact that students had probably shared some of
the information with their mothers in the programme area was understood and
taken into consideration.
2.2
Evaluation Design
Based
on the above considerations, the baseline survey was conducted in both programme
and comparison areas. The programme area is defined as the area that would
receive project inputs. On the other hand, comparison area is similar to the programme
area in all aspects except that it will not receive any project inputs.
While
the programme villages were selected on the basis of having received the
“least” inputs, the comparison area villages were randomly selected from the
neighboring block of the district Bargarh.
2.3 Issues
The
following issues were studied in this baseline study:
- Inventory of existing drumstick trees in the villages.
- Respondents' knowledge on the types of drumstick trees available in the area.
- Respondents' knowledge of uses of drumstick leaves and reasons for usage.
- Mode ofcooking practiced and frequency of drumstick leaves used in the diet.
- Respondents'perception about planting drumstick tree at home
2.4 Data
collection
This
baseline study and data collection was conducted under the leadership of Mr.
B.R. Poonia. Mr. Poonia is a former employee of CARE, an International
Development Organization. He is a post graduate in Sociology, and has 20 years
of experience with various national and international developmental
organizations of project planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Mr. Poonia
made two trips to the field. The first was to study and get acquainted with the
area and help design the parameters of the survey. The second trip was to help
train the local leadership and supervise the data collection.
The
baseline survey was conducted in 8 villages of the programme area and an equal
number of villages in the comparison area. In each of the selected villages, 40
women were interviewed. These subjects were randomly selected from five
different sections of the village. Care was taken to ask for the lady in the
house who was responsible for cooking duties. In all, 636 women were
interviewed: 318 from the programme area and an equal number from the
comparison area.
The
interviews were conducted by trained investigators who were residents of
the area and quite knowledgeable of the local culture, language and dialect.
All the investigators were at least high school graduates, and many of them had
college degrees.
The
investigators were trained in interviewing techniques, and familiarized with
the interview schedule and code book. As part of the training, they were also
exposed to the field practice and administering the schedule.
A structured
interview schedule was used to interview the respondents. The interview
schedule was pretested in selected nonprogramme villages of the same
district. It was modified based on the results of pretesting.
2.5 Data
entry, analysis and report
All the
schedules were checked to correct errors before data entry. Data entry was done
in dbase III plus package and data analysis was done using SPSS package. Data
entry, analysis and report preparation was done by DAS (Development Assistance
Systems) India in its sub-office at New Delhi, India.
Section 3: Findings and Discussion
The
findings of the baseline survey are as follows.
3.1 Family
size
Of the
318 respondents interviewed in each area, there were 1699 and 1987 family
members in the programme and comparison area respectively. Almost 50 per cent
of the respondents had a family of 4-6 people (table 1).
Table 1: Family size of respondents |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Number
|
|
|
|
|
1-3
|
65
|
20
|
69
|
22
|
4-6
|
161
|
51
|
157
|
49
|
7-9
|
76
|
24
|
67
|
21
|
10-12
|
12
|
4
|
14
|
4
|
More
than 13
|
4
|
1
|
11
|
4
|
The
average family size was found to be 5.3 and 6.2 in the programme and comparison
areas respectively. This matches with the “National Family and Health Survey”
study conducted in 1993, in which the household family size in rural Orissa was
found to be 5.3, and 50 per cent of the households had a family size of 4-6
members. (This study was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family
welfare, Government of India. It was designed by the Institute for Populations
Sciences, Bombay and funded by USAID.)
The
family size of the respondents varied from 1 to 14 members in the programme
area and from 1 to 22 members in the comparison area.
3.2 Type of
Family
This
study revealed that about two-thirds of the respondents, that is, 68
and 63 per cent in the programme and comparison areas respectively, live in a
nuclear family (table 2).
Table 2: Type of family |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Type
|
|
|
|
|
Nuclear
|
216
|
68
|
199
|
63
|
Joint
|
102
|
32
|
119
|
37
|
3.3
Availability of moonga tree
In the programme
area 45 per cent of the respondents had moonga trees, and 51 per cent of
respondents in comparison area had moonga trees. (table 3). There were 272 moonga
trees in the programme area, and 240 moonga trees in the comparison area.
In the programme
area, 52 per cent respondents had moonga trees within their home courtyard, 45
per cent in areas adjoining their homes (kitchen garden) and 14 per cent on the
boundaries of their fields. In the comparison area, 47 per cent have moonga
trees within their home courtyard, 55 per cent in their kitchen garden and 4
per cent on the boundaries of their fields.
Table 3 : Availability of moonga tree |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Have moonga
tree
|
|
|
|
|
Yes
|
143
|
45
|
161
|
51
|
No
|
175
|
55
|
157
|
49
|
Availability
of moonga tree at*
|
143
|
161
|
a.
Home Courtyard
|
75
|
52
|
76
|
47
|
b.
Kitchen garden
|
65
|
45
|
88
|
55
|
c.
Farms
|
20
|
14
|
6
|
4
|
Note:
The following numbers of moonga trees include both fully grown trees and young
saplings.
Home
Courtyard: The
total number of trees found within home
courtyards was 102 in programme area and 102 in the comparison area. Of those
who had moonga trees in their home courtyards, the average number per household
was found to be 1.4 and 1.3 in programme and comparison area respectively. The
average number of moonga trees in home courtyards per household surveyed was
0.32 in the programme area and 0.32 in the comparison area.
Kitchen
garden: The total
number of trees in kitchen gardens was found to be 125 in the programme area
and 127 in the comparison area. Of those who had moonga trees in their kitchen
gardens, the average number per household was found to be 1.9 and 1.4 in programme
and comparison areas respectively. The average number of moonga trees in kitchen
gardens per household surveyed was 0.39 in the programme area and 0.40 in the
comparison area.
Field
boundaries: The
total number of trees on field boundaries was 45 in the programme area and 11
in the comparison area. Of those who had moonga trees on field boundaries, the
average number per household was 2.3 and 1.8 in the programme and comparison
areas respectively. The average number of moonga trees on field boundaries per
household surveyed was 0.14 in progamme areas and 0.03 in the comparison area.
Of
those who had moonga trees, the average number per household was found to be
1.9 and 1.5 in the programme and comparison area respectively. The average
number of moonga trees per household surveyed was 0.85 in the programme area
and 0.75 in the comparison area.
3.4 Uses of
moonga pods (fruit)
Moonga
pods (also called moonga) are widely used as a vegetable in the diet by almost
all (99 per cent) of the respondents interviewed.
97 per
cent of the respondents in the programme area and 99 per cent of the
respondents in the comparison area said that they use moonga pods as vegetables
(table 4). The traditional way is to fry the pods with onions and spices.
85 per
cent and 77 per cent participants in programme and comparison areas
respectively said that they add moonga to daal(pulse or lentils). 50 per cent
of the respondents in the programme area and 29 per cent in the comparison area
told us that they use moonga as a part of their dish called daalmah, which is a
mixture of lentils and seasonal vegetables.
Few
respondents prepared moonga by mixing with wheat and gram flour. Very few
respondents also prepare pickle and chutney with moonga.
Table 4 : Uses of moonga pods |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Uses
of moonga pods*
|
|
|
a. As
medicine
|
101
|
32
|
49
|
13
|
b. As
vegetable
|
314
|
99
|
314
|
99
|
Uses
moonga pods in house
|
|
|
Yes
|
317
|
100
|
315
|
99
|
No
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
Uses
in house*
|
317
|
315
|
a. As
vegetable
|
308
|
97
|
312
|
99
|
b.
Made with daal
|
268
|
85
|
241
|
77
|
c.
Made with daalmah
|
160
|
50
|
90
|
29
|
d.
Mix with flour
|
5
|
2
|
13
|
4
|
e.
Make chutney
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
f.
Make pickle
|
19
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
g.
Others
|
22
|
7
|
26
|
8
|
3.5
Frequency of consumption of moonga leaves
Even
though almost 50 per cent of the households have moonga trees (table 3), only 8
per cent respondents in the programme area and 7 per cent of respondents in
comparison area claim to use moonga leaves on a daily basis (table 5). 11 per
cent respondents mentioned that they consume moonga leaves twice a month. 30
per cent in the programme area and 17 per cent in the comparison area mentioned
that they use moonga leaves 3-4 times a week.
21 per
cent of the respondents in the programme area and 20 per cent in the comparison
area mentioned that they consume moonga leaves in rainy season only.
Table 5 : Frequency of consumption of moonga leaves |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Frequency
|
|
|
|
|
Daily
|
25
|
8
|
22
|
7
|
3-4
times a week
|
95
|
30
|
55
|
17
|
Twice
a month
|
35
|
11
|
34
|
11
|
Twice
a year
|
13
|
4
|
21
|
7
|
Rainy
season
|
67
|
21
|
63
|
20
|
No
fix frequency
|
83
|
26
|
121
|
38
|
Reasons
for less consumption
|
|
|
Not
available
|
30
|
9
|
42
|
13
|
Available
only in rainy season
|
39
|
12
|
16
|
5
|
Cooking
of moonga leaves today
|
|
|
Yes
|
10
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
No
|
308
|
97
|
314
|
99
|
When
asked about the reasons for less consumption, respondents mentioned mainly two
reasons. Firstly, that it is not easily available, and secondly that it is available
only in rainy season.
The
respondents were asked if they have prepared moonga leaves today (on the day of
the interview). Only 3 per cent in the programme area and 1 per cent of the
respondents in the comparison area answered in affirmation.
3.6 Types
of moonga tree
There
are three most common varieties of the drumstick trees in this area: Moonga, Sajna
and Augusty. All of these three varieties and their pods are traditionally
referred to as moonga.
64 per
cent of respondents in the programme area and 56 per cent of respondents in the
comparison area were aware that there were two types of moonga trees (table 6).
28 per cent of the respondents in the programme area and 13 per cent in the
comparison area were aware that there are three types of moonga trees. Only 3
per cent respondents in the programme area and 1 per cent respondents in the
comparison area were not aware of any difference in varieties.
Table 6: Types of moonga trees |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Types
|
|
|
|
|
One
|
16
|
5
|
92
|
29
|
Two
|
202
|
64
|
179
|
56
|
Three
|
90
|
28
|
42
|
13
|
More
than three
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
Do
not know
|
8
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
Names*
|
310
|
316
|
Moonga
|
290
|
94
|
237
|
75
|
Sajna
|
276
|
89
|
154
|
49
|
Augusty
|
106
|
34
|
100
|
32
|
It is
evident that the respondents of the programme area are better informed about
the types and varieties of moonga trees than the respondents of the comparison
area.
3.7 Reasons
for consuming moonga leaves
The
respondents mentioned a variety of reasons for consuming moonga leaves. The
foremost reason for consuming moonga leaves was that it has nutrients (table
7). This was mentioned by 51 per cent of the respondents in the programme
area and 40 per cent of the respondents in the comparison area.
Another
prominent reason mentioned by 27 and 11 per cent of respondents in the programme
and the comparison areas for consuming moonga leaves was that it is good for
the body. They were also able to elaborate why moonga leaves are good for the
body with examples such as: they prevent diseases, good for eyes, good for
digestion and helps in delivery, etc.
On the
other hand, 21 per cent of respondents in the programme area and 16 per cent of
respondents in the comparison area mentioned that they consume moonga leaves
simply because it is a vegetable and everybody consumes it.
Even
though a large number of people were aware that moonga leaves were beneficial,
they were not aware of the details of the nutritional value of the drumstick
leaves. When asked about the type of nutrients these leaves contained, 8 per
cent respondents in the programme area and 6 per cent in the comparison area
mentioned that they have vitamin A. Only 3 per cent in the programme and 2 per
cent in the comparison area mentioned that moonga leaves have vitamin C.
Similarly,
a negligible number of respondents in the programme area as well as comparison
area mentioned that moonga leaves have calcium and potassium.
The study
showed that awareness about the benefits of consuming moonga leaves is higher
in the programme area than the comparison area.
Table 7: Reasons for consuming moonga leaves |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Reasons*
|
|
|
|
|
Good for
body
|
86
|
27
|
36
|
11
|
Everybody
eats
|
75
|
24
|
92
|
29
|
Has
nutrients
|
163
|
51
|
127
|
40
|
Vegetable
|
66
|
21
|
51
|
16
|
Do
not know
|
37
|
12
|
42
|
13
|
Has
Nutrients*
|
|
|
Vitamin
A
|
26
|
8
|
20
|
6
|
Vitamin
C
|
11
|
3
|
6
|
2
|
Protein
|
9
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
Calcium
|
11
|
3
|
8
|
3
|
Potassium
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
Others
|
8
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
Do
not know
|
139
|
44
|
101
|
32
|
Good
for Body*
|
|
|
Prevents
diseases
|
49
|
15
|
13
|
4
|
Good
for eyes
|
24
|
8
|
6
|
2
|
Good
for digestion
|
25
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
Easy
delivery
|
45
|
14
|
16
|
5
|
Others
|
35
|
11
|
18
|
6
|
Do
not know
|
13
|
4
|
9
|
3
|
3.8
Perceptions about growing moonga tree
The
respondents were asked if the moonga tree can be grown in or near the house. A
very high per cent of respondents, 92 and 87 per cent in the programme and the
comparison areas respectively, responded in affirmation.
When
asked about the water requirement for moonga tree, as many as 89 and 91 per
cent of respondents mentioned that moonga tree requires less water than other
trees.
Table 8: Perception about growing moonga tree |
Area
|
Programme
|
Comparison
|
|
N
|
%
|
N
|
%
|
N:
Respondents
|
318
|
318
|
Moonga
tree can be grown in house
|
|
|
|
|
Yes
|
294
|
92
|
276
|
87
|
No /
Do not know
|
24
|
8
|
42
|
13
|
Water
requirement for moonga tree
|
|
|
Less
than normal
|
284
|
89
|
289
|
91
|
More
than normal
|
26
|
8
|
22
|
7
|
Do
not know
|
8
|
3
|
7
|
2
|
Section 4: Summary of Findings
4.1
Overview
Trees
for Life has undertaken a test of social marketing techniques to motivate
people to increase the dietary use of vitamin A rich drumstick (moonga) leaves
in 20 selected villages of Bargarh district, Orissa. This test started in April
1996 and is expected to continue till the end of March 1997.
In
November-December 1996, a baseline survey was conducted in 8 programme
villages and an equal number of comparison villages selected from the
neighboring blocks. In each village, 40 mothers were selected at random for
individual interviews. In all, 636 mothers were interviewed in programme (318)
and comparison area (318) using a structured interview schedule. The interview
schedule was pretested and modified accordingly. The data collection was done
by local investigators, who were given intensive training in both classroom and
field setting. Mr. B.R. Poonia, an experienced development professional,
coordinated the overall efforts of the baseline survey for establishing the
benchmark about the availability and usage of moonga tree.
Data
entry was done in a dbase III plus software. Data were thoroughly scrutinized
both at the field and office to ensure the quality of data. Analysis was done
using a SPSS package. Data entry, analysis and report preparation was done by
Development Assistance Systems (DAS) at its sub-office in New Delhi, India.
4.2 Conclusions
Presented
below are the major findings and conclusions of the baseline survey.
- Approximately
two-thirds of respondents claimed to live in a nuclear family (table 2). This
suggests that the joint family system is changing to a nuclear family structure
even in the rural areas of India.
This understanding of the family structure in rural areas can have direct
bearing on the message and target audience for social marketing. Thus, this
issue merits further study.
- Moonga pods
are widely consumed in a variety of ways as a vegetable in almost all the
households (table 4).
- Even though
almost 50 per cent of the households possess moonga trees (table 2), the
respondents felt that these trees are not adequate to provide ample leaves for
inclusion in their regular daily diets (table 5).
- Since moonga
leaves are more available during the rainy season, their consumption also
increases during that time (table 5). This suggests that to increase the
dietary use of the moonga leaves it will be important to increase the
availability of the leaves, especially during the winter and summer seasons.
- Even though
some people are aware of the fact that moonga leaves are good for them, very
few know the details of the nutritional values of the leaves (table 7).
- The fact that
respondents were willing to plant moonga trees in their home courtyards and are
aware that these trees require less water than other trees indicates a positive
attitude about the planting of moonga trees. This later fact is important in
this drought-afflicted area of India.
- Even though
both the programme and comparison areas are of identical socioeconomic
conditions, the awareness about the moonga trees and the reasons for consuming moonga
leaves was higher in programme area as compared to comparison area. Since some
inputs had been made to the students in programme areas, the higher awareness
may be due to students sharing the information with their mothers (table 7).