Vijana Shamba
The Vijana (young people in Kiswahili) Shamba Maisha project will provide adolescents and their caregivers with tools and training to grow more food through climate-adaptive farming. We will also teach girls and their caregivers how to strengthen their relationships and communicate better. The goal is to reduce the risks that lead to HIV and STIs.
Background
HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Western Kenya. This problem is made worse by poverty and food insecurity (not having enough food). Many girls in this region are at higher risk of getting STIs and HIV because they lack basic needs and face challenges in getting food and other resources. Sometimes, they may be forced to engage in unsafe sexual activities to meet these needs.
Formative data collection among adolescents
A pilot study measured the effects of Shamba Maisha on mental and physical health outcomes among 241 adolescent girls and young women ages 13-19 living in households with an adult HIV study participant. Adolescent girls and young women in intervention households had significantly lower odds of food insecurity compared to those in control households, and a trend towards lower odds of depressive symptoms and higher youth resilience. When restricted to the sample of older adolescent girls aged 15-19 years, the intervention was also associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and lower odds of depression, anxiety, and sexual gender-based violence compared to those in control households.
Study Design
The study is a cluster randomized control trial that will be conducted at twenty secondary schools in Migori and Kisumu County in Kenya. At each school, 40 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and their primary caregivers will be enrolled in the study as a pair, or dyad. Half of the schools will be randomized to the intervention arm, and the other half will be randomized to receive the intervention at the end of the study (after 18 months).
Intervention and Adaptations
The intervention is a household-level, climate-adaptive Shamba Maisah intervention enhanced for adolescents and their caregivers:
- Provision of water pumps and agricultural implements for use on home-based farms;
- Agricultural training at school-based demonstration farms
- Parent-adolescent relationship strengthening sessions to improve communication.
Based on the formative work, we have adapted the Shamba Maisha intervention in the following ways:
- We will be using a lighter (2.5kg) less expensive, and more transportable water pump as part of the intervention.
- The training session will take place on a demonstration plot located at the school.
- The intervention will include two relationship-strengthening sessions targeted toward adolescent girls and their caregivers.
- The agricultural commodities will be donated to the participants rather than using a microfinance loan.
Goals
- Measure the impact of the Shamba Maisha intervention on adolescent HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health outcomes (gonorrhea and/or chlamydia incidence).
- Assess the effect of the Shamba Maisha intervention on intermediate outcomes (See Conceptual Framework below)
- Identify critical implementation facilitators and barriers influencing Shamba Maisha effectiveness and delivery, analyze spillover effects, and conduct a programmatic cost assessment.
Conceptual Framework
We hypothesize that our Shamba Maisha intervention package will impact intermediate household, caregiver, and adolescent factors that may improve adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health.
