Vijana Intervention

Intervention and Adaptations 

The intervention is a household-level Shamba Maisha intervention enhanced for adolescents and their caregivers: 

  1. Provision of water pumps and agricultural implements for use on home-based farms.      
  2. Agricultural training at school-based demonstration farms 
  3. 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 in a classroom and on a demonstration plot located at the school.
  • The agricultural commodities will be donated to the participants rather than using a microfinance loan. 
  • The intervention will include two relationship-strengthening sessions targeted toward adolescent girls and their caregivers.
School girls stand together looking at field

 

Agriculture Training Modules
a. Site selection for vegetable production
b. Soil and water conservation
c. Crop Husbandry
d. Vegetable Pest & disease management 
e. Record keeping and Budgeting
f. Market Research and Marketing

Relationship Strengthening (New!)

These two sessions focus on improving caregiver-adolescent emotional support, communication, and teamwork, and provides skills to build communication skills regarding sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention-related subjects. Caregiver-adolescent dyads learn about adolescent sexuality and the unique sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents, positive parenting practices to support adolescents in staying healthy and meeting their SRH goals, practice in talking about safe sex and sexuality, and reflections on healthy relationship characteristics and normative beliefs about sexual values. We developed content for these sessions using data from our Shamba Maisha qualitative work with adolescents and the evidence-based Families Matter! Program. 

  • Session1: Strengthening caregiver-adolescent relationship through communication & teamwork 
  • Session 2: Caregiver-adolescent conversation on sexual reproduction health and HIV prevention