Evaluation of Marketing Interventions in Colombia
Condition: Gender Based Violence; Intimate Partner Violence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The proposed project seeks to implement a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) to
      measure the impact of increasing women´s incomes and providing gender equality trainings on
      women´s empowerment and risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Colombia. This project
      will be the first in Latin America to evaluate rigorously the impact of a marketing
      intervention, alone and combined with IPV prevention training. The knowledge generated from
      this evaluation has the potential to identify the most effective solutions to empower women,
      as well as to drive transformative change in current approaches to reduce IPV and promote
      gender equality in highly vulnerable populations in Colombia, and worldwide.
    

Detailed description: 
      The proposed project seeks to implement a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) to
      measure the impact of increasing women´s incomes and providing gender equality trainings on
      women´s empowerment and risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Colombia. This project
      will be the first in Latin America to evaluate rigorously the impact of a marketing
      intervention, alone and combined with IPV prevention training. The knowledge generated from
      this evaluation has the potential to identify the most effective solutions to empower women,
      as well as to drive transformative change in current approaches to reduce IPV and promote
      gender equality in highly vulnerable populations in Colombia, and worldwide.

      The goal of the project is to estimate the impact of generating livelihood opportunities and
      providing gender-based violence (GBV) training to reduce IPV among women in Colombia. This
      will generate much needed evidence on the most effective approach to empower women
      smallholder farmers and reduce their exposure to IPV. Investigators will conduct a cluster
      randomized controlled trial targeting approximately 100 smallholder farmers' associations and
      approximately 2700 women. Results will inform and strengthen future programming of
      humanitarian assistance and can be replicated in humanitarian interventions in other parts of
      the world.

      The experimental operational research will compare two programmatic modalities and their
      impact on women's risk of exposure to IPV, against a comparison group where no intervention
      takes place. The modalities will include: (1) providing a stable income for women, and (2)
      providing a stable income and IPV trainings to women. The evaluation will take place in five
      departments: Cauca, Valle de Cauca, Meta, Caquetá, and Nariño.
    

Intervention name(s): Smallholder Marketing; Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention Training
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): The smallholder marketing intervention involves product purchasing (e.g., bananas, beans, goats, eggs) from smallholder farmers' associations through WFP's large procurement procedures. WFP is will also provide technical training on topics such as sustainable farming practices, quality control, and business practices.; IPV prevention training involves 24 hours of gender training (gender equality and rights, economic empowerment, gender-based violence prevention), and 8 hours of nutrition and food security training (with a focus on gender).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The randomization occurs at the farmer's association level.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other