Targeting and Realigning Agriculture for Improved Nutrition (TRAIN) is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Department for International Development (DFID), and is being implemented by IFPRI and BRAC from 2015 through 2020 in Bangladesh. TRAIN’s objective is to address evidence gaps related to the effects of agricultural interventions on maternal and child nutrition. Specifically, the project will use a randomized control trial (RCT) to assess the impact of incorporating a maternal and child health and nutrition behaviour change communication (BCC) strategy into a well-established agricultural credit program targeted to women that promotes production diversity and income generation.
Different treatment arms will explore the differential nutrition and empowerment impacts of the agricultural credit program targeted to women when combined with: 1) nutrition BCC; 2) nutrition BCC plus nutrition-sensitive agricultural extension messages (targeted to both women and men); and 3) nutrition BCC plus agricultural extension, plus male sensitization and social mobilization, in an attempt to directly address gender norms.