Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR)

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Sub-Saharan Africa can be defined as mutual assistance organizations through which individuals undertake collective action in order to improve their own lives. “Collective action” implies that individuals share their time, labor, money, or other assets with the group. SHGs are believed to be effective avenues through which to build empowerment, financial inclusion, agricultural outcomes, and/or health outcomes.

Over the last year and a half, EPAR has constructed over 150 indicators related to agricultural development, and shared our decisions on data cleaning and indicator construction. We do this work and share our outputs both to facilitate analyses of these rich datasets and to make estimates of relevant indicators available to a broader audience of potential users. There are numerous decision points in the process of constructing indicators that affect the final estimates.

Over the last year and a half, EPAR has constructed over 150 indicators related to agricultural development, and shared our decisions on data cleaning and indicator construction. We do this work and share our outputs both to facilitate analyses of these rich datasets and to make estimates of relevant indicators available to a broader audience of potential users. There are numerous decision points in the process of constructing indicators that affect the final estimates.