A behavioural livelihoods approach to address psychosocial constraints to empowerment

This paper introduces a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between psychosocial behaviors, empowerment, and economic well-being, highlighting how internal factors like identity, aspiration, hope, and confidence can enable or limit empowerment. The framework was tested through a six-session behavior change intervention with 1,508 extremely poor smallholder farmers in Zambia, promoting positive mindsets using faith-based messages. The mixed methods evaluation showed significant improvements in internal attitudes and overall empowerment among participants exposed to the intervention. These findings offer valuable insights for designing development programs that address internal barriers to empowerment.