Good practice Imported

MAISHA — Gender-Transformative Curriculum in Microfinance Groups, Mwanza, Tanzania

Tanzania · Mwanza · See the Tanzania profile

Evidence: Randomised controlled trial Top 42% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A 10-session participatory gender-training curriculum added to women's microfinance loan groups in Mwanza, Tanzania. Two linked cluster-randomised trials found the curriculum cut past-year physical partner violence when paired with microfinance, but had no effect without it.

aOR 0.63 (95% CI 0.41–0.98)

Past-year physical IPV, microfinance-linked arm (~29 months post-randomisation)

aOR 0.98 (95% CI 0.72–1.33), not significant

Past-year physical IPV, standalone neighbourhood-group arm (~29 months post-randomisation)

1,049 (CRT01) plus 1,265 (CRT02) women across 132 clusters

Trial participants

Details

Maturity: Pilot
Promoter: Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU), National Institute for Medical Research, with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Period: 2014–2018
Keywords: gender-based violence prevention, women's economic empowerment, microfinance

Context

MAISHA is a 10-session participatory gender-training curriculum, modelled on South Africa's IMAGE study, delivered to women in group-based microfinance schemes in Mwanza, Tanzania, covering gender norms, communication, financial decision-making and responses to intimate partner violence.

Results

Two parallel cluster-RCTs found the curriculum significantly reduced past-year physical IPV when delivered inside pre-existing microfinance groups (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.41–0.98), but the identical curriculum had no measurable effect when delivered in standalone neighbourhood groups without a microfinance component (aOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.72–1.33).

Implementation

Indicative cost: Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results: Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills: MAISHA curriculum facilitators embedded within microfinance groups

Conditions for success

pairing the gender-transformative curriculum with an existing microfinance group structure

Common failure modes

the identical curriculum delivered without a microfinance component showed no measurable reduction in IPV

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-09-04
Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU), National Institute for Medical Research, with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine — accessed 2026-09-04
ClinicalTrials.gov — MAISHA trial registration (NCT02592252) — accessed 2026-09-04
PLOS Global Public Health (2023 pathways analysis) — accessed 2026-09-04
PubMed — Lancet Global Health MAISHA trial (Kapiga et al., 2019) — accessed 2026-09-04

Quality score: 74/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Randomised controlled trial

Top 42% in this catalogue (1069 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability2/3

Adapted from South Africa's IMAGE study and re-tested in two parallel Tanzanian trial arms, showing the model transfers across contexts but that its effect depends on pairing with microfinance.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Produced a statistically significant reduction in past-year physical IPV in the microfinance-linked arm (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.41–0.98).

Effectiveness1/1

The curriculum met its violence-reduction objective when delivered inside an existing microfinance structure, per the published trial result.

Efficiency0/1

No cost or cost-per-outcome data for MAISHA were located in the available trial publications.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

Assessed with two linked cluster-RCTs (2,314 women, 132 clusters total), published in The Lancet Global Health and PLOS Global Public Health.

Sustainability0/1

No evidence of continued government or NGO scale-up of MAISHA beyond the trial period was found.

Achievement / evidence1/1

Achieved a significant, well-powered reduction in physical IPV in its primary (microfinance-linked) trial arm.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

The curriculum's explicit purpose is shifting gender norms and women's bargaining power within relationships.

Curator validation1/1

Cross-verified against two independent peer-reviewed publications (Lancet Global Health 2019; PLOS Global Public Health 2023) reporting consistent effect sizes.

Cite this

Evidoria. MAISHA — Gender-Transformative Curriculum in Microfinance Groups, Mwanza, Tanzania. Persistent ID: ee71a58f-32c8-4022-bd95-63ad43f4950c.

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