The Effect of a Cash Transfer Program and Preventive Nutrition Packages on Household Welfare and Child Nutritional Status in Mali

In the last two decades, cash transfer (CT) programs have emerged as a popular approach to long-term poverty alleviation. While the main goal of cash transfer programs is to reduce poverty, they also have the potential to improve many development outcomes, such as health and education.

While many studies, mainly in Latin America and Asia, have investigated the impacts of CTs on poverty and food security and have, for the most part, found positive impacts, less is known about the impacts of CTs in Africa south of the Sahara, and, in particular, West Africa. Moreover, despite the fact that cash transfers have been shown to lead to decreases in poverty, improvements in household food security, and increases in health service utilization, impacts on children's nutritional status (including anthropometric measures) are generally small (Manley, Gitter, and Slavchevska 2013). Consequently, policymakers and governments are left with the question of how to design social safety nets, such as cash transfers, to achieve greater impact on diet quality, health, and nutrition.

The overall goal of this research is to generate evidence and knowledge on an integrated program implemented by the Government of Mali that includes a combination of cash transfers and targeted nutrition interventions. The information generated will inform program implementers and policymakers about best options to improve food security and nutrition among vulnerable groups and individuals in West Africa. Specifically, the main objectives of the research are

1. To provide evidence on the contribution of integrated social transfer programs to enhancing household welfare, food security, dietary diversity, and maternal and child nutrition in West Africa. 2. To test different features and combinations of cash transfers and targeted nutrition interventions, and assess their impact on food security and maternal and child nutrition and health outcomes in Mali. 3. To generate knowledge regarding the pathways of impact of these different program packages, identify the most effective and efficient modalities in the context of Mali, and derive lessons learned for other countries in the region.