The Impact of Cash and Food Transfers: Evidence from a Randomized Intervention in Niger
36 Pages Posted: 13 Dec 2013
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The Impact of Cash and Food Transfers: Evidence from a Randomized Intervention in Niger
Date Written: December 12, 2013
Abstract
We assess the relative impacts of receiving cash versus food transfers using a randomized design. Drawing on data collected in eastern Niger, we find that households randomized to receive a food basket experienced larger, positive impact on measures of food consumption and diet quality than those receiving the cash transfer. Receiving food also reduced the use of a number of coping strategies. These differences held both at the height of the lean season and after the harvest. However, households receiving cash spent more money on agricultural inputs. Less than five percent of food was sold or exchanged for other goods. Food and cash were delivered with the same degree of frequency and timeliness but the food transfers cost 15 percent more to implement.
Keywords: cash and food transfers; food security; Niger; randomized intervention
JEL Classification: D04, I38, O12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation