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Project

Independent Evaluation of the Child Development Grant in Northern Nigeria

Malnutrition is endemic in Northern Nigeria and has complex inter-related causes associated with food security, caring practices, and health services and health environment. In recognition of the urgent need to address this problem, DFID (the UK Department for International Development) supported the state governments of Jigawa and Zamfara to pilot a cash transfer programme. 

4/01/2014

By providing knowledge on nutrition and health, as well as a regular payment of £14 per month to pregnant women and mothers of children under the age of two, the programme focussed on removing the financial and knowledge barriers to improving child nutrition and health. 

In order to better understand the impact and scale-up the programme, DFID commissioned a multi-dimensional evaluation, including an experimental impact evaluation design, complemented by in-depth qualitative research and continuous programme data collection. 

Our role

Itad and its partners led the evaluation of the five-year cash transfer pilot to determine its impact on household food security and child nutrition and understand the core elements of a successful intervention. Using a mixed methods approach including in-depth contextual analysis, a process evaluation, a randomised control trial and a qualitative longitudinal cohort study, Itad was able to generate a rigorous measure of impact, coupled with a detailed contextualised understanding of how and why changes came about. The work not only had far-reaching effects on social protection policy and practice in Nigeria but also contributed to strengthening the international evidence base on the impacts of cash transfer programmes.

 

Contact Philippa Tadele (philippa.tadele@itad.com) if you would like to discuss this project.

 

Image © Well Child Clinic. Photo Credit: Mike Blyth

Team members