The Impact of the Kenya CT-OVC Programme on Productive Activities and Labour Allocation

Abstract

This paper used data from a four-year randomized experimental design impact evaluation to analyze the impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) on individual and household decision making including labour supply, accumulation of productive assets and productive activities. The general framework for empirical analysis is based on a comparison of program beneficiaries with a group of controls, interviewed before the program began and again four years later using difference in difference estimators and propensity score methods. The results show that the program has a positive and significant impact on the accumulation of productive assets, especially on the ownership of small livestock such as sheep and goats. While we receive mixed signals of a direct impact on productive activities, we find robust indirect evidence, including a positive impact on the share of food consumption coming from home production. The programme has a variety of generally positive impacts on adult labour supply, varying by gender and by type of wage and own farm labour, and leads to large reduction in child labour on family farms