Safety Nets Project Impact Evaluation 2015, Follow-up (Endline) Survey (Niger)

Abstract

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world and faces severe challenges in early childhood nutrition and development. It is estimated that 44% percent of the population in Niger lives on less than US$1.25 per day, and 75.23% on less than US$2 per day. More than 50 percent of Niger's population is food insecure, with 22 percent of the population suffering from chronic food insecurity (per capita consumption of less than 1,800 kcal/person/day) in any given year. Human development indicators are particularly alarming for children. The infant mortality rate is 66.4 per 1,000 live births. The prevalence of chronic malnutrition as measured by stunting (low height-for-age) is estimated at 50 percent, which makes Niger the second worst affected country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Seasonal and acute malnutrition is also very high.

While Niger has had institutions and programs aimed at reducing food insecurity, most programs have provided only ad hoc emergency assistance. The effect of these programs in reducing chronic food insecurity has been limited, particularly since they have been channeled towards short term emergency assistance following acute crises. To provide more sustainable approach to addressing chronic malnutrition, the World Bank Niger Safety Nets project (P123399, $70 millions) aims to establish and support an effective safety net system in order to increase access of poor and food insecure people to cash transfer and cash for work programs. The project contributes to building a comprehensive, permanent, and efficient safety net system that can address chronic food insecurity in Niger. In addition to system-building activities, the safety nets project includes a cash transfer for food security component (US$48.6 millions), as well as a cash-for-work component (US10.5 millions). The cash transfer component is the core building block of the Niger social protection system. It combines a cash transfer program (US$48.3 millions), as well as a parenting training intervention that serves as an accompanying measure to the cash transfer (US$10.3 millions).

Geographical targeting was used to select the poorest regions and communes to participate in the cash transfer program. The cash transfer program was implemented in several phases in 5 regions (Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabery, and Zinder) that present the highest concentration of poverty in Niger and where 95 percent of the country's poor population lives. The first phase of the project targeted the regions of Dosso and Maradi, including 40% of the country's poor population. Within these regions, departments and communes eligible to the cash transfer program were selected through local stakeholder meetings with commune chiefs and regional leaders, who select communes to target based on available information from poverty maps and the levels of chronic vulnerability through a participatory process. As such, the eligible communes were chosen by local stakeholders as being the most disadvantaged areas.

An impact evaluation of the Niger Safety Nets Project was put in place in 6 communes participating in the first phase of the cash transfer program implemented by the government of Niger with support from the World Bank. The communes covered in the impact evaluation sample survey included Tibiri and Guecheme in the region of Dosso, as well as Sae Saboua, Guidan Sori, Gangara and Tchadoua in the region of Maradi. The baseline survey was implemented in 2012 by the national statistical agency with technical support from the World Bank. The follow-up panel survey 2015 was conducted by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health institute in collaboration with local NGO, RISEAL, and with support from the World Bank.