Comparing humanitarian assistance modalities: Evidence from Afghanistan

Last registered on January 23, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Comparing humanitarian assistance modalities: Evidence from Afghanistan
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015048
Initial registration date
January 21, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 22, 2025, 9:30 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 23, 2025, 3:02 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
World Food Programme

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
WFP
PI Affiliation
World Bank
PI Affiliation
World Bank
PI Affiliation
WFP

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-10-01
End date
2026-02-28
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of different humanitarian assistance modalities provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the food security, safety, and well-being of food-insecure households in Afghanistan, one of WFP's largest humanitarian operations. Over six months, monthly transfers will be delivered to targeted beneficiaries in two regions: "Rural" (3 Districts in Balkh and Faryab provinces), and Kabul (1 Police District). The evaluation employs a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design to compare the effectiveness of these modalities.

In the Rural region, 180 villages receiving assistance are randomized into two groups: beneficiaries from 90 villages receive cash-in-hand transfers, while beneficiaries from 90 villages receive a fixed in-kind transfer. The two modalities are of equivalent value. In Kabul, 2,250 households receiving assistance are randomized into three groups: one third receive cash-in-hand transfers, one third receive deposits to a checking account at Azizi Bank, and one third receive mobile money transfers via Hesabpay. Baseline data collection is followed by subsequent interviews approximately three and six months post-distribution to assess changes in food security, subjective well-being, safety, intrahousehold decision making, and women's mobility.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dunsch, Felipe Alexander et al. 2025. "Comparing humanitarian assistance modalities: Evidence from Afghanistan." AEA RCT Registry. January 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15048-1.2
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This trial evaluates variation in modalities in the context of the General Food Assistance (GFA) winter-scale up programme administered by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan. Across all modalities evaluated, the GFA provides transfers of value estimated at approximately 2900 AFN (around USD $40) per month per household. Household eligibility is determined by a vulnerability assessment, which combines community selection and proxy-means tests. The duration of the programme is 6 months, covering November 2024 to April 2025, and each beneficiary receives their assistance once per month.

In Rural, in-kind transfers are compared to cash-in-hand transfers. Villages are grouped by their final distribution points ("FDP"), and both transfers are made at the same location (i.e., the FDP).

In Kabul, cash-in-hand transfers are compared to deposits into a checking account (opened on behalf of beneficiary households) at Azizi Bank and to mobile money transfers via Hesabpay.
Intervention Start Date
2024-11-25
Intervention End Date
2025-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Food security, consumption, Subjective well-being, Safety, intra-household decision making, and women's mobility
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In Rural, villages are randomly assigned to in-kind transfers (1/2) and cash-in-hand transfers (1/2). Randomization is stratified at the FDP level. The Rural sample comprises 3 Districts, and 7 FDPs in total.

In Kabul, households are randomly assigned to cash-in-hand transfers (1/3), deposits into a checking account at Azizi bank (1/3), and to mobile money transfers via Hesabpay (1/3).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in a computer program through a random number generator in STATA.
Randomization Unit
Rural: Village
Kabul: Household
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Rural: 180 Villages
Kabul: 2250 Households
Sample size: planned number of observations
Rural: 4000 Households (180 Villages) Kabul: 2250 Households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Rural: In-kind (90 villages), Cash-in-hand (90 villages)
Kabul: Cash-in-hand (750 households), Deposit into checking account (750 households), Mobile money transfer (750 households)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
HML IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-10-09
IRB Approval Number
2706