Access to Nutrition and Cash Support for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women in Afghanistan

Last registered on January 22, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Access to Nutrition and Cash Support for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women in Afghanistan
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015253
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, 9:18 AM EST

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

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
World Bank

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
World Bank
PI Affiliation
World Bank

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-09-01
End date
2028-03-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines whether supplementary household visits enhance the effectiveness of a cash transfer and behavioral change intervention for maternal and child health in Afghanistan. We implement a two-level randomized experiment in one district: a cluster randomization of 55 villages to varying intensities of household visits (0%, 20%, or 80% coverage) and an individual-level randomization of visitor team gender composition. The 15-30 minute visits deliver program information and health messaging to multiple household members. Primary outcomes include program participation, healthcare utilization, nutrition practices, health knowledge, and women's healthcare decision-making, measured through baseline and endline surveys with quarterly phone follow-ups over 18 months. The design enables estimation of both direct treatment effects and within-village spillovers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bossuroy, Thomas, Maria Virginia Ceretti and Kelsey Wright. 2025. "Access to Nutrition and Cash Support for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women in Afghanistan." AEA RCT Registry. January 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15253-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Type
none
URL
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study examines enhancements to Afghanistan's Maternal and Child Benefit Program (MCBP), which provides quarterly cash transfers of $60 and behavioral change communication to improve maternal-child health outcomes in households with pregnant/lactating women and children under 2.

In the intervention being tested, teams of SBCC facilitators and community health workers conduct 15-30 minute home visits between the regular cash distributions. During these visits, the teams provide information about the program, reinforce key health messages, offer referrals to health facilities, and engage with multiple household members to build support for program participation. The World Food Programme (WFP) coordinates these visits through local cooperating partners.
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-01
Intervention End Date
2026-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Program Take-up Measures
Health Service Utilization
Nutrition Indicators
Breastfeeding practices
Knowledge Retention
Intrahousehold Decision-making and Women's Empowerment
Household Economic Status
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The evaluation employs a two-level randomized design in one district of Afghanistan. Communities are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no household visits, low-intensity visits reaching approximately 20% of eligible households, or high-intensity visits reaching approximately 80% of eligible households. Within villages receiving visits, there is a second level of randomization at the household level, where the gender composition of visitor teams is randomly assigned to each participating household. Data collection includes baseline and endline in-person surveys of all beneficiary households (those with pregnant/lactating women or children under 2).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
randomization in office on computer
Randomization Unit
visit intensity at village-level; gender composition of healthcare visitors at household-level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
17 control villages
19 20% intensity villages
23 88% intensity villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
~3,500 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Survey of whole population of interest
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number