Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early-childhood development and agriculture in Malawi (MAZIKO-IE)

Last registered on July 06, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early-childhood development and agriculture in Malawi (MAZIKO-IE)
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019104
Initial registration date
July 03, 2026

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
July 06, 2026, 9:32 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Malawi
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Anissa Collishaw
Affiliation
University of Saskatchewan
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Aulo Gelli
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Dan Maggio
PI Affiliation
Rutgers University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Lilia Bliznashka
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Monice Kachinjika
PI Affiliation
Palm Consultants
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Peter Mvula
PI Affiliation
Palm Consultants
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Odiche Nwabuikwu
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-05-01
End date
2025-07-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Behavior
Additional Keywords
Cash transfer, nutrition, early child development
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
ISRCTN53055824
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Children in Malawi face high rates of malnutrition and are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. Community-based childcare centres (CBCCs) can be cost-effective platforms for scaling-up early childhood development (ECD) and nutrition social behaviour change (SBC) interventions. However, evidence also suggests potential synergies from coupling nutrition SBC with cash transfers (CT), given that rural households in Malawi face high levels of poverty and recurring extreme lean season food-security shocks. The Maziko trial is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using CBCCs and parenting care groups as platforms to improve maternal diets and child nutrition and development by providing nutrition-sensitive SBC and CT intervention packages in communities already receiving a standard of care Government SBC program.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bliznashka, Lilia et al. 2026. "Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early-childhood development and agriculture in Malawi (MAZIKO-IE)." AEA RCT Registry. July 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19104-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Nutrition-sensitive social behaviour change (SBC) interventions include a food security and livelihood intervention, a gender transformative intervention, an adolescent intervention and a reinforced early child development intervention. Cash transfer interventions include cash transfers of either ~17 USD per month or ~43 USD per month via mobile money.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2022-05-01
Intervention End Date
2025-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Maternal diet, child development
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Maternal diet assessed using the mean probability of adequacy and child development assessed using the Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We designed a 3-year cluster-randomised controlled trial in two districts of Malawi, including 156 communities randomised to one of four treatment arms: (1) standard of care (SoC) arm: receiving the standard Government SBC program; (2) SBC arm: receiving the SoC intervention with additional nutrition-sensitive SBC activities to improve nutritious food production, diets, and care practices for young children; (3) low CT arm: SoC plus SBC plus a maternal and child cash transfer ~ 17 USD per month; and (4) high CT arm: SoC plus SBC plus a maternal and child CT ~ 43 USD per month. The trial will enrol pregnant women and children < 2 years of age.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Community-based childcare centre (CBCC) catchment area
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
156 CBCC catchment areas
Sample size: planned number of observations
2686 mother-child dyads/households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
39 SoC clusters, 39 SBC clusters, 39 Low Cash clusters, 39 High Cash clusters
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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

Request Information
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
International Food Policy Research Institute
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
7490
IRB Name
University of Malawi
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
P. 02/22/128
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials