Evaluating the impact of the Ghana Productive Safety Nets Project (GPSNP)'s productive inclusion program

Last registered on October 14, 2021

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Evaluating the impact of the Ghana Productive Safety Nets Project (GPSNP)'s productive inclusion program

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0005920

Initial registration date

June 04, 2020

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

June 04, 2020, 2:22 PM EDT

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

Last updated

October 14, 2021, 10:25 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Ghana

Region

Northern Ghana

Primary Investigator

Name

Dhushyanth Raju

Affiliation

World Bank

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Mpumelelo Nxumalo

PI Affiliation

World Bank

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Isaac Osei-Akoto

PI Affiliation

Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research University of Ghana

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2021-10-18

End date

2022-12-31

Keywords

Agriculture, Finance & Microfinance, Firms & Productivity, Gender, Welfare

Additional Keywords

Productive inclusion, Productive safety nets, Microenterprise development, Informal sector, Rural development

JEL code(s)

O12, O17, O18, D24, D61

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.

Abstract

This evaluation examines the impact of the Complementary Livelihood and Asset Support Scheme (CLASS) - a multi-component productive inclusion intervention on poor, social safety net program beneficiaries in Ghana. To be carried out by the government, the treatment comprises of the provision of microenterprise skills training, start-up lump sum cash grants, mentoring and coaching, and financial inclusion activities. In line with the Graduation Approach, the program seeks to durably lift beneficiaries out of extreme poverty. The evaluation will be based on a randomized phase-in design, with randomization into phases performed at the community level. Impact will be evaluated by comparing outcomes at baseline and at follow-up and between batch-2 and batch-3 communities. Treatment is expected to be staggered by at least one year.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Raju, Dhushyanth, Mpumelelo Nxumalo and Isaac Osei-Akoto. 2021. "Evaluating the impact of the Ghana Productive Safety Nets Project (GPSNP)'s productive inclusion program." AEA RCT Registry. October 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5920-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The Complementary Livelihood and Assets Support Scheme (CLASS) facilitates income generation activities (IGAs) for 30,579 beneficiaries from the Labor-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) program and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash transfers program. Under CLASS, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD) will first carry out market feasibility studies of various livelihoods projects and through its zonal offices, the ministry will facilitate the selection of communities and households to undertake productive activities in selected projects. Selected individuals will benefit from life skills and micro-enterprise skills trainings; provision of start-up lump sum cash grants; and mentoring and coaching.

Intervention Start Date

2021-11-30

Intervention End Date

2021-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Micro-enterprise productivity and incomes; Local employment; Household expenditure in health and education expenditure; and Women’s empowerment.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Since the intervention offers cash grants to invest in income generating activities (IGA) such as goat rearing, individual enterprise productivity will be measured through marginal profit from each dollar invested in an IGA. Beneficiary and household incomes will be measured through self-reported surveys and monitoring reports from the implementing agency. Local employment will be measured through comparisons between baseline and endline, non-household employment shares of the average micro-enterprise. Women’s empowerment will be measured through participation in community leadership and household decision-making before and after the intervention.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The intervention will be implemented in three phases. Phase one will target 136 (out of 455) communities to receive the treatment while phases 2 and 3 each target 153 and 206 communities, respectively. Phase 2 and 3 communities will serve as the evaluation communities from which baseline community, individual, and household surveys will be conducted. Per sample and power calculations, the experiment requires a minimum of 180 communities (and 15 individuals per community). As such, 180 communities are randomized into the experiment - 90 treated (batch 2) and 90 control (from batch 3). The baseline survey is conducted from all 180 communities (2,700 individuals). After the baseline surveys are completed, the intervention can be initiated in 90 of them (batch 2) towards the end of 2021. The remaining 90 experimental communities are left untreated until at least the end of 2022 (or 1 year after the end of the treatment of batch 1 communities).

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Randomization done in STATA 16.

Randomization Unit

Community randomization into treatment/control areas.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

180 communities

Sample size: planned number of observations

2,700 households

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

90 treated communities (1350 households), 90 control communities (1350 households)

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Using the latest round of the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS 7), we estimate the control-group mean household food consumption in the northern regions of Ghana to be GHC349.09/month with a standard deviation of GHC164. After the intervention, we expect our sample to detect a minimum of 6 percent increase in household food expenditure among households in treated communities. The intra-cluster correlation used corresponds to 0.016, which was used in an impact evaluation of a related program in the same region in 2016 (see pre-analysis plan for details).

Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR THE HUMANITIES (ECH)

IRB Approval Date

2021-06-06

IRB Approval Number

ECH 166/ 20-21

Analysis Plan

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