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

Last registered on June 04, 2020
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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.

Locations

Country
Ghana
Region
Northern Ghana

Primary Investigator

Name
Dhushyanth Raju
Affiliation
World Bank
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mpumelelo Nxumalo
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-08-03
End date
2023-08-07
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Firms & Productivity, Labor, Other, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Productive inclusion, Productive safety nets, Microenterprise development, Informal sector, Rural development
JEL code(s)
O12, O17, O18, D24, D61
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This proposed evaluation aims to examine the impact of 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, linkages to market opportunities, 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 phase-1 and phase-2 communities. Treatment is expected to be staggered by at least one year.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Nxumalo, Mpumelelo and Dhushyanth Raju. 2020. "Evaluating the impact of the Ghana Productive Safety Nets Project (GPSNP)'s productive inclusion program." AEA RCT Registry. June 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5920-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention targets 25,000 beneficiaries from extremely poor households in the Upper East, Upper West, North-East, Northern and Savannah Regions. Beneficiaries will receive (i) training in life skills, entrepreneurship, business management; and vocational skills; (ii) start-up lump sum grants; (iii) coaching and mentoring; (iv) marketing and support to link to on-going agricultural activities; and (v) access to finance support (through village savings and loan associations (VSLA) and local banks).
Intervention Start Date
2020-08-03
Intervention End Date
2023-08-07

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

Experimental Design
The intervention will be implemented in three phases. Phase one will target 52 (out of 252) communities to receive while phases 2 and 3 each target 200 communities. Phase 2 and 3 communities will serve as the evaluation communities from which baseline community, individual, and household surveys will be conducted. After the baseline surveys are completed, intervention services can be initiated in 100 of them (selected at random from the 200). The remaining 100 would receive intervention services between 1-2 years after the first set of 100 evaluation communities receive intervention services.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done in STATA.
Randomization Unit
Community and individual level randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 communities
Sample size: planned number of observations
2630 beneficiaries
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1,315 treated, 1,315 control beneficiaries
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
6 percent difference in household food expenditure. Using the latest round of the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS 7), we estimate the control-group mean household food consumption in North Ghana to be GHC349.09/month with a standard deviation of GHC164.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan