Impact Evaluation of the Nigeria National Social Safety Nets Program Livelihood Pilot

Last registered on May 05, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impact Evaluation of the Nigeria National Social Safety Nets Program Livelihood Pilot
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007073
Initial registration date
June 09, 2021

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 09, 2021, 1:02 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 05, 2023, 6:04 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
World Bank

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
The World Bank
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
PI Affiliation
The World Bank

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-08-29
End date
2025-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study presents new evidence on the gendered effects of social safety net programs, in the context of the Nigeria National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP). The program has three components: 1) a basic unconditional cash transfer, 2) a top-up conditional cash transfer with behavioral change training, and 3) a livelihood support component comprising life skills and business skills training complemented by a lump sum productive grant. This study will evaluate the relative impacts of receiving Package 1 (component 1 alone), Package 2 (components 1 and 2), or Package 3 (components 1, 2, and 3). This evaluation will provide new evidence on scalable strategies to implement targeted government-led cash transfers and sustainable support for graduation out of poverty. It will especially further our understanding of the impacts of livelihoods interventions on intrahousehold gender dynamics and women’s economic empowerment and wellbeing.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ajayi, Kehinde et al. 2023. "Impact Evaluation of the Nigeria National Social Safety Nets Program Livelihood Pilot." AEA RCT Registry. May 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7073-2.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study will examine the relative impacts of three packages delivered to poor and vulnerable households: 1) a basic cash transfer and savings group formation training package; 2) a human capital top-up package; and 3) a livelihoods package.

1. Basic package: Beneficiary households receive a regular cash transfer of NGN 5000 per month (equivalent to USD 10, approximately 15 per cent of the national per capita poverty line). The household’s primary caregiver (typically a woman) receives these payments, typically every two months. In addition, the primary caregiver is required to participate in savings group formation training (a weekly 2-hour session over 12 weeks). This basic transfer is designed to provide a minimum safety net to households through a reliable payment that allows them to smooth consumption, reduce food security, and address economic shocks.

2. Human capital top-up package: Beneficiary households will be eligible for an additional transfer of NGN 5000 per month if they satisfy a set of specified conditions, called “co-responsibilities”, linked to the use of public services. Beneficiaries will also attend behavioral change training before they are asked to comply with using certain basic services (in the areas of education, health, nutrition, or environment). The primary caregiver will again receive these payments, as a top up to regular transfers; however, the co-responsibility member required to participate in the outlined activities can differ from the primary caregiver. Individual states will determine co-responsibilities based on their development priorities and available public services. The co-responsibilities are designed to impose the minimum conditions possible, to simplify implementation and monitoring costs for states.

3. Livelihoods package: Beneficiary households in pilot areas will be eligible for a complementary livelihoods package targeted at a “productive member” of the household. The livelihoods package is a lump sum transfer of cash along with life skills and business training, and regular mentoring and coaching. This package will be targeted to an individual household member.
Intervention Start Date
2021-06-14
Intervention End Date
2022-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Consumption
2. Food security
3. Women’s economic empowerment (control of resources, participation in economic activities)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Employment (hours worked, sector, earnings)
2. Assets (livestock, productive assets)
3. Household enterprises
4. Intimate partner violence
5. Nutrition, hygiene, education, child welfare
6. Mental health
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental sample will consist entirely of NASSP beneficiaries, so it will not include a pure control group but will allow us to estimate the relative impacts of three alternative social support packages. The evaluation uses an additive design. We randomized at the community level and stratified at the level of operational territory (a group of communities). We used a public lottery to assign sample communities into the three treatment arms. The public lotteries were conducted in all the 12 local government areas across the six states where the study is being carried out. The selection of the six states represents geographical spread across the country, with one state selected from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country and two local government areas selected from each state.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Public lottery
Randomization Unit
The treatment packages are randomized at the community level and all benefiting households of the program in the evaluation communities receive the assigned package. Randomization was stratified by operational territory (a group of communities).
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
480 communities
Sample size: planned number of observations
8,000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
146 communities will receive the basic package, 187 communities will receive the basic and human capital top up, and 147 communities will receive the full package (Basic + Human capital + Livelihood)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
National Health Research Ethics Committee of Nigeria (NHREC)
IRB Approval Date
2019-07-16
IRB Approval Number
NHREC/01/01/2007
Analysis Plan

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