Building Pathways out of Poverty for Ultra-poor Internally Displaced People in Baidoa

Last registered on January 16, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Building Pathways out of Poverty for Ultra-poor Internally Displaced People in Baidoa
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009452
Initial registration date
May 21, 2022

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
May 23, 2022, 5:16 PM EDT

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

Last updated
January 16, 2024, 10:30 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
IFPRI

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
IFPRI
PI Affiliation
IFPRI
PI Affiliation
IFPRI

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-05-17
End date
2024-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The objective of this impact evaluation is to generate rigorous, high-quality evidence about the effectiveness of World Vision’s graduation model programming in achieving graduation from extreme poverty for IDPs in Baidoa, Somalia. The intervention entails unconditional cash transfers; the establishment of savings groups that also serve as platforms for skills transfer, social cohesion, and transformation, as well as economic inclusion; and the building of income generation capacity through vocational and financial training and transfer of capital. Throughout the project cycle, participants will receive coaching support on social capital mobilization, financial literacy, and business facilitation. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted using randomization at the household level to assign beneficiaries to receive intervention services or to be part of the control arms. The evaluation findings will be used to inform graduation model programming both in this context and in other humanitarian contexts in which interventions target internally displaced people or other vulnerable individuals in urban settings.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gilligan, Daniel et al. 2024. "Building Pathways out of Poverty for Ultra-poor Internally Displaced People in Baidoa." AEA RCT Registry. January 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9452-2.1
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The graduation model is a process in which the project participants in Baidoa will be able to reduce their reliance on safety net programs and build income-earning activities that will enable them to sustain themselves without or with minimal external subsidies. The project aims to reduce the overreliance on external aid of the ultra-poor by addressing needs at both the household and community levels. At the household level, the project will seek to strengthen two sources of economic self-reliance: 1) individuals’/households’ access to economic capital and 2) their relationships with families, their communities, and the macrosocial system to acquire social and human capital. At the community level, the project will empower the community to protect their livelihoods from shocks through disaster risk reduction (DRR) and preparedness.

The project starts off with participant identification and cash transfers, both unconditional and conditional, to stabilize ultra-poor households’ food security. Savings groups will be established or strengthened at the same time to cultivate a culture of saving. These groups will serve as platforms for skills transfer, social cohesion, and transformation, as well as economic inclusion. Income generating capacity will be supported through vocational and financial training and transfer of capital. Throughout the project cycle, participants will receive coaching support on social capital mobilization, financial literacy, and business facilitation.
Intervention Start Date
2022-06-30
Intervention End Date
2024-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Consumption; household asset index; household food security as measured by the Household Hunger Scale (HHS)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This evaluation will be a randomized controlled trial using randomization at the household level. This strategy is feasible in this program setting because resource constraints imply that only a subset of eligible households in the project sites can be served by World Vision programming. Randomly identifying individuals who will be included in the program is a fair and ethical strategy to allocate program benefits. At the same time, the outcomes of those individuals who are randomized to the control arm (who do not receive World Vision services) will be carefully tracked in order to generate evidence around the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of graduation model programming.

The sampling frame for the evaluation was a sample of approximately 6,050 households identified as eligible for programming in a separate beneficiary census conducted by World Vision. Households will then be randomized to one of two arms. In the first arm, 5,000 households will receive a full set of graduation model services. In the second, control arm, 1,500 households will not be offered any targeted services from World Vision. The evaluation sample targeted in baseline, midline and endline surveys will include a random subsample from households assigned to treatment (3,000 treatment households) and the full sample of households assigned to control.

Key indicators collected at baseline, midline and endline will include variables summarizing household program participation, economic welfare, food security, and investment in human capital.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization was conducted in Stata by the research team.
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4475 households
Sample size: planned number of observations
4475 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1447 are in the control arm
1513 are in the first treatment arm (individual coaching)
1515 are in the second treatment arm (group-based coaching)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IFPRI Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2022-03-23
IRB Approval Number
00007490