Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI)

Description

In Bangladesh and elsewhere, social safety nets help to reduce household poverty and food insecurity, but yield few improvements in child nutrition.

In 2012-14, IFPRI partnered with the UN World Food Programme on a two-year study to determine which form of safety net transfer–cash or food–works best for the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh and whether impacts of these transfers change when linked to nutrition behavior change communication (BCC). Results from TMRI have provided the proof of concept that combining social safety net transfers with nutrition BCC can significantly improve household food security and child nutrition.

For more information, please contact the Principal Investigator Akhter Ahmed.

TMRI: Project Detail

STATUS: Completed

DURATION: 2012-2014

FUNDING: German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); UK’s Department for International Development (DFID); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

PARTNER(S): UN World Food Programme (WFP); Data Analysis and Technical Assistance (DATA)

IFPRI Bangladesh Projects

IFPRI has over four decades of experience conducting research and outreach in Bangladesh. IFPRI has undertaken rigorous evaluations using randomized controlled trials of several programs in Bangladesh, including Alive & Thrive, IFPRI-WFP’s Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI), and the IFPRI-designed and Ministry-led Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages (ANGeL) project. IFPRI has also designed and conducted large-scale household surveys like the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey and has proven capacity to administer rapid yet rigorous phone surveys amid the pandemic.

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RELATED PUBLICATIONS

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Brief

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2025Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini

Details

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Project Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179365

Findings from this study will provide greater insight as to how and why transfer programs have mixed post-intervention effects across different contexts, and how gender and livelihood opportunities may influence these trajectories. These insights will help inform the future design of transfer programs that aim to support sustainable poverty reduction and gender-equitable livelihoods, including to guide modifications tailored to the local context.

Year published

2025

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Project Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179365

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Social Protection; Cash Transfers; Food Security; Evaluation; Consumption; Livelihoods; Food Assistance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Journal Article

Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh

2025Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Details

Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh. World Bank Economic Review 39(2): 439–472. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhae023

This paper reports the results of two 2-year randomized control trials in two poor rural areas of Bangladesh. Treatment arms included monthly cash transfers, monthly food rations of equivalent value to the cash transfers, and mixed monthly cash and food transfers, and treatment arms—one with food and one with cash—that combined transfers with nutrition-behavior communication change (BCC). This design enables a comparison of transfer modalities within the same experiment. Intent-to-treat estimators show that cash transfers and nutrition BCC had a large impact on nutritional status, a 0.25 standard deviation increase in height-for-age z-scores and a 7.8 percentage point decrease in stunting prevalence. No other treatment arm affected anthropometric outcomes. Mechanisms underlying these impacts are explored. Improved diets—particularly increased intake of animal source foods in the cash plus BCC arm—are consistent with the improvements observed in this paper.

Year published

2025

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh. World Bank Economic Review 39(2): 439–472. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhae023

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Cash Transfers; Human Behaviour; Child Nutrition; Social Protection; Rural Areas; Stunting; Food Assistance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhae023 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

Social assistance and adaptation to flooding in Bangladesh

2024Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Mueller, Valerie; Quabili, Wahid; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini; Thiede, Brian

Details

Social assistance and adaptation to flooding in Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John; Mueller, Valerie; Quabili, Wahid; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini; and Thiede, Brian. 2024. Social assistance and adaptation to flooding in Bangladesh. Gender Equality Initiative Brief. CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168418

As climate change exacerbates weather shocks, there is growing interest in understanding whether social assistance programs can support coping among poor rural households and whether program effects vary by gender. We assess whether a social assistance program – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) –influenced the effects of prior monsoon flooding on household consumption and adult diets in southern Bangladesh. TMRI provided cash or food transfers, with or without nutrition behavior change communication, from 2012-2014. Within the study sites and years, flooding was substantial but moderate. Our findings suggest that, without TMRI, a one-standard-deviation increase in lagged flooding led to households smoothing consumption by drawing down savings and reducing diet quality among both men and women. In contrast, among TMRI treatment households, lagged flooding did not reduce savings, and both men’s and women’s diet quality improved. Effects on diet quality appeared largely driven by legumes and by fruits and vegetables, and improvements appeared strongest among households receiving both transfers and behavior change communication. Results indicate that social assistance can help households cope with effects of moderate flooding in southern Bangladesh, protecting household savings and improving both men’s and women’s diets.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Mueller, Valerie; Quabili, Wahid; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini; Thiede, Brian

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John; Mueller, Valerie; Quabili, Wahid; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini; and Thiede, Brian. 2024. Social assistance and adaptation to flooding in Bangladesh. Gender Equality Initiative Brief. CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168418

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Extreme Weather Events; Climate Change; Rural Areas; Flooding; Cash Transfers; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Brief

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Opinion Piece

How programme design and local context shape the lasting effects of cash and food transfers

2024Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Kolt, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; Tauseef, Salauddin

Details

How programme design and local context shape the lasting effects of cash and food transfers

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John; Kolt, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; and Tauseef, Salauddin. 2024. How programme design and local context shape the lasting effects of cash and food transfers. VoxDev article. Published online on December 16, 2024. https://voxdev.org/topic/health/how-programme-design-and-local-context-shape-lasting-effects-cash-and-food-transfers

A transfer programme in Bangladesh led to sustained consumption increases and reduced poverty four years post-programme, but design and context mattered. Cash and food transfer programmes in low- and middle-income countries have been shown to be highly effective in increasing household consumption and reducing household poverty in the short term ​(Bastagli et al. 2016, Hidrobo et al. 2018, ​Borga and D’Ambrosio 2021, Ravallion 2016​​). But evidence on whether they sustain longer-term impacts after programmes end is more mixed. Some studies of transfer programmes show significant sustained medium- to long-term impacts on consumption and poverty (​e.g. Carneiro et al. 2021, Stoeffler et al. 2020, ​Macours et al. 2022​)​, but others show effects fading out (e.g. Handa et al. 2019, Cahyadi et al. 2020, Haushofer and Shapiro 2018 ​)​. Some interventions combining transfers with additional components such as cash “plus” programmes or multi-faceted graduation models sustain impacts on consumption four to ten years post-intervention (Bandiera et al. 2017, Banerjee et al. 2022), while others do not (Brune et al. 2022).

Year published

2024

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Kolt, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; Tauseef, Salauddin

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John; Kolt, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; and Tauseef, Salauddin. 2024. How programme design and local context shape the lasting effects of cash and food transfers. VoxDev article. Published online on December 16, 2024. https://voxdev.org/topic/health/how-programme-design-and-local-context-shape-lasting-effects-cash-and-food-transfers

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Poverty; Cash Transfers; Aid Programmes; Consumption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Opinion Piece

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Working Paper

Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2024Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Details

Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2024. Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2282. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053

Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur several years after interventions end. We study the effects of a transfer program implemented as a cluster-randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014 – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) – on food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess TMRI’s impacts at three post-program time points: before the shock (2018), amidst the shock (2021), and after the immediate effects of the shock (2022). We find that TMRI showed protective effects on household food security during and after the pandemic, but program design features “mattered”; positive impacts were only seen in the treatment arm that combined cash transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (Cash+BCC). Other treatment arms – cash only, and food only – showed no significant sustained effects on our household food security measures after the intervention ended, nor did they show protective effects during the pandemic. A plausible mechanism is that investments made by Cash+BCC households in productive assets – specifically livestock – increased their pre-shock resilience capacity.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2024. Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2282. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Covid-19; Resilience; Shock; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

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Journal Article

Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2024Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha

Details

Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Hoddinott, John; Roy, Shalini; and Sraboni, Esha. Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. World Development 173(January 2024): 106414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106414

Many cash transfer programs include complementary nutrition training, with the aim of encouraging households to use transfer resources toward improving child nutrition. Evidence indicates that these bundled programs, if intensive and well-implemented, can be effective in improving child nutritional status. However, little is known about how adding nutrition training to transfer programs affects their economic impacts. In particular, few studies have assessed whether nutrition programming may induce reallocation of transfer resources from physical capital to human capital. Scarce evidence also exists as to whether these tradeoffs depend on the transfer modality. We study a pilot program called the Transfer Modality Research Initiative in Bangladesh (TMRI), designed as a randomized controlled trial. TMRI provided cash or food transfers, with or without intensive group-based nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), to mothers of young children in poor rural households. We find that adding nutrition BCC to cash or food transfers leads to larger impacts on both consumption and assets – potentially surprising, given that the transfer value is unchanged. Analysis of mechanisms suggests that these effects occur through the BCC inducing increases in income generation, through investments in livelihoods. Suggestive evidence indicates that the effects of TMRI’s BCC are plausibly due to the intensive group-based format, which increased social capital for participant women and their household members, as well as improved participant women’s agency and self-confidence, knowledge, and input into household decisions. Results indicate that adding nutrition BCC to cash or food transfer programs do not necessarily induce a tradeoff between investing in human capital versus physical capital, but can rather strengthen impacts on both if appropriately designed.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Hoddinott, John; Roy, Shalini; and Sraboni, Esha. Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. World Development 173(January 2024): 106414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106414

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Cash Transfers; Child Nutrition; Economic Impact; Food Security; Households; Livelihoods; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106414 Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Understanding intra-household food allocation rules: Evidence from a randomized social safety net intervention in Bangladesh

2023Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.

Details

Understanding intra-household food allocation rules: Evidence from a randomized social safety net intervention in Bangladesh

Citation

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2023. Understanding intra-household food allocation rules: Evidence from a randomized social safety net intervention in Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2221. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137047.

Evidence shows social protection can improve diets, but little is understood about how effects vary within a household or what factors determine how food is allocated across different household members. We use individual food intake data from two randomized control trials to estimate intrahousehold dietary impacts of cash or food transfers, with or without nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), in two regions of Bangladesh. We assess whether intrahousehold impacts 1) are consistent with different allocation "rules" hypothesized in the literature, 2) differ by transfer modality, provision of BCC, or regional context. Results indicate that households distribute food equally among their members (men, women, boys, and girls), both in absolute terms and in proportion to individual-specific requirements and deficits. Patterns are similar across regions and do not depend on transfer modality or whether BCC is provided. Findings have implications for designing nutrition-sensitive social protection with different target groups prioritized.

Year published

2023

Authors

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.

Citation

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2023. Understanding intra-household food allocation rules: Evidence from a randomized social safety net intervention in Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2221. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137047.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Social Safety Nets; Diets; Households; Cash Transfers; Gender Equality; Nutrition; Behaviour; Resource Allocation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137047 Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Diets of men and women in rural Bangladesh are equitable but suboptimal

2023Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.

Details

Diets of men and women in rural Bangladesh are equitable but suboptimal

Citation

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter U.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2023. Diets of men and women in rural Bangladesh are equitable but suboptimal. Current Developments in Nutrition 7(7): 100107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100107

Background: Recent evidence suggests that diet inequities between men and women may have diminished within rural Bangladeshi households. However, this has not been directly tested with appropriate physiologic adjustments and it is unclear whether changes have occurred across socioeconomic strata. Understanding intrahousehold dietary patterns at different points on the income and food-security distribution in rural Bangladesh—particularly, within ultrapoor and farm households—is important for appropriate design of gender-sensitive and nutrition-sensitive interventions, which often target these groups.
Objective: Using 2012 and 2016 data, we aimed to examine gender differences in diet quantity and quality among ultrapoor and farm households in rural Bangladesh.
Methods: The study used baseline 24-h dietary data from 2 randomized control trials conducted in rural Bangladesh: the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (ultrapoor households) and the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages project (farm households). Ordinary least squares regressions with household-level fixed effects tested for gender differences among constructed diet measures, such as caloric intake, caloric adequacy ratio, dietary diversity score, global diet quality score, and probability of consuming moderate or high levels of healthy food groups.
Results: In both samples, on average, women consumed fewer calories than men in the same households but consumed near equal or more in reference to their caloric needs. Women scored <1% lower than men on diet quality indicators and showed similar probabilities to men of consuming healthy foods. Most men and women in both samples were calorically inadequate (>60%) and recorded poor diet quality scores that indicated high risk of nutrient inadequacy and chronic disease (>95%).
Conclusions: In both ultrapoor and farm households, although men record higher intake quantities and diet quality scores, the apparent male advantage disappear when energy requirements and the magnitudes of difference are considered. Diets of men and women in these rural Bangladeshi households are equitable but suboptimal.

Year published

2023

Authors

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.

Citation

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter U.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2023. Diets of men and women in rural Bangladesh are equitable but suboptimal. Current Developments in Nutrition 7(7): 100107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100107

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Diet; Farms; Households; Men; Rural Areas; Socioeconomics; Women; Gender; Equity; Diet Quality

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100107 Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Post-program impacts of transfer programs on child development: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2021Ahmed, Akhter; Hamadani, Jena Derakhshani; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Roy, Shalini

Details

Post-program impacts of transfer programs on child development: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hamadani, Jena Derakhshani; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Raghunathan, Kalyani; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Post-program impacts of transfer programs on child development: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2090. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134946.

Evidence shows transfer programs can improve early childhood development (ECD). However, knowledge gaps remain on how short-term impacts on ECD evolve as children grow older, how program design features and context affect child development impacts over time, and through what pathways such impacts occur. We study the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI), a 2-year randomized controlled trial in two regions of Bangladesh that provided cash or food transfers, with or without complementary nutrition programming, to mothers of children aged 0-2 years at baseline. Drawing on data collected at 6 months post-program (when children were about 2-4 years old) and at 4 years post-program (when children were about 6-8 years old), we assess post-program impacts of TMRI on children’s home environment and development. We find strong post-program impacts on the home environment from cash transfers in the Northern region, particularly when combined with complementary programming, however limited post-program effects on child development outcomes. Improvements found in child development tend to be concentrated in boys. We find few post-program improvements in home environment or child development from food transfers in the Southern region, with or without complementary programming.

Year published

2021

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hamadani, Jena Derakhshani; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hamadani, Jena Derakhshani; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Raghunathan, Kalyani; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Post-program impacts of transfer programs on child development: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2090. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134946.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Child Development; Childhood Development; Social Protection; Children; Cash Transfers; Behaviour; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134946 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Did prior receipt of nutrition-sensitive social protection build resilience to COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh?

2021Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Quabili, Wahid; Roy, Shalini

Details

Did prior receipt of nutrition-sensitive social protection build resilience to COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh?

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Quabili, Wahid; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Did prior receipt of social protection build resilience to COVID-19 in Bangladesh? Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143094

Summary
• The Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) was a pilot transfer program implemented in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014, following a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. TMRI provided either cash transfers or food transfers, with or without nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), to ultra-poor women and their family members in two regions of rural Bangladesh.
• The nutrition BCC entailed intensive weekly group-based nutrition training, home visits, and community meetings focused on infant and young child feeding and encouraged home production of nutritious foods.
• We conducted a phone survey in November 2021 to re-interview a subset of the households that participated in TMRI from 2012-2014. We aimed to assess any differences in how they were faring shortly after the devastating third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
• We find that attrition in our phone survey is low relative to the intended sample, and not correlated with treatment. This allows us to assume that differences across the treatment and control arms in November 2021 are causal differences – that is, persistent effects of the different treatment arms implemented seven years earlier.
• Overall, we find that households that received a combination of cash transfers and intensive nutrition BCC from 2012-2014 fare significantly better in November 2021 than those in the control group or the other arms, although they nonetheless struggle in many dimensions.
• In November 2021, compared with the control group, former Cash+BCC households report experiencing significantly lower prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, report a more diverse diet (being significantly more likely to consume eggs, dairy, and fruit in the previous seven days), report a slightly smaller share of main earners being unemployed, and report experiencing significantly less stress.
• Our findings suggest that providing poor rural households in Bangladesh with sizable cash transfers of long duration alongside intensive complementary programming, such as nutrition BCC, may help them cope with future shocks. Thus, such programming may be a cost-effective strategy to reduce households’ immediate and future food and nutrition insecurity.

Year published

2021

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Quabili, Wahid; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John F.; Quabili, Wahid; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Did prior receipt of social protection build resilience to COVID-19 in Bangladesh? Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143094

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Covid-19; Social Protection; Resilience

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Transfer Modality Research Initiative: Impacts of combining social protection and nutrition in Bangladesh

2021Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Details

Transfer Modality Research Initiative: Impacts of combining social protection and nutrition in Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Transfer Modality Research Initiative: Impacts of combining social protection and nutrition in Bangladesh. July 2021. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134479.

In Bangladesh, social protection programs have the potential to uplift the most vulnerable out of poverty. Until recently, however, these programs have had little impact on nutrition. Results from a randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative – provides the proof of concept that combining social safety net transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) can significantly improve household food security and child nutrition, and these impacts can be sustained over time.

Year published

2021

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; and Roy, Shalini. 2021. Transfer Modality Research Initiative: Impacts of combining social protection and nutrition in Bangladesh. July 2021. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134479.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Policies; Social Protection; Nutrition; Cash Transfers; Food Security; Behaviour; Social Safety Nets; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134479 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Social protection and sustainable poverty reduction: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2020Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; Tauseef, Salauddin

Details

Social protection and sustainable poverty reduction: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; and Tauseef, Salauddin. 2020. Social protection and sustainable poverty reduction: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1988. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134221.

Social protection programs are primarily focused on influencing household behavior in the short term, increasing consumption to reduce poverty and food insecurity, and promoting investments in human capital. A large body of evidence across numerous settings shows that cash and food transfer programs are highly effective in doing so. However, there is growing interest in understanding the extent to which such programs can help households stay out of poverty in the longer term, specifically after transfers end. We bring new evidence to this question, re-interviewing Bangladeshi households that participated in a well-implemented randomized social protection intervention four years after it ended. We find that combining transfers, either cash or food, with behavior change communication activities sustainably reduced poverty. Cash transfers alone had sustainable effects, but these were context-specific. The beneficial impacts of food transfers did not persist four years after the intervention finished.

Year published

2020

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; Tauseef, Salauddin

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Roy, Shalini; and Tauseef, Salauddin. 2020. Social protection and sustainable poverty reduction: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1988. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134221.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Poverty Alleviation; Households; Social Protection; Food Assistance; Sustainability; Nutrition; Food Security; Cash Transfers; Poverty; Food Aid; Poverty Reduction

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134221 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Report

Which kinds of social safety net transfers work best for the ultra poor in Bangladesh? Operation and impacts of the transfer modality research initiative

2020Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha; Quabili, Wahid; Margolies, Amy

Details

Which kinds of social safety net transfers work best for the ultra poor in Bangladesh? Operation and impacts of the transfer modality research initiative

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha; Quabili, Wahid; and Margolies, Amy. 2016. Which kinds of social safety net transfers work best for the ultra poor in Bangladesh? Operation and impacts of the transfer modality research initiative. Washington, DC; Dhaka, Bangladesh: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); World Food Programme. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148633

This report presents the results of the TMRI evaluation. It is organized in ten sections. The rest of Section 1 presents the objectives of the study, conceptual issues and empirical evidence of the effects of food and cash transfers. Section 2 describes the salient features of the TMRI. Section 3 discusses the analytical methodology and the data used in the empirical work. Section 4 gives a profile of survey households. Section 5 provides the findings of evaluation of the TMRI implementation process, assesses various aspects of participation in the TMRI, and provides the cost analysis results. Section 6 presents the impact of the TMRI on household consumption. Section 7 shows impact of the TMRI on maternal knowledge and practices related to child nutrition. Section 8 provides the impact of the TMRI on child anthropometric status. Section 9 presents case studies 3 of TMRI participants from qualitative research. Section 10 summarizes the main findings and provides policy conclusions.

Year published

2020

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha; Quabili, Wahid; Margolies, Amy

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha; Quabili, Wahid; and Margolies, Amy. 2016. Which kinds of social safety net transfers work best for the ultra poor in Bangladesh? Operation and impacts of the transfer modality research initiative. Washington, DC; Dhaka, Bangladesh: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); World Food Programme. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148633

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Anthropometric Dimensions; Gender; Child Nutrition; Households; Social Protection; Nutrition; Livelihoods; Food Security; Cash Transfers; Food Consumption; Social Safety Nets; Poverty; Rural Areas; Maternal Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Randomized controlled trials of multi-sectoral programs: Lessons from development research

2020Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Ahmed, Akhter; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hoddinott, John F.; Kumar, Neha; Leroy, Jef L.; Menon, Purnima; Olney, Deanna K.; Roy, Shalini; Ruel, Marie T.

Details

Randomized controlled trials of multi-sectoral programs: Lessons from development research

Citation

Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Ahmed, Akhter; Gilligan, Daniel; Hoddinott, John F.; Kumar, Neha; Leroy, Jef L.; Menon, Purnima; Olney, Deanna K.; Roy, Shalini; and Ruel, Marie T. 2020. Randomized controlled trials of multi-sectoral programs: Lessons from development research. World Development 127(March 2020): 104822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104822

Development is a multi-faceted process; achieving development goals thus requires a multi-sectoral approach. For over two decades, our research group of economists and nutritionists has designed and implemented randomized trials to assess the effectiveness of multisectoral programs in improving nutrition, food security, and other measures of well-being, largely at the request of developing country governments, development partners, and non-governmental organizations. Our approach addresses three perceived pitfalls of RCTs: the “black box” nature of RCTs, limited external validity, and challenges in translation of results to impacts at scale. We address these concerns by identifying and assessing programmatic pathways to impact with quantitative and qualitative methods; studying similar programs implemented by different organizations across various settings; and working closely with implementing partners in the design, research, and dissemination processes to inform adaptation and scale-up of programs and policies.

Year published

2020

Authors

Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Ahmed, Akhter; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hoddinott, John F.; Kumar, Neha; Leroy, Jef L.; Menon, Purnima; Olney, Deanna K.; Roy, Shalini; Ruel, Marie T.

Citation

Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Ahmed, Akhter; Gilligan, Daniel; Hoddinott, John F.; Kumar, Neha; Leroy, Jef L.; Menon, Purnima; Olney, Deanna K.; Roy, Shalini; and Ruel, Marie T. 2020. Randomized controlled trials of multi-sectoral programs: Lessons from development research. World Development 127(March 2020): 104822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104822

Keywords

Development; Programmes; Randomized Controlled Trials; Research; Nutrition; Food Security

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104822 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Opinion Piece

Opinion: Measuring the unintended benefits of a development program

2019Ahmed, Akhter; Ahmed, Ishita; Hoddinott, John F.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Roy, Shalini

Details

Opinion: Measuring the unintended benefits of a development program

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Ahmed, Ishita; Hoddinott, John F.; Hidrobo, Melissa; and Roy, Shalini. 2019. Opinion: Measuring the unintended benefits of a development program. Devex. First published online on February 08, 2019. https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-measuring-the-unintended-benefits-of-a-development-program-94224

Research from Bangladesh shows development programs often have a bigger impact than we intend — or even measure.

Year published

2019

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Ahmed, Ishita; Hoddinott, John F.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Ahmed, Ishita; Hoddinott, John F.; Hidrobo, Melissa; and Roy, Shalini. 2019. Opinion: Measuring the unintended benefits of a development program. Devex. First published online on February 08, 2019. https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-measuring-the-unintended-benefits-of-a-development-program-94224

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Benefit-cost Ratio; Social Protection; Nutrition; Development Programmes; Cash Transfers; Social Safety Nets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Opinion Piece

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Transfers, behavior change communication, and intimate partner violence: Postprogram evidence from rural Bangladesh

2019Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter

Details

Transfers, behavior change communication, and intimate partner violence: Postprogram evidence from rural Bangladesh

Citation

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; and Ahmed, Akhter. 2019. Transfers, behavior change communication, and intimate partner violence: Postprogram evidence from rural Bangladesh. Review of Economics and Statistics 101(5): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00791

Transfer programs have been shown to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV), but little evidence exists on how activities linked to transfers affect IPV or what happens when programs end. We assess postprogram impacts on IPV of randomly assigning women in Bangladesh to receive cash or food, with or without nutrition behavior change communication (BCC). Six to ten months postprogram, IPV did not differ between women receiving transfers and a control group; however, women receiving transfers with BCC experienced 26% less physical violence. Evidence on mechanisms suggests sustained effects of BCC on women's “threat points,” men's social costs of violence, and household well-being.

Year published

2019

Authors

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter

Citation

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; and Ahmed, Akhter. 2019. Transfers, behavior change communication, and intimate partner violence: Postprogram evidence from rural Bangladesh. Review of Economics and Statistics 101(5): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00791

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Gender; Behavioural Sciences; Social Protection; Domestic Violence; Communication

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00791 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2019Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha

Details

Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; and Sraboni, Esha. 2019. Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1879. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146009

Interest has grown in leveraging cash transfer programs with nutrition interventions to improve child nutrition at scale. However, little is known about how doing so affects household economic well-being. We study a program providing cash or food transfers, with or without nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), to poor women in rural Bangladesh. We find that adding BCC to cash or food transfers leads to larger impacts on both consumption and assets - an apparent puzzle, given the transfer value is unchanged. Evidence suggests this occurs through the BCC inducing increases in income generation - plausibly by improving households’ social capital and empowerment.

Year published

2019

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; Sraboni, Esha

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini; and Sraboni, Esha. 2019. Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1879. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146009

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Social Capital; Behavioural Sciences; Social Protection; Empowerment; Nutrition; Economics; Assets; Children; Livelihoods; Food Security; Cash Transfers; Behaviour; Communication

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133450 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2019Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Ahmed, Akhter

Details

Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; and Ahmed, Akhter. 2019. Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1869. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146545

Little is known about whether reductions in intimate partner violence (IPV) from cash transfer programs persist over the longer term. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we show that a program providing poor women in rural Bangladesh with cash or food transfers, alongside nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), led to sustained reductions in IPV 4 years after the program ended. Transfers alone showed no sustained impacts on IPV. Evidence suggests cash and BCC led to more sustained impacts on IPV than food and BCC – through persistent increases in women’s bargaining power, men’s costs of perpetrating violence, and poverty-related emotional well-being.

Year published

2019

Authors

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; Ahmed, Akhter

Citation

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Koch, Bastien; and Ahmed, Akhter. 2019. Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1869. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146545

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Gender; Behavioural Sciences; Social Protection; Sustainability; Cash Transfers; Domestic Violence; Communication

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133421 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh

2019Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Details

Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; and Roy, Shalini. 2019. Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1868. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147037

The importance of children’s nutritional status for subsequent human capital formation, the limited evidence of the effectiveness of social protection interventions on child nutrition, and the absence of knowledge on the intra-household impacts of cash and food transfers or how they are shaped by complementary programming motivate this paper. We implemented two, linked randomized control trials in rural Bangladesh, with treatment arms including cash transfers, a food ration, or a mixed food and cash transfer, as well as treatments where cash and nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) or where food and nutrition BCC were provided. Only cash plus nutrition BCC had a significant impact on nutritional status, but its effect on height-for-age z scores (HAZ) was large, 0.25SD. We explore the mechanisms underlying this impact. Improved diets – including increased intake of animal source foods – along with reductions in illness in the cash plus BCC treatment arm are consistent with the improvement we observe in children’s HAZ.

Year published

2019

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; and Roy, Shalini. 2019. Food transfers, cash transfers, behavior change communication and child nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1868. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147037

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Behavioural Sciences; Social Protection; Nutrition; Children; Cash Transfers; Behaviour; Communication

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133420 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Randomized control trials demonstrate that nutrition-sensitive social protection interventions increase the use of multiple-micronutrient powders and iron supplements in rural pre-school Bangladeshi children

2018Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini

Details

Randomized control trials demonstrate that nutrition-sensitive social protection interventions increase the use of multiple-micronutrient powders and iron supplements in rural pre-school Bangladeshi children

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; and Roy, Shalini. 2018. Randomized control trials demonstrate that nutrition-sensitive social protection interventions increase the use of multiple-micronutrient powders and iron supplements in rural pre-school Bangladeshi children. Public Health Nutrition 21(9): 1753-1761. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017004232

Objective To examine the impact of a nutrition-sensitive social protection intervention on mothers’ knowledge of Fe deficiency, awareness of multiple-micronutrient powders (MMP) and the consumption of MMP and other Fe supplements by their children aged 6–59 months. Design Two randomized controlled trials with treatment arms including cash transfers, food transfers, cash and food transfers, cash and nutrition behaviour change communication (BCC), and food and nutrition BCC were implemented over two years. Both included a control group that received no transfer or BCC. Transfer recipients were mothers living in poor households with at least one child aged less than 2 years at baseline. Probit models were used to analyse endline data. Setting Rural areas in north-west and south Bangladesh. Subjects Mothers (n 4840) and children 6–59 months (n 4840). Results A transfer accompanied by nutrition BCC increased the share of mothers with knowledge of Fe deficiency (11·9 and 9·2 percentage points for North and South, respectively, P≤0·01), maternal awareness of MMP (29·0 and 22·2 percentage points, P≤0·01), the likelihood that their children 6–59 months had ever consumed MMP (32 and 11·9 percentage points, P≤0·01), consumed MMP in the preceding week (16·9 and 3·9 percentage points, P≤0·01) and consumed either MMP or an Fe supplement in the preceding week (22·3 and 7·1 percentage points, P≤0·01). Improvements were statistically significant relative to groups that received a transfer only. Conclusions Nutrition-sensitive social protection (transfers with BCC added) may be a promising way to advance progress on micronutrient deficiencies.

Year published

2018

Authors

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; and Roy, Shalini. 2018. Randomized control trials demonstrate that nutrition-sensitive social protection interventions increase the use of multiple-micronutrient powders and iron supplements in rural pre-school Bangladeshi children. Public Health Nutrition 21(9): 1753-1761. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017004232

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Food Supplements; Powders; Nutrient Deficiencies; Social Protection; Micronutrient Deficiencies; Nutrition Education; Preschool Children; Nutrition; Iron; Behaviour; Maternal Behaviour; Rural Welfare

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980017004232 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Nutrition behaviour change communication causes sustained effects on IYCN knowledge in two cluster-randomised trials in Bangladesh

2018Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Roy, Shalini

Details

Nutrition behaviour change communication causes sustained effects on IYCN knowledge in two cluster-randomised trials in Bangladesh

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Karachiwalla, Naureen; and Roy, Shalini. 2018. Nutrition behaviour change communication causes sustained effects on IYCN knowledge in two cluster-randomised trials in Bangladesh. Maternal and Child Nutrition 14(1): e12498. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12498

Behaviour change communication (BCC) can improve infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) knowledge, practices, and health outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether the improved knowledge persists after BCC activities end. This paper assesses the effect of nutrition sensitive social protection interventions on IYCN knowledge in rural Bangladesh, both during and after intervention activities. We use data from two, 2-year, cluster randomised control trials that included nutrition BCC in some treatment arms. These data were collected at intervention baseline, midline, and endline, and 6–10 months after the intervention ended. We analyse data on IYCN knowledge from the same 2,341 women over these 4 survey rounds. We construct a number correct score on 18 IYCN knowledge questions and assess whether the impact of the BCC changes over time for the different treatment groups. Effects are estimated using ordinary least squares accounting for the clustered design of the study. There are 3 main findings: First, the BCC improves IYCN knowledge substantially in the 1st year of the intervention; participants correctly answer 3.0–3.2 more questions (36% more) compared to the non-BCC groups. Second, the increase in knowledge between the 1st and 2nd year was smaller, an additional 0.7–0.9 correct answers. Third, knowledge persists; there are no significant decreases in IYCN knowledge 6–10 months after nutrition BCC activities ended.

Year published

2018

Authors

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Karachiwalla, Naureen; and Roy, Shalini. 2018. Nutrition behaviour change communication causes sustained effects on IYCN knowledge in two cluster-randomised trials in Bangladesh. Maternal and Child Nutrition 14(1): e12498. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12498

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Cluster Sampling; Infants; Malnutrition; Nutrition; Children

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12498 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh

2017Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Ishita; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini

Details

Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Ishita; Ahmed, Akhter; and Roy, Shalini. 2017. Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 12(6): e0179866. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179866

Objective To examine the impact on infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of mothers who were neighbors of mothers participating in a nutrition Behavior Change Communication (BCC) intervention in rural Bangladesh. Methods We analyzed data from 300 mothers whose neighbor participated in a nutrition BCC intervention and 600 mothers whose neighbor participated in an intervention that did not include BCC. We constructed measures capturing mothers’ knowledge of infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) and measures of food consumption by children 6-24m. The effect on these outcomes of exposure to a neighbor receiving a nutrition BCC intervention was estimated using ordinary least squares and probit regressions. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Study ID: NCT02237144). Results Having a neighboring mother participate in a nutrition BCC intervention increased non-participant mothers’ IYCN knowledge by 0.17 SD (translating to 0.3 more correct answers). They were 14.1 percentage points more likely to feed their 6-24m children legumes and nuts; 11.6 percentage points more likely to feed these children vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables; and 10.0 percentage points more likely to feed these children eggs. Children of non-participant mothers who had a neighboring mother participate in a nutrition BCC intervention were 13.8 percentage points more likely to meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for minimum diet diversity, 11.9 percentage points more likely to meet WHO guidelines for minimum acceptable diet, and 10.3 percentage points more likely to meet WHO guidelines for minimum meal frequency for children who continue to be breastfed after age 6m. Children aged 0-6m of non-participant mothers who are neighbors of mothers receiving BCC were 7.1 percentage points less likely to have ever consumed water-based liquids. Conclusions Studies of nutrition BCC that do not account for information spillovers to non-participants may underestimate its benefits in terms of IYCN knowledge and practice.

Year published

2017

Authors

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Ishita; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Ishita; Ahmed, Akhter; and Roy, Shalini. 2017. Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 12(6): e0179866. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179866

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Nutrition; Child Feeding; Behaviour

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179866 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Opinion Piece

Cash or food transfers paired with behavior change communication can reduce intimate partner violence even after transfers end

2017Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa

Details

Cash or food transfers paired with behavior change communication can reduce intimate partner violence even after transfers end

Citation

Roy, Shalini; and Hidrobo, Melissa. 2017. Cash or food transfers paired with behavior change communication can reduce intimate partner violence even after transfers end. Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). First published online on December 07, 2017. https://www.svri.org/cash-or-food-transfers-paired-with-behavior-change-communication-can-reduce-intimate-partner-violence-even-after-transfers-end/

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread globally, with estimates showing that nearly 1 in 3 adult women worldwide have experienced some form of IPV. South Asia has among the highest regional rates in the world, with 41 percent prevalence of IPV. In Bangladesh, one survey found that 72.6 percent of married women reported experiencing violence at the hands of their husbands, and another showed that 74 percent of men reported inflicting violence on their wives. Violence against women in Bangladesh can be linked in part to strict observance of gender norms. Even though gender equality in the country has improved in some dimensions in recent decades, studies have found that patriarchal gender norms persist in much of rural Bangladesh. Purdah – the practice of female seclusion – is widely prevalent, and women’s movement outside the home continues to be restricted. Many women have little control over finances and limited social support, leading to reliance on their husbands and little bargaining power within their marriages.

Year published

2017

Authors

Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa

Citation

Roy, Shalini; and Hidrobo, Melissa. 2017. Cash or food transfers paired with behavior change communication can reduce intimate partner violence even after transfers end. Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). First published online on December 07, 2017. https://www.svri.org/cash-or-food-transfers-paired-with-behavior-change-communication-can-reduce-intimate-partner-violence-even-after-transfers-end/

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Gender; Social Protection; Food Assistance; Nutrition; Cash Transfers; Domestic Violence; Social Safety Nets; Women; Violence

Language

English

Source

Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Opinion Piece

Resource thumbnail

Report

Safety nets in Bangladesh: Which form of transfer is most beneficial? Operational performance of the transfer modality research initiative

2014Ahmed, Akhter; Sraboni, Esha; Shaba, Fiona K.

Details

Safety nets in Bangladesh: Which form of transfer is most beneficial? Operational performance of the transfer modality research initiative

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Sraboni, Esha and Shaba, Fiona K. 2014. Safety nets in Bangladesh: Which form of transfer is most beneficial? Operation performance of the transfer modality research initiative. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150132

The overall objective of the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) is to provide evidence that can be used to streamline the social safety net system in Bangladesh, with the goal of improving the food and nutrition security and livelihoods of the very poor in a cost-effective way. The research will inform policymakers which type of program can best improve the income status and food and nutrition security of the poor and thus be a valuable tool to the government as it prepares its social protection strategy.

Year published

2014

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Sraboni, Esha; Shaba, Fiona K.

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Sraboni, Esha and Shaba, Fiona K. 2014. Safety nets in Bangladesh: Which form of transfer is most beneficial? Operation performance of the transfer modality research initiative. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150132

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Income; Health; Social Protection; Nutrition; Social Welfare; Food Security; Cash Transfers; Behaviour; Poverty; Social Safety Nets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Report

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New Publication – Transfers, nutrition programming, and economic well-being: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Check out IFPRI's latest research on cash transfer programs and their impact on economic outcomes, particularly in the context of ...
Publication - Diets of Men and Women in Rural Bangladesh Are Equitable but Suboptimal

Publication – Diets of Men and Women in Rural Bangladesh Are Equitable but Suboptimal

In July 2023, IFPRI researchers published the open access article, "Diets of Men and Women in Rural Bangladesh Are Equitable ...
Blog - Cash transfers with behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence even 4 years after interventions end

Blog – Cash transfers with behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence even 4 years after interventions end

Cash transfer programs have been shown as effective in reducing poverty, but a growing body of evidence shows that these ...
NEW RESEARCH: Impacts of Safety Net Transfers on Child Nutrition

NEW RESEARCH: Impacts of Safety Net Transfers on Child Nutrition

From 2012 to 2014, IFPRI designed and evaluated a randomized controlled trial, the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI), which sought ...

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