In May 2024, IFPRI researchers Akhter Ahmed, John Hoddinott, and Shalini Roy published the article, "Food Transfers, Cash Transfers, Behavior Change Communication and Child Nutrition: Evidence from Bangladesh" in The World Bank Economic Review. Abstract This paper reports the results of two 2-year randomized control trials in two poor rural areas of Bangladesh. Treatment arms […]
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 safety net transfer modalities work best for the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh. The results of TMRI’s randomized controlled trial showed that all transfer modality combinations were useful, but that cash transfers combined with nutrition behavior change communications had the greatest impact, with a decrease of 7.3 percentage points—almost three times the national average decline—in children suffering from stunting.
For more information on TMRI, please contact IFPRI Country Representative and TMRI Project Lead Dr. Akhter Ahmed.
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 nutrition training. The study, focused on impoverished women in rural Bangladesh, delves into the effects of providing cash or food transfers, with or without nutrition training. Surprisingly, the findings reveal that incorporating nutrition training into […]
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 but Suboptimal" in Current Developments in Nutrition. Abstract 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 […]
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 programs can also be effective in reducing violence against women – in particular, intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV refers to violence perpetrated by a spouse or other intimate partner, and is one of the most […]
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 to generate definitive evidence on 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 […]