The Impacts of the Social Cash Transfer Pilot Programme on Community Dynamics in Tigray, Ethiopia

Brief is based on data collected during qualitative fieldwork in March 2014

Abstract

The Social Cash Transfer Pilot Programme (SCTPP) was launched by the Tigray Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (BOLSA) with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in 2011. The goal of the SCTPP is to improve the quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children, elderly and persons with disabilities and to enhance their access to essential services such as healthcare and education. Specific objectives include contributing to the reduction of poverty, hunger, and starvation; increasing school enrolment and attendance; improving the health and nutrition of children, and generating information on the feasibility, cost effectiveness, and impact of the SCTPP.

This brief is based on data collected during qualitative fieldwork in March 2014, and contributes to a wider evaluation of the SCTPP undertaken by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and the Department of Economics, Mekelle University. The qualitative research forms part of a comparative six- country study that explores the impact of cash transfer programmes on household economic decision- making, the local economy and social networks in sub-Saharan Africa, under the auspices of the From Protection to Production (PtoP) project implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The research was carried out through focus groups, in-depth key informant interviews and household case studies, using participatory methods and tools, including social mapping, livelihood analysis, institutional analysis (Venn diagrams) and household income and expenditure analysis.

Citation

FAO. The Impacts of the Social Cash Transfer Pilot Programme on Community Dynamics in Tigray, Ethiopia. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy (2014) 2 pp.

Published 1 January 2014