1. Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Creating an Evidence Base for Safety
Net Policy Reform – Implementing the
Transfer Modality Research (rural)
Dhaka, 1 October 2014 – Evidence-Based Policy Options for
Food and Nutrition Security in Bangladesh
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
Christa Räder, WFP Representative

2. Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
BUT
• 50 million poor, 25-30 million
extreme poor
• 60 million food insecure, 30 million
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
severely food insecure
• 41% of children <5 stunted, 36%
underweight, 16% wasted
Country Context
• Sustained economic growth
• Poverty and food insecurity continue
to decrease
• Economic growth alone is not enough; need pro-poor
growth and investment in social protection
• Nutrition interventions in the first 1,000 days needed

3. Priorities for Social Safety Net Reform
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Decrease the number and duplication of SSN programmes;
Move towards a life cycle based but yet poverty targeted Social
Protection/Security Strategy;
Improve targeting and effectiveness, reduce leakage;
Move towards cash based transfer systems (electronic cash transfer
systems);
Achieve better balance between different types of SSNs for rural and
urban areas;
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
Establish advanced monitoring and evaluation systems;
Establish more effective disaster prevention and response;
Focus also on graduation out of extreme poverty;
Mainstream nutrition - nutrition sensitive SSNs – first 1,000 days.

4. Creating an Evidence Base:
Transfer Modality Reseach Initiative
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Provide evidence that can be used to enhance
the social safety net system in Bangladesh?
Overall objective
 Measure the impact and cost-effectiveness
of different transfer modalities on
(a) Household Income;
(b) Household Food Security;
(c) Child Nutrition (especially stunting)
 Evaluate the process of delivering benefits;
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
solicit feedback from participants
Specific objectives
 Food or cash; combined with behavioural
change communication (BCC) on nutrition
Explore different
transfer modalities
Explore innovative
approaches
 Intensive Nutrition Training (BCC)
 Mobile banking for cash transfers
Which kinds of social
safety net transfers are
most effective for the
rural ultra poor?

5. Creating an Evidence Base: Testing
different Transfer Modalities
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Which kinds of social safety net
transfers are most effective for the
rural ultra poor?
Cash
5
Participants:
Women with children < 2yrs
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
‘arms’
Cash &
Nutrition
BCC
(North)
Food &
Nutrition
BCC
(South)
Food
Food &
Cash
Baseline vs Endline (1 yr; 2 yrs)
Process – delivery as planned?

6. BCC: Nutrition Behavioural Change Communication
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
 In two ‘arms’ 1,000
women with children
< 2 years received
intensive, holistic
Nutrition training.
 Transfers were
conditional on the
women’s engagement in
the nutrition
behavioural change
communication
sessions.
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011

7. Nutrition Behavioural Change Communication
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Aim: to improve the nutritional status of small children
7 Modules
1. Overall importance of nutrition and diet diversity for health
2. Micronutrients: diversifying diets - Vitamin A
3. Micronutrients: diversifying diets - iron, iodine, and zinc
4. Feeding young children: breastfeeding
5. Feeding young children: complementary feeding
6. Maternal health care and nutrition
7. Hand-washing/hygiene for improving nutrition and health
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
1st year: all modules repeated
twice - knowledge transfer
2nd year:
participants led the
sessions

8. Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Locally recruited Community Nutrition Workers (CNWs)
delivered messages to:
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
Improved
Nutrition <2s
1. Primary
Audience:
mothers
2.
Influential
household
members
3.
Influential
community
members
Group
Meeting
&
2 HH visits/
month
Monthly Group
Meetings
Monthly Group
Meetings
Delivery Method

9. Delivery of transfers
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
 The value of transfer per household was the same for each of the
5 transfer modalities: 1,500 taka ($18.75)/household/month
 Transfers within the first week of the month
 Transfers to women only (the “mothers”)
Cash • transferred through mobile phone
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
Food
• 30 kg of rice;
• 2 kg of mosur (red lentil) pulses; and
• 2 kg of micronutrient fortified cooking
oil
Food-cash
combination
• 50% food (15 kg of rice; 1 kg of mosur
pulses; and 1 kg of fortified cooking oil)
• 50% cash (750 taka)

10. TMRI upazilas in the northwest and the southern regions
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Upazilas in:
2 districts in the North:
• Rangpur
• Kurigram
5 districts in the South:
• Bagerhat
• Bhola
• Khulna
• Patuakhali
• Pirojpur
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011
 Total sample size:
500 clusters (villages) –
randomly assigned to
treatment arms and
control - RCT
5,000 households –
 4,000 treatment and
1,000 control households

11. Implementation structure
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
 Food and cash transfers at same time in all treatment arms
 Maintain the standard of the transfer in each treatment arm
 Ensured special packaging for food
 Distributed mobile phones to all women participants;
also to control group women
 Reviewed and reinforced BCC after initial period
 Kept the BCC groups separate from other groups
 Monitored food prices at local level – across ‘arms’
 Checked for sale of food transfers
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011

12. Implementation structure
Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
 Dedicated programme team in the WFP Country Office
 Sub-office involvement with dedicated assigned staff
 Strong partnership with NGO
 Active engagement of Government officials
 Technical Committee –chaired by Government centrally
 Close monitoring of implementation
 Continued follow-up on BCC with periodic assessment
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011

13. Better Prepared
And Ready to Help
Thank you!
Emergency Preparedness Mission Nepal
February 2011