Proper infant and early childhood development is critical to give children a healthy start to life. The challenge is especially profound in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of young children are at risk of cognitive and physical delays because of poverty, poor nutrition and lack of stimulation. The Government of Burkina Faso, with World Bank support, is rolling out a social safety net program to improve food security and child development by giving very poor families direct cash transfers. The evaluation will look at the added benefit of interventions to improve parenting and health and nutrition practices. The results will help inform a government scale up the cash transfer program to serve as a cornerstone of the national safety net system for reducing long-term chronic poverty and building household resilience.
- Principal investigator: Damien de Walque, World Bank
- Timeline: Ongoing