Presented by
Lucy Bassett
Research Staff, Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, IFPRI and
PhD Candidate, The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
 
Brief comments on program experience
David Warren, Lead Social Protection Specialist, LCSHS
Manuel Salazar, Sr. Social Protection Specialist, LCSHS

Presentation - "Can Conditional Cash Transfers Play a Greater Role in Reducing Child Malnutrition?" (139kb pdf)

CCTs have become an increasingly attractive intervention for improving nutrition: CCT benefits tend to be focused on target groups for whom nutrition is a key concern and the monetary and human capital improvements promoted within CCT programs help overcome some of the key constraints to good nutrition. Many CCTs incorporate some kind of nutrition conditionality, related to nutrition education, growth monitoring and promotion, or micronutrient supplementation. Yet, despite some promising evidence of improved nutritional status emerging from CCT impact evaluations, there has been relatively little attention devoted to the ways in which specific aspects of CCT design and operation contribute to improved child nutrition.

This presentation outlines CCT design parameters that can affect nutrition outcomes and explores opportunities to improve the way that nutrition components are built into CCTs, either by improving existing mechanisms (e.g. monitoring and conditionality) or by introducing new design features (e.g. types of micronutrients and bonuses). There was opportunity for discussion with Ms. Bassett as well as task team leaders directly involved in CCT implementation and design.

About the speaker
Lucy Bassett, currently doing research on CCTs at IFPRI, has been a consultant for three projects with the World Bank. She is a PhD candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and plans to do her dissertation research on CCTs and nutrition.