Social Protection

Social protection programs are a powerful tool for alleviating poverty. They include conditional and unconditional cash transfers, food rations, public works programs, school feeding, and programs targeted to the elderly and disabled. By transferring resources to the poor, often with incentives to improve schooling and maternal and child health, these programs aim to limit the long-term effects of chronic deprivation and to reduce poverty traps.

IFPRI researchers use rigorous, state-of-the-art methods in impact evaluation to study the effects of both large national safety net programs and experimental pilot programs in developing countries. These studies compare social protection delivery strategies as well as linkages to complementary programs in schooling, nutrition, and financial inclusion to identify the most effective and cost-effective social protection program designs for reducing poverty and improving outcomes for the poor.

IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG1, SDG2, and SDG16.