Research Report No. 141In 2000, the Nicaraguan government implemented a conditional cash transfer program designed to improve the nutritional, health, and educational status of poor households, and thereby to reduce short- and long-term poverty. Based on the Mexican government’s successful PROGRESA program, Nicaragua’s Red de Protección Social (RPS) sought to supplement household income, reduce primary school dropout rates, and increase the health care and nutritional status of children under the age of five. This report represents IFPRI’s evaluation of phase I of RPS. It shows that the program was effective in low-income areas and particularly effective when addressing health care and education needs. The report offers the first extensive assessment of a Nicaraguan government antipoverty program.
John Maluccio was a research fellow in IFPRI’s Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at the time of writing this report. He is currently an assistant professor of economics at Middlebury College. His research interests include the formation and role of both human and social capital. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.
Rafael Flores was a research fellow in IFPRI’s Food Consumption and Nutrition Division while undertaking this study. Since 2001, he has been a research associate professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. His research interests include nutrition and human capital development, impact of micronutrient interventions, targeting nutrition-oriented social programs, and the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public health and public nutrition policies and programs in developing countries.
The report is available for download in PDF format as an entire document or by chapter.
- Full Report
- Abstract
- Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, Foreword, Acknowledgments, and Summary
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Design and Implementation of the Red de Protección Social
- Chapter 3: Design of the Evaluation, Methodology, and Validity
- Chapter 4: The Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers: The Red de Protección Social
- Chapter 5: Conclusions
- Appendix A: Descriptive Chronology of RPS Program Activities in Phase I
- Appendix B: Household Targeting in Geographically Targeted Areas
- Appendix C: Contractual Indicators for One-Year RPS Evaluation in IADB Loan Contract
- References
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