Impact of Cash Transfers Programme on Agricultural Production in Kenya: Focus on the Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Keywords:
Orphans, OVC, Cash Transfer
Abstract
Orphans and children from low-income households are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of a widening wealth gap, given their position at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The majority of these households reside in rural areas and are primarily involved in farming activities. Governments can employ initiatives such as cash transfers (CTs) to alleviate the impact of economic uncertainty on the impoverished. After the implementation of the cash transfer program targeting orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya, this paper focuses on analysing its impact on agricultural output and labor supply. Employing a difference-in-differences estimation method, the study revealed that families of orphans and vulnerable children who received cash transfers experienced an 8.5% increase in agricultural output. Expenditure on labor supply and recruitment of employees for agricultural activities within households headed by orphans and vulnerable children surged by 121% following the program's initiation, as compared to households led by non-orphans and non-vulnerable children. These findings offer further evidence supporting the necessity for governments to augment both direct and indirect cash transfers to marginalized populations, particularly orphans. This underscores the significant impact cash transfers wield on their overall quality of life. Implementing affirmative policies targeted at these groups remains crucial for bolstering their social well-being. Future studies should include youths who are ravaged by high rates of unemployment due to limited opportunities within various governments.
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References
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31. World Bank (2013a). Global monitoring report 2013: Rural-urban dynamics and the millennium development goals. Washington, DC: Author. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9806-7
32. World Bank (2013b). World development report 2014: Risk and opportunity – Managing risk for development. Washington, DC: Author. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9903-3
2. Ambler, K., de Brauw, A., & Godlonton, S. (2016). Cash transfers and crop production in Senegal. Working paper, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA.
3. Asfaw, S., Davis, B., Dewbre, J., Handa, S., & Winters, P. (2014). Cash transfer programme, productive activities and labour supply: evidence from a randomised experiment in Kenya. The journal of development studies, 50(8), 1172-1196.
4. Burchi, F., Scarlato, M., & d'Agostino, G. (2018). Addressing food insecurity in sub‐Saharan Africa: The role of cash transfers. Poverty & Public Policy, 10(4), 564-589.
5. Carter, M. R. & Barrett, C. B. (2006). The economics of poverty traps and persistent poverty: An asset-based approach. Journal of Development Studies, 42, 178–199. doi:10.1080/00220380500405261 Carter, M. R., Little, P. D., Mogues, T., & Negatu, W. (2007). Poverty traps and natural disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras. World Development, 35, 835–856. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.09.010
6. Covarrubias, K., Davis, B., & Winters, P. (2012). From protection to production: productive impacts of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer scheme. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 4(1), 50-77.
7. Daidone, S., Davis, B., Handa, S., & Winters, P. (2019). The household and individual-level productive impacts of cash transfer programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 101(5), 1401-1431.
8. De Janvry, A., Finan, F., Sadoulet, E., & Vakis, R. (2006). Can conditional cash transfer programs serve as safety nets in keeping children at school and from working when exposed to shocks? Journal of development economics, 79(2), 349-373.
9. FAO, IFAD, & WFP (2015). The state of food insecurity in the world 2015. Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: Taking stock of uneven progress. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.
10. FAO (2015). Nutrition and social protection. Rome: Author.
11. Gathala, M. K., Timsina, J., Islam, M. S., Krupnik, T. J., Bose, T. R., Islam, N., & McDonald, A. (2016). Productivity, profitability, and energetics: a multi-criteria assessment of farmers’ tillage and crop establishment options for maize in intensively cultivated environments of South Asia. Field crops research, 186, 32-46.
12. Hajdu, F., Granlund, S., Neves, D., Hochfeld, T., Amuakwa-Mensah, F., & Sandström, E. (2020). Cash transfers for sustainable rural livelihoods? Examining the long-term productive effects of the Child Support Grant in South Africa. World Development Perspectives, 19, 100227.
13. Hajispyrou, S., Koundouri, P., & Pashardes, P. (2002). Household demand and welfare: implications of water pricing in Cyprus. Environment and Development Economics, 7(4), 659-685.
14. Handa, S., Davis, B., Stampini, M., & Winters, P. C. (2010). Heterogeneous treatment effects in conditional cash transfer programmes: assessing the impact of Progresa on agricultural households. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2(3), 320-335.
15. Handa, S., Peterman, A., Huang, C., Halpern, C., Pettifor, A., & Thirumurthy, H. (2015). Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls. Social Science & Medicine, 141, 36-45.
16. Haushofer, J. & Shapiro, J. (2013). Household response to income changes: Evidence from an unconditional cash transfer program in Kenya. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 24(5), 1-57.
17. Haushofer, J. & Shapiro, J. (2016). The short-term impact of unconditional cash transfers to the poor: experimental evidence from Kenya. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4), 1973-2042.
18. Kilburn, K., Thirumurthy, H., Halpern, C. T., Pettifor, A., & Handa, S. (2016). Effects of a large-scale unconditional cash transfer program on mental health outcomes of young people in Kenya. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(2), 223-229.
19. Lawlor, K., Handa, S., Seidenfeld, D., & Zambia Cash Transfer Evaluation Team (2019). Cash transfers enable households to cope with agricultural production and price shocks: evidence from Zambia. The journal of development studies, 55(2), 209-226.
20. Maliro, D. (2011). Comparison of agricultural input subsidies and social cash transfers as policies for reducing vulnerability to hunger in Malawi (Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia).
21. Maliro, D. (2011). Comparison of agricultural input subsidies and social cash transfers as policies for reducing vulnerability to hunger in Malawi (Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia).
22. Maluccio, J. A. (2010). The impact of conditional cash transfers on consumption and investment in Nicaragua. The Journal of Development Studies, 46(1), 14-38.
23. McGuire, S. (2015). FAO, IFAD, and WFP. The state of food insecurity in the world 2015: meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress. Rome: FAO, 2015. Advances in Nutrition, 6(5), 623-624.
24. OECD (2008). Economic Outlook.
25. OECD (2009). Economic Outlook, Interim Report.
26. Prifti, E., Daidone, S., & Davis, B. (2019). Causal pathways of the productive impacts of cash transfers: Experimental evidence from Lesotho. World Development, 115, 258-268.
27. Taylor, J. E., Kagin, J., Filipski, M., Thome, K., & Handa, S. (2013). Evaluating general equilibrium impacts of Kenya’s cash transfer programme for orphans and vulnerable children (CT-OVC). Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis.
28. Todd, J. E., Winters, P. C., & Hertz, T. (2020). Conditional cash transfers and agricultural production: Lessons from the Oportunidades experience in Mexico. In Migration, Transfers and Economic Decision Making among Agricultural Households (pp. 39-67). Routledge.
29. Todd, J. E., Winters, P. C., & Hertz, T. (2020). Conditional cash transfers and agricultural production: Lessons from the Oportunidades experience in Mexico. In Migration, Transfers and Economic Decision Making among Agricultural Households (pp. 39-67). Routledge.
30. Ward, P., Hurrell, A., Visram, A., Riemenschneider, N., Pellerano, L., O’Brien, C., & Willis, J. (2010). Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC), Kenya.
31. World Bank (2013a). Global monitoring report 2013: Rural-urban dynamics and the millennium development goals. Washington, DC: Author. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9806-7
32. World Bank (2013b). World development report 2014: Risk and opportunity – Managing risk for development. Washington, DC: Author. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9903-3
Published
2023-12-31
How to Cite
Ndolo, D. K. (2023). Impact of Cash Transfers Programme on Agricultural Production in Kenya: Focus on the Orphans and Vulnerable Children. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 19(34), 1. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2023.v19n34p1
Section
ESJ Social Sciences
Copyright (c) 2023 David Katuta Ndolo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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