Implications of food-for-work programs for consumption and production diversity: Evidence from the Tigray Region of Ethiopia

Bethelhem Legesse Debela,Stein T Holden,Gerald E Shively

doi:10.1186/s40100-021-00189-1

Abstract

Food-based transfer programs have the potential to change diets or alter basic crop mixes. This study empirically investigates the associations between participating in food-for-work (FFW) programs and the diversity of food consumption and production. Four waves of panel data from the Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia, covering the period 2001–2010, are used to estimate a series of panel data regressions. A dose-response model is used to measure how the intensity of FFW participation aligns with dietary outcomes. Results show that FFW participants had greater household dietary diversity compared with non-participants, with an average magnitude equivalent to one-fifth of a standard deviation in the food variety score. When items directly provided by the FFW program are excluded from the variety score, the overall effect is statistically weaker, but similar in sign and magnitude, suggesting modest “crowding in” of dietary diversity from FFW participation. FFW participation was not correlated with changes in production diversity, suggesting that the labor demands of the program did not alter crop choice. Findings have relevance for interventions that aim to improve food security and promote dietary quality in low-income populations.

Highlights

Do food-for-work (FFW) programs improve diets or change production practices among participating households? The answer to this question is important because food-based transfer programs have become a standard tool for addressing the problem of chronic food insecurity in low-income settings (Alderman and Mustafa 2013)
Participation in the FFW program is associated with a 0.86-point higher food variety score, on average, or roughly one additional item in a basket that averages 14 items
Based on four waves of survey data (2001, 2003, 2006, and 2010), findings show that participating in FFW programs improved dietary diversity

Summary

Introduction

Do food-for-work (FFW) programs improve diets or change production practices among participating households? The answer to this question is important because food-based transfer programs have become a standard tool for addressing the problem of chronic food insecurity in low-income settings (Alderman and Mustafa 2013). By engaging beneficiaries in community infrastructure projects in exchange for food or cash, food-for-work, and cash-for-work programs have become especially attractive to donors and recipients and recognized as potential vehicles for improving nutrition (Rogers and Coates 2002; Nair et al 2016). In theory, such programs have the potential to expand dietary diversity, especially if the food items provided by the program are not otherwise part of the staple diet. If FFW participation requires a household to divert labor away from on-farm production, such programs have the potential to undermine production diversity by altering the basic crop mix, especially if labor is withdrawn from non-staple food production. The net effect of these opposing forces is unclear and is the primary investigation in this paper

Methods

Results

Conclusion