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SPIR, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI), Graduation model interventions seek to address multiple barriers constraining households’ exit from poverty, however, few explicitly target restrictive gender norms. Using a randomized controlled trial design, combined with three rounds of data, we investigate the impacts on gender equitable attitudes and behaviors of a graduation program that seeks to address multiple constraints for those in poverty and improve restrictive gender norms in Ethiopia. We find that at 1-year follow-up all treatment arms lead to improvements in men’s gender equitable attitudes and their engagement in household domestic tasks as reported by both men and women; but at 3-year follow-up, impacts are only sustained in the treatment arms that introduced men’s engagement groups after the 1-year follow-up survey to further promote improvements in equitable gender norms.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; CRP2; SPIR; Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience, Ethiopia, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), We explore the impact of different models of scalable nutrition services embedded within a light-touch graduation program, implemented at scale in Ethiopia. The graduation program provided poor households enrolled in Ethiopia’s national safety net, the Protective Safety Net Program (PSNP), with additional livelihood programming including savings groups, business skills training and linkages to financial services. In addition, extremely poor households received a one-time livelihood grant on an experimental basis, as cash transfers or in-kind poultry grants, at a value much smaller than lump sum transfers in other graduation model programs in recent literature. The experiment compared a core nutrition model of nutrition information and sanitation and hygiene activities to an enhanced model that added more intensive nutrition messaging, supplementary feeding of malnourished children, mental health services, and a male engagement activity. Results show that interaction with health care workers and participation in community health activities increased significantly under the enhanced nutrition model, as did maternal nutritional knowledge. Nevertheless, neither nutrition model led to significant improvements in child dietary diversity or anthropometric outcomes on average. However, cash livelihood grants combined with the enhanced nutrition model reduced childhood stunting.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; G Cross-cutting gender theme; SPIR, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy, Graduation model interventions seek to address multiple barriers constraining households’ exit from poverty, however, few explicitly target unequal gender norms. Using a randomized control trial design, combined with three rounds of data, we investigate the impacts on gender equitable attitudes and behaviors of a graduation program that seeks to simultaneously “push” households out of poverty and improve unequal gender norms in Ethiopia. We find that at midline all treatment arms lead to improvements in men’s gender equitable attitudes and their engagement in household domestic tasks as reported by both men and women; but at endline, impacts are only sustained in the treatment arms that introduced men’s engagement groups after the midline survey to further promote improvements in equitable gender norms.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Capacity Strengthening; SPIR, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), In recent years, a growing literature has examined the potential of multifaceted, intensive “graduation model” interventions that simultaneously address multiple barriers constraining households’ exit from poverty. In this paper, we present new evidence from a randomized trial of a lighter-touch graduation model implemented in rural Ethiopia. The primary experimental arms are a bundled intervention including a productive transfer valued at $374 (randomly assigned to be cash or an equivalent value in poultry), training, and savings groups; a simpler intervention including training and savings groups only; and a control arm. We find that three years post-baseline, the intervention inclusive of the transfer leads to some increases in assets, savings, and cash income from livestock, though there is no shift in consumption or household food security; these effects are consistent regardless of the modality of the transfer (cash versus poultry). The effects of training and savings groups alone are minimal.

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; DCA; Cross-cutting gender theme; SPIR, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy, Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health challenge but there is evidence that cash and cash ‘plus’ interventions reduce IPV. An increasingly popular design feature of these kind of interventions is the group-based modality for delivering plus activities, however, evidence of the mechanisms through which this modality of delivery impacts IPV is limited. We explore how the group-based modality of delivering plus activities that complemented the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme contributed to modifying intermediate outcomes on the pathway to IPV. Design: Qualitative study using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions between February and March 2020. Data were analysed using a thematic content and gender lens approach. Findings were interpreted, refined and drafted in collaboration with our local research partners. Setting: Amhara and Oromia regions in Ethiopia. Participants: In total 115 men and women beneficiaries from the Strengthen PSNP4 Institutions and Resilience (SPIR) programme took part in the study. Fifty-eight were interviewed and 57 took part in 7 focus group discussions. Results: We found that Village Economic and Social Associations—through which SPIR activities were delivered—improved financial security and increased economic resilience against income shocks. The group-based delivery of plus activities to couples appeared to enhance individual agency, collective power and social networks, which in turn strengthened social support, gender relations and joint decision-making. Critical reflective dialogues provided a reference group to support the shift away from social norms that condone IPV. Finally, there appeared to be gender differences, with men highlighting the financial benefits and enhanced social status afforded by the groups, whereas women’s accounts focused primarily on strengthened social networks and social capital. Conclusion: Our study offers important insights into the mechanisms by which

Non-PR, IFPRI1; SPIR; DCA; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all, PHND, Since its inception in 2005, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) has been a cornerstone of the Ethiopian government’s strategy for poverty alleviation, disaster risk management, and rural development. The PSNP provides food or cash transfers targeted to poor households in the form of payments for seasonal labor on public works or as direct support to households. It has played an important role in improving the lives of poor Ethiopian households by reducing household food insecurity, increasing asset holdings, and improving agricultural productivity (Berhane et al. 2014; Hoddinott et al. 2017).

Non-PR, IFPRI1; SPIR; G Cross-cutting gender theme; DCA, PHND, Since its inception in 2005, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) has been a cornerstone of the Ethiopian government’s strategy for poverty alleviation, disaster risk management, and rural development. The PSNP provides food or cash transfers targeted to poor households in the form of payments for seasonal labor on public works or as direct support to households. It has played an important role in improving the lives of poor Ethiopian households by reducing household food insecurity, increasing asset holdings, and improving agricultural productivity (Berhane et al. 2014; Hoddinott et al. 2012).

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; CRP2; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; SPIR; IFPRIOA, PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Poultry has gained renewed attention as a promising value chain for women because it is an asset that is widely accessible to women, has low start-up costs, and provides a good source of nutritious animal-sourced foods for children in chicken meat and, especially, eggs. The current study presents evidence from an experimental intervention that randomly provided women either a poultry package transfer of vaccinated, improved-breed chickens and related inputs, or a cash grant of equivalent value within a sample of households participating in a social safety net program. These transfers were embedded in a set of intensive livelihood and enhanced nutrition interventions as part of a broader experiment in rural Ethiopia. We assess the impact of the poultry package transfer as well as the enhanced nutrition intervention on the consumption of eggs by both children and adult women. We find that the poultry transfer increased the frequency of egg consumption as well as the sale of eggs, falling between the extreme of an autarkic household and one in which production decisions are fully separable from consumption choices.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening; SPIR, PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), A growing literature in economics has analyzed the effects of psychological interventions designed to boost individual aspirations as a strategy to increase investments with long-term returns and thus reduce poverty. This paper reports on a randomized controlled trial evaluating a short video-based intervention designed to increase aspirations of adults in poor rural Ethiopian households, all of whom are beneficiaries of the Productive Safety Net Program, the main government safety net program in Ethiopia. Evidence from a sample of 5258 adults from 3220 households is consistent with the hypothesis that there is no evidence that the aspirations treatment had any significant effects on self-reported aspirations for the household, educational investment in children, or savings nine months post-treatment, suggesting that the effect of light-touch aspirations treatments for extremely poor adults may be limited in this context.