More evidence on the relationship between cash transfers and child height. Issue 1 (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chakrabarti, Averi; Handa, Sudhanshu; Natali, Luisa; Seidenfeld, David; Tembo, Gelson
• Is Part Of: Journal of development effectiveness. Volume 12:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 14
• Page End: 37
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: Child nutrition -- height -- health -- cash transfers -- Zambia -- Africa; Economic development -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Economic development; Economic history; Developing countries; Periodicals; 338.91724
• DOI: 10.1080/19439342.2020.1731568
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1943-9342

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We examine the effect of the Zambia Child Grant Programme – an unconditional cash transfer (CT) targeted to rural households with children under age five – on height-for-age up to four years after programme initiation. The CT scheme had large positive effects on nutritional inputs like food expenditure and meal frequency, but no impact on child height-for-age. Production function estimates indicate that food carries little weight in the production of child height in the study sample. In settings with poor health infrastructure and harsh disease environments, a stand-alone CT is unlikely to address long-term chronic malnutrition unless accompanied by complementary interventions.