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EVIDENCE POLICY

June, 2012

a note series on learning what works, from the Human Development Network

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Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather?
Severe weather conditions can undo even the best efforts of families to break free of poverty. Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming are especially at the mercy of severe weather. Droughts and floods wipe out crops, leaving families hungry or without anything to sell to pay for essentials such as school fees or medicines. Climate changes have made weather even more variable in many countries, exacerbating problems such as droughts, extreme temperatures and flooding. Policymakers seeking to offset the …ver más…

The longerterm question was whether households would be able to diversify their income streams so they could better protect themselves against future droughts and other severe weather conditions. ties, with a total of 3002 eligible households, and 50 control communities. Households in the treatment communities were assigned by lottery to one of three groups. The first group qualified for a conditional cash transfer program that gave them $145 if they met certain conditions including: taking children for regular growth monitoring check-ups; sending children aged 7-15 to school; attending lessons on nutrition and using at least some of the transfer to improve the nutritional content of family meals. The amount was increased by $90 if the family had school-age children, with an extra $25 per child for school supplies. The second group qualified for the same cash transfer program and also received a scholarship for vocational training to develop new marketable skills. The third group qualified for the conditional cash transfer program and also received a $200 grant to develop a non-agricultural business. Households that received the grant had to provide a start-up plan and received training and technical assistance to develop the plan. Take-up was close to 100 percent for all the groups. The program lasted one year, and baseline data were collected in April-May 2005, right before the