Impact evaluation of FAO’s cash-for-work programme in Somalia

FAO

Impact evaluation of FAO’s cash-for-work programme in Somalia

Findings from the baseline survey

Year of publication 2024

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 58 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) This report presents the results from the analysis of baseline data collected for the evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s cash-for-work programme in Somalia. This programme provides temporary employment opportunities in the maintenance or rehabilitation of public infrastructure. Its primary objective is to offer income support to vulnerable individuals while facilitating the development of essential community assets. To evaluate the impact of the programme, we use a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design study, with one baseline and three follow-up surveys at 12, 24 and 36 months. The evaluation focuses on 14 districts in Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland. Within each district, we selected four treatment villages and four comparison villages. The baseline data collection took place in January/February 2023. We calculate five main programme outcomes as summary indexes: resilience, food security, income and livelihoods, agency, social cohesion. For all of them, we do not detect any statistically significant differences between the two evaluation arms. There are small imbalances between the treatment and comparison groups on three characteristics. The treatment arm reports a larger number of income sources, a larger number of months with members participating in wage labour and greater participation in social networks than the comparison group. These results were expected, since the baseline survey took place around three weeks after the public works activities started, though payments were not made. The analysis of sociodemographic characteristics points to a relatively successful targeting approach. We observe a relatively large share of people of working age and a minor share of elderly people. Households lacking adult members are only 1 percent of the sample. Further, one out of ten households report having a member with a moderate or severe disability.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2024. Impact evaluation of FAO’s cash-for-work programme in Somalia – Findings from the baseline survey. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd2760en

Language English

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