Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program

Adaptive Social Protection programs are increasingly implemented in fragile and insecure contexts in the Sahel. This note provides a framework key principles and a repertoire of options for adapting social safety net projects to unprecedented levels of insecurity. The authors map operational security risks and identify ingredients for an appropriate response in risk assessment design beneficiary targeting and payment systems. Read more here.

The high level of exposure to shocks particularly climate-related and conflict-induced shocks across the Sahel exacerbates the population's vulnerability. In 2018-2019 a new set of harmonized household surveys were conducted that help identify the distributional impact of shocks in much greater detail than before. The key findings can help inform the development of adaptive social protection systems across the Sahel. Read more here. 

In addition to being regularly confronted with unpredictable shocks such as floods droughts or conflicts Sahelian households have to deal with the effects of seasonality. This leads to a significant reduction in food and non-food consumption across the season exposing the poor to transient food insecurity and malnutrition. This policy note comprehensively explores considerations around seasonality in the Sahel and presents policy implications.  Read more here.

How should we identify social safety net beneficiaries in ultra-poor settings? This policy note summarizes evidence covering nearly 20 targeting schemes across six countries in rural Sahel which together provide a holistic picture on the relative performance of methods to select beneficiaries (i.e. targeting methods). Read more here.

Sahel countries are exposed to major and particular challenges that must be accounted for. These characteristics impact the design and implementation of any DRF instrument for ASP in the region. This policy note attempts to capture those and suggest ways for policymakers to address them. It evaluates common myths about DRF and shows how they do not or only partially apply in the context of the Sahel and what policymakers may consider instead. Read more here.

Chronic high rates of childhood undernutrition in the Sahel have resulted in significant costs to human capital. What opportunities exist to accelerate the reduction of childhood undernutrition in this region? Read more here.

This policy note presents strong evidence of the impacts of early childhood exposure to shocks on later life human capital outcomes in lower–middle–income countries, particularly in the Sahel region. It recommends key, evidence–based social protection interventions to mitigate these impacts and protect human capital. Read more here.

Mauritania is highly exposed to recurrent droughts resulting in food security crises. The Government of Mauritania, with support from the World Bank, has introduced a new institutional and operational framework for the coordination and funding of responses to food security crises in the country. Established as part of this reform, as the financial backbone of this framework, The National Fund for Food and Nutrition Crisis Response (FNRCAN) aligns and optimizes the financing for responses to food security crises. Read more here.

This policy note presents evidence–based guidance for the effective design, implementation, and utilization of small–quantity lipid–based nutrient supplements (SQ–LNS) interventions in the Sahel region. SQ–LNS are food supplements containing essential nutrients and are intended for daily consumption alongside standard age–appropriate diets. SQ–LNS effectively prevent child undernutrition and improve child growth and development. Read more here.

This technical paper describes a coordinated multi-country impact evaluation (randomized control trial, RCT) to evaluate the relative effectiveness of early responses to drought versus traditional responses in the Sahel.

This technical paper first summarizes the existing literature investigating the association between exposure to shocks in early childhood and later life human capital outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The document then details evidence-based interventions which could be used to mitigate the impact of exposure to shocks in early childhood on human capital accumulation

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Including events in partnership with the Sahel Alliance, DIME, and BMZ, among others.

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Including events' highlights, a high-level conversation on the humanitarian-development nexus in Chad and our LinkedIn launch, among others.

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This paper incorporates microeconomic estimates of the effect of the rainy season quality on food consumption into a catastrophe risk modeling approach to develop a novel framework for early forecasting of food insecurity at sub-national levels. The model relies on three usual components of catastrophe risk models that are adapted for estimation of the impact of rainy season quality on food insecurity: natural hazards, households’ vulnerability and exposure. The paper applies this framework in the context of rural Mauritania and optimizes the model calibration with a machine learning procedure. The model can produce fairly accurate lean season food insecurity predictions very early on in the agricultural season

In this paper, Premand and Stoeffler assess whether small regular cash transfers strengthen poor households' ability to mitigate the welfare effects of drought shocks. The authors analyze mechanisms through which cash transfers contribute to resilience, including savings, asset accumulation as well as income smoothing in agriculture and off-farm activities. The results suggest that multi-year cash transfer programs can foster poor households’ resilience by facilitating savings and income smoothing.

This paper shows that a multi-faceted intervention can open pathways out of extreme poverty by relaxing capital and psychosocial constraints through a four-arm randomized evaluation among extremely poor female beneficiaries already enrolled in a national cash transfer government programme in Niger.

The Adaptive Social Protection Stress Test is a global tool that is fully reflective of the circumstances in the Sahel. The stress test rates countries along a set of criteria grouped into five clusters: government leadership, institutional arrangements, data and information, programs and delivery systems, and finance. The criteria are focused on the key factors and actions needed to ensure steady development of ASP systems. 

This publication highlights recent economic trends and discusses development issues relevant to Burkina Faso, including macroeconomic and microeconomic impacts of the pandemic; the Government’s response; the status of social protection, and policy recommendations.

This case study presents the experience of implementing a coherent set of productive inclusion measures through national social safety nets programs in four Sahel countries. It provides insights on the challenges and opportunities of delivering productive inclusion programs at scale through government systems. 

See below more related materials.

Pathways to maintain fiscal sustainability and support a more inclusive economic recovery after COVID-19

This paper analyzes household data from nine programs implemented in the Sahel using a harmonized approach to compare Proxy-Means Testing and Community-Based Targeting selection as conducted in practice, once geographical targeting has been applied.

This report sets out the results of a qualitative assessment of the constraints to productive employment that was conducted in the Social Safety Net project areas, across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Chad.

Deprivation mapping uses administrative and geospatial settlement-level data to estimate settlement access deprivations across 4 dimensions: social services, basic infrastructure, opportunities, and exposure to weather/climate shocks. Database and visualizations highlight and rank each settlement’s deprivation index

Relying on panel data from Niger, this report simulates the performance of various targeting methods that are widely used by development and humanitarian actors. The methods include proxy-means testing (PMT), household economy analysis (HEA), geographical targeting, and combined methods.

This report presents the current state of social safety nets in Burkina Faso and discusses their effectiveness in meeting the needs of the poor. It is meant to inform a debate on feasible reform and policy options to make social safety more effective and impactful. The report also offers guidance on the consolidation of expenditure.

The methods to select safety net beneficiaries are the subject of frequent policy debates. This paper presents the results from a randomized experiment analyzing how efficiency, legitimacy, and short-term program effectiveness vary across widely used targeting methods.

This multi-country collection of case studies provides a fresh examination of the ingredients and conditions under which international humanitarian assistance and adaptive national safety net programs could better coexist and converge.

This brief provides an overview of the work of the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program: Objectives, accomplishments, and priorities going forward.

The Government of Niger set up a national social safety net program that includes unconditional cash transfers as well as behavioural change measures to promote investments in children. Lessons from program implementation and evaluations highlight that this model could reach a large number of poor families and induce changes in parenting practices.

From evidence to policy - learning what works for better programs and policies: Can cash and behavioral change programs improve child development?

The purpose of this report is to review the state of poverty and vulnerability in Burkina Faso, as well as trends, and to evaluate the possible effects of development strategy policies and the Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy on poverty and social development.

This paper presents evidence that a cash transfer project in rural Niger induced investments in assets and productive activities that were sustained among the very poor 18 months after project completion. 

Chad critically needs a government-led and well-designed social safety nets system. Adaptive safety nets can mitigate the impact of climate change, protect the environment, avoid further soil erosion, improve water use, and protect against floods.