Evaluation of the Hunger Safety Net Programme Phase 3: COVID-19 Cash Transfer 2020-2021 (Kenya)
Abstract
To support the urban poor during the COVID-19 crisis, the UK government provided a monthly Cash Transfer (CT) of 4,000 Kenyan Shillings (KSH) (or £27) to approximately 52,000 vulnerable people living in informal settlements in Nairobi and Mombasa over a period of three months. The COVID-19 CT was implemented by a consortium led by GiveDirectly, and the monthly stipend was paid using mobile money transfers, with the first transfers taking place from October 2020. The CT was designed to support beneficiaries to buy food or meet other high-priority needs-such as purchasing water, paying for medical care, or making rent payments as well as to reduce the use of negative coping strategies (e.g., selling assets, borrowing money).
OPM was contracted to conduct the monitoring and evaluation of the COVID-19 CT. The main objective of this evaluation was to determine whether, and to what extent, the emergency COVID-19 CT had a positive effect on its target population in informal urban settlements in Kenya. The evaluation also provided an assessment of the implementation parameters and mechanisms adopted as part of the design and delivery of the COVID-19 CT.
To fulfil these aims, the evaluation was structured around two separate components-an impact evaluation and a process review-and drew on multiple research methods through a mixed methods research framework. The objective of the quantitative impact evaluation was to assess whether the COVID-19 CT has had an impact on its beneficiaries, and to quantify the scale of any effect detected. This estimation of impact was based on a longitudinal non-experimental design, focusing on a panel of beneficiaries interviewed at three points in time (baseline - prior to the intervention, midline, and endline - post-intervention) over the course of the implementation period. All quantitative data collection took place remotely using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) software.