Impact Evaluation of WFP's Fresh Food Voucher Pilot Programme in Ethiopia

Malnutrition Clinical Trial

Official title:

Impact Evaluation of WFP's Fresh Food Voucher Pilot Programme in Ethiopia

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03590717
• Other study ID #: 699013
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 27, 2018
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: February 2019
• Source: International Food Policy Research Institute
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

To assess the impact of WFP's Fresh Food Voucher Pilot Programme in Ethiopia on children's and mother's diets

Description:

Rationale: Infants, young children and adult women in rural Ethiopia consume one of the least diversified diets in the world. The World Food Programme's Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) Pilot Programme aims to improve dietary diversity among infants and young children and their mothers. The focus on these demographic groups is based on the now well-established theory on the importance of the 'first 1,000 days'. This period, spanning the pregnancy and the first 2 years of child's life, is considered critical for child's physical growth and cognitive development. The beneficiary households receive a voucher that can be used to purchase fresh foods (fruits, vegetables and certain animal source foods).

Objective: The main objectives of the evaluation are to assess and report on the performance and results of the FFV programme to help WFP present high-quality and credible evidence of actual impact to its donors. In addition, the evaluation will determine the reasons why certain results occurred (or not) to draw lessons, derive good practices and pointers for learning.

Study design: This is a mixed methods evaluation that combines a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with caregivers and food traders. The RCT contains three arms. The first treatment arm receives a smaller voucher (roughly $12-17) and social behavioural change communication (SBCC). The second treatment arm receives a larger voucher (roughly $21-23) and SBCC. Households in the third study arm (control) receive SBCC but do not receive vouchers. A cluster in this impact evaluation is defined as a village (got in Amharic) and these clusters of are randomly allocated to the different arms of the trial. Within a cluster, all eligible households will receive the same treatment.

Study population: All households with a child between 6-17 months at the baseline in December 2017 were eligible to be included in the quantitative sample.

Main study parameters/endpoints: The main outcomes of interest are minimum acceptable diet score for children 6- 23 months (World Health Organization, 2008) and minimum diet diversity for women of reproductive age (FAO & FHI-360, 2016).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 574
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 6 Months to 17 Months

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Households with young children aged 6-17 months age at the baseline in December 2017.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Diet; Deficiency
• Malnutrition

Intervention

Behavioral:
• BCC-Only
Households in the 'BCC-only' arm receive SBCC but do not receive vouchers.

Other:
• Small-voucher
Households in the 'Small-voucher' arm receive a voucher (~$12-17) every month that entitles them to purchase fresh foods (fruits, vegetables and animal sourced foods). The households in this arm also receive the same social behavioural change communication (SBCC) messages as the 'BCC-only' arm.
• Large-voucher
Households in the 'Large-voucher' arm receive a larger voucher (~$21-23) every month that entitles them to purchase fresh foods (fruits, vegetables and animal sourced foods). The households in this arm also receive the same social behavioural change communication (SBCC) messages as the 'BCC-only' arm.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Ethiopia	Kalle Hirvonen	Addis Ababa

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
International Food Policy Research Institute	Addis Ababa University, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Ethiopia, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Minimum Acceptable Diet Scores (MAD) of children 6-23 months of age	Change in the proportion of children achieving MAD	12 months
Primary	Minimum diet diversity (MDD-W) for women of reproductive age	Change in the proportion of women achieving MDD-W	12 months
Secondary	Minimum Diet Diversity (MDD) of children 6-23 months of age	Change in the proportion of children achieving MDD	12 months
Secondary	Minimum Meal Frequency (MFF) of children 6-23 months of age	Change in the proportion of children achieving MFF	12 months
Secondary	Household Diet Diversity Score (HDDS)	Mean difference in HDDS	12 months
Secondary	WFP Food Consumption Score- Nutrition	Mean difference in WFP Food Consumption Score- Nutrition	12 months