Paper short abstract:

Using a mixed-methods approach, the paper assesses the impact of the Economic Empowerment Project in Malawi, and its specific components - lump-sum transfer and/or business training - on several socio-economic outcomes. The aim is to verify whether this is a feasible solution to poverty eradication.

Paper long abstract:

While social protection schemes, such as cash transfers are effective in improving benefi-ciaries' ability to meet their basic needs, the available evidence, especially in Africa, shows that they are unlikely to move them out of extreme poverty in a sustainable manner. Alternative anti-poverty programs, such as BRAC graduation strategies in Bangladesh, seem to contribute to this outcome, but they are costly and it is unclear which component of these multi-sectorial interventions really makes the difference. The present paper tries to fill this knowledge gap, by assessing the impacts of the Tingathe Economic Empowerment Pilot Project in Malawi, designed by GIZ. The project targets ultra-poor and labor-constrained households (who already receive the national social cash transfer) in the district of Mwanza. Designed as a cluster-randomized-control-trial, it provides to different village clusters: a) lump-sum transfer; b) financial/business training; c) both lump-sum transfer and train-ing. The general objective is to verify whether in comparison to a control group the lump-sum transfer, the training, or the combination of the two have a substantial impact on ag-ricultural, business activities, savings, asset accumulation, consumption and food security.

To achieve these objectives, we employed a mixed-methods approach. First, we conducted interviews and focus groups discussions immediately after project implementation to dis-cover how people were using the lump-sum and the training. Then, one year later, we carried out a detailed household survey, consisting of 803 households and covering the three treatment groups and the control group.

.