Paper short abstract:

This paper explores measurement gaps in the design and implementation of cash-transfer social protection programmes under the Nigerian NASSP with a proposal of methodologies to address identified inclusion and exclusion errors.

Paper long abstract:

Implemented by thee National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) under the office of the Nigerian Presidency, the Nigerian National Social Safety Nets Programme was designed to support households and individuals living below the poverty line of $2 United States Dollars per day. Intervention programmes under NASSP includes cash based transfer programs for households in the most economic at-risk communities in Nigeria. Since its launching in 2016, over one million beneficiaries have been reported as benefiting from the program implemented in more than 20 of the 36 states in Nigeria.

Despite the implementation spread of its initiatives, extensive inclusion and exclusion errors were discovered during a gender analysis study conducted in 2018. These errors derives mainly from the use of Community Based Targeting (CBT) and Proxy Means Test (PMT) in eligibility estimations for eligibility and selection criteria for cash transfer beneficiaries. Consequences of these errors are severe considering the focus of cash transfer programs on extremely vulnerable communities, especially internally displaced persons in the Nigerian North-East and North-West.

Using insights from quantitative and qualitative data from 1,017 respondents across 58 communities during the gender analysis, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of different manifestations and outcomes of these errors. This paper concludes by highlighting the value of inclusion and exclusion gradients for different categories of beneficiaries as a critical first step in addressing CBT/PMT design errors, especially for IDPs, poor urban households and women living in polygnous households.