NCT00966849

Manicaland Cash Transfer Trial for Children in Zimbabwe

The Scientific Evaluation of a Cash Transfer Pilot Project to Support Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Manicaland, Zimbabwe

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 4,043 (actual)
• Sponsor: Imperial College London · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether cash transfers (conditional and unconditional) can improve health and social outcomes amongst children living in vulnerable households in Manicaland, eastern Zimbabwe. The study hypotheses are: 1. Cash transfers will increase the percentage of vulnerable children aged 0-4 years with a birth certificate. 2. Cash transfers will increase the percentage of vulnerable children aged 0-4 years with up-to-date vaccinations. 3. Cash transfers will increase the percentage of vulnerable children aged 6-12 years attending primary school at least 80% of days per month.

Detailed description

Cash transfer programmes provide cash to families caring for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). Conditional cash transfer programmes require families to comply with conditions relating to child health, education and general social welfare in order to receive the cash. We plan to evaluate conditional and unconditional cash transfer programmes in Manicaland, eastern Zimbabwe - a predominantly rural area with high HIV prevalence. We will employ a cluster randomised controlled trial design. Ten existing study sites that represent four socio-economic strata - subsistence farming areas, roadside trading settlements, large-scale agricultural estates (tea estates and forestry estates) and small towns - have been identified as part of a separate, ongoing cohort study. Each site has been divided into 3 smaller, socio-economically homogenous clusters providing a total of 30 clusters that will form ten matched triplets. One site from each matched triplet will then be randomly assigned to one of three study arms - conditional cash transfer arm, unconditional cash transfer arm, and standard social services arm. Data on the primary endpoints will be collected using a rapid, baseline census of all households in the study clusters. This will take approximately 3 months to complete. The cash transfer programmes will commence, in the appropriate intervention arms, shortly after completion of baseline data collection. A similar follow-up census will take place two years after initiation of the intervention. The cash transfer interventions will be delivered by a local NGO called Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP), who work in partnership with Catholic Relief Services Zimbabwe. The baseline and follow-up censuses will be managed and conducted by the Biomedical Research and Training Institute Zimbabwe (BRTI) and Imperial College London. Data will also be collected from children in a sample of households from each of the study clusters as part of the ongoing Manicaland Cohort Study, which is a parallel study conducted by BRTI and Imperial College London. This data will also be used to evaluate the cash transfer programmes.

Conditions

• Vaccination
• Education
• Birth Registration
• Financial Support

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Conditional Cash Transfer	Households will receive bimonthly payments of US$18 plus US$4 per child under 18 years living in the house up to a maximum of 3 children i.e. transfers will vary from $22 to $30. Households will only be given the cash if they comply with the following conditions: * An application for a birth certificate must be made for all children under 18 years in the household who do not already have a birth certificate, including all newborn children within 3 months of birth. * All children under 5 years in the household must be up-to-date with vaccinations. * All children under 5 years must attend a growth monitoring clinic twice per year. * All children 6-17 years in the household attended school at least 90% of days in the last month. * At least one adult from each household attended at least 2 of the 3 most recent parenting skills classes.
OTHER	Unconditional Cash Transfers	Households will receive bimonthly payments of US$18 plus US$4 per child under 18 years living in the house up to a maximum of 3 children i.e. transfers will vary from $22 to $30. Households will not be required to comply with conditions in order to receive the cash.
OTHER	Standard Agricultural Package	A standard agricultural package (e.g. seeds, fertiliser etc.) will be distributed in all study arms including the control arm as a gesture of goodwill to all those participating in the study.
OTHER	Parenting Skills Classes	2-3 parenting skills classes will be held annually in each study cluster.

Timeline

• Start date: 2009-08-01
• Primary completion: 2011-02-01
• Completion: 2011-02-01
• First posted: 2009-08-27
• Last updated: 2019-08-02
• Results posted: 2019-07-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Zimbabwe