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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

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researcher spotlight

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin is the Acting Director for Africa in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He conducts research on national strategies and public investment for accelerating food systems transformation in Africa and provides analytical support to the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Daniel Gilligan

Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI)

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Bio

Dan Gilligan is Director of the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, and previously served as Deputy Director in IFPRI’s former Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division from 2015 to 2023. He is also Co-Lead of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Gender Equality (HER+). His research addresses the impact of interventions in social protection, agriculture, and nutrition; gender dimensions of intrahousehold decision-making; the design of programs to improve women’s well-being; and the economics of household investments in childhood nutrition and education. He has expertise in the design and conduct of randomized impact evaluations and many of his studies are based on mixed methods evaluations combining qualitative methods with field experiments. From 2013 to 2016, he was Adjunct Professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. His research has been featured in The New York Times, the Economist, The Atlantic online, and in blogs at VoxDev, the World Bank, and The Guardian. He holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland.

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Publications

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Working Paper

Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research

2024Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Paz, Flor
Details

Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research

Gender considerations in the design and delivery of social protection programs are critical to meet overall objectives of reducing poverty and vulnerability. We provide an overview of the policy discourse and research on social protection and gender in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on social assistance, social care, and social insurance. Taking a ‘review of reviews’ approach, we aggregate findings from rigorous evaluations on women’s health, economic, empowerment, and violence impacts. We show there is robust evidence that social assistance has beneficial effects across all four domains. In addition, there is emerging evidence that social care has positive impacts on women’s economic outcomes, but scarce evidence of its impacts on other domains. Aggregated evidence on the impacts of social insurance are lacking. Key design elements facilitating positive impacts for women relate to gender targeting; quality complementary programming; replacing conditionalities with soft nudges; ensuring the value, frequency, and duration of benefits are sufficient; and gender-sensitive operational components. We close with a discussion of evidence gaps and priorities for future research.

Year published

2024

Authors

Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Paz, Flor

Citation

Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; and Paz, Flor. 2024. Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2257. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144240

Keywords

Gender; Poverty; Social Protection; Vulnerability; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

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Report

Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) evaluation of SPIR II RFSA – Midline survey report

2024Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hirvonen, Kalle; Leight, Jessica; Tesfaye, Haleluya
Details

Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) evaluation of SPIR II RFSA – Midline survey report

The objective of this report is to present results from the midline survey conducted as part of the IMPEL evaluation of SPIR-II, a randomized controlled trial launched in 2022. The second phase of the Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR-II) project aims to enhance livelihoods, increase resilience to shocks, and improve food security and nutrition for rural households vulnerable to food insecurity in Ethiopia. The project is situated within Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), one of the largest safety net programs in Africa. Funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), SPIR-II is implemented by World Vision International (lead), CARE, and ORDA in the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. The IMPEL SPIR-II impact evaluation employs an experimental design with three arms comparing two treatment combinations of livelihood and nutrition graduation model programming provided to PSNP beneficiaries relative to a control group receiving only PSNP transfers. The treatment assignment is randomized at the kebele level in 234 kebeles. In the first arm (T1; the control group), PSNP is implemented by the government with SPIR II support for the provision of cash and food transfers only (no supplemental programming). In the second arm (T2), SPIR-II programming is rolled out to PSNP beneficiary households in conjunction with nurturing care groups targeting enhanced infant and young child nutritional practices. In the third arm (T3), PSNP beneficiary households receive SPIR-II programming and nurturing care groups (NCGs), supplemented with additional targeted cash transfers to pregnant and lactating women.

Year published

2024

Authors

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hirvonen, Kalle; Leight, Jessica; Tesfaye, Haleluya

Citation

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hirvonen, Kalle; Leight, Jessica; and Tesfaye, Haleluya. 2024. Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) evaluation of SPIR II RFSA – Midline survey report. Washington, DC: The Implementer-Led Evaluation & Learning Associate Award; International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Cash Transfers; Children; Food Security; Households; Nutrition; Poverty; Women

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Report

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Journal Article

Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial

2024The Maziko Trial Team; Gelli, Aulo; Duchoslav, Jan; Gladstone, Melissa; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Katundu, Mangani; Maleta, Ken; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Bliznashka, Lilia; Ahun, Marilyn
Details

Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Children in Malawi face high rates of malnutrition and are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. Community-based childcare centres (CBCCs) can be cost-effective platforms for scaling-up early childhood development (ECD) and nutrition social behaviour change (SBC) interventions. However, evidence also suggests potential synergies from coupling nutrition SBC with cash transfers (CT), given that rural households in Malawi face high levels of poverty and recurring extreme lean season food-security shocks. The Maziko trial is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using CBCCs and parenting care groups as platforms to improve maternal diets and child nutrition and development by providing nutrition-sensitive SBC and CT intervention packages in communities already receiving a standard of care Government SBC program.

Year published

2024

Authors

The Maziko Trial Team; Gelli, Aulo; Duchoslav, Jan; Gladstone, Melissa; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Katundu, Mangani; Maleta, Ken; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Bliznashka, Lilia; Ahun, Marilyn

Citation

The Maziko Trial Team. 2024. Impact evaluation of a maternal and child cash transfer intervention, integrated with nutrition, early childhood development, and agriculture messaging (MAZIKO-IE): A study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Trials 25: 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07782-3

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Maternal and Child Health; Nutrition; Community Organizations; Child Care; Child Development; Rural Areas; Food Security; Cash Transfers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07782-3 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Do ultra-poor graduation programs build resilience against droughts? Evidence from rural Ethiopia
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 04, 2024

Do ultra-poor graduation programs build resilience against droughts? Evidence from rural Ethiopia

By Kalle Hirvonen, Daniel Gilligan, Jessica Leight, Heleene Tambet, and Victor Villa

Safety nets can buttress households against climate shocks.

School feeding programs improve nutrition and child growth across generations: Evidence from India
IFPRI Blog
 | 
August 12, 2021

School feeding programs improve nutrition and child growth across generations: Evidence from India

By Suman Chakrabarti, Samuel Scott, Harold Alderman, Purnima Menon, and Daniel Gilligan

Research shows for the first time the benefits of a key type of social protection program extend years later to the children of recipients.

Social safety nets are crucial to the COVID-19 response. Some lessons to boost their effectiveness.
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 18, 2020

Social safety nets are crucial to the COVID-19 response. Some lessons to boost their effectiveness.

By Daniel Gilligan

Many countries have already implemented social assistance programs, but more challenges lie ahead.

Events

Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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April 17, 2024, 10:30 – 12:00 pm

Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia

Hybrid Event: April 17, 2024 at 10:30am-12:00pm EDT. This event will present findings from a randomized controlled trial of Strengthening PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR), a graduation model program embedded within the PSNP that is led by World Vision, in collaboration with CARE and ORDA, and with support from the Ethiopian government and USAID.

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference
IFPRI at External Event

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October 16 to 20, 2023

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference

Hybrid Conference: October 16, 2023 – 8:30 AM to October 20, 2023 – 5:00 PM CEST. IFPRI is pleased to participate in this year’s Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, being held at the World Forum in The Hague October 16–20, with a focus on “Nutrition for Resilience (N4R).

Irregular Migration and Food Security: A View from West Africa
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

July 20, 2023, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Irregular Migration and Food Security: A View from West Africa

Event: July 20, 2023 – 9:30 AM- 11:00 AM EDT. This seminar will present study results and the website, with discussion by researchers from IFPRI, WFP, and MIT as well as other experts.

News

September 22, 2020 | In the News

Cash assistance against corona crisis (Bistandsaktuelt) 

Bistandsaktuelt published an article on social protection in the form of cash payments to help prevent millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa from being thrown into extreme poverty because of the corona pandemic.  Deputy Division Director (PHN) and Senior Research Fellow Dan Gilligan states, “We are holding our breath to see if it will really explode in a large number of countries in […]

March 04, 2019 | In the News

What happens when you incentivise primary education in Uganda (VoxDev)

VoxDev published an op-ed regarding primary education incentivez in Uganda by Deputy Division Director Daniel Gilligan and Research Fellow Naureen Karachiwalla. Their research found that incentivizing teachers for achievement can increase education attainment when paired with adequate instructional resources.

June 30, 2024 | Press Release

Study Finds Bolsa Familia Children Healthier, Doing Better in School

Brasilia—Brazil’s Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer program has had a positive effect on the health and education of Brazil’s poor children, according to an evaluation by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Bolsa Familia is implemented by the Ministry of Social Development and the Fight against Hunger (MDS). MDS, the United Nations Development Program […]