Empowered Worldviews: Assessing the persistence of psychosocial intervention effects in Zambia

Evidence on the persistence of psychosocial outcomes of interventions over the medium and long term, and in the face of shocks and stressors, is limited. We examined the extent to which empowerment associated with a psychosocial, faith-based approach, Empowered Worldview (EWV) persisted 3–5 years post-delivery of the intervention in Zambia among smallholder farmers. The EWV intervention in Zambia was delivered as part of THRIVE, an integrated livelihoods programme. We followed a previous study to disaggregate individual-level empowerment associated with EWV into three domains: internal (which relates to ‘power within’), localised (typically participation and access), and structural (e.g. institutional, environmental, and social structures).

To explore the persistence of EWV effects on empowerment, we used mixed methods and longitudinal data collected in 2020 and 2023, which were the midline and endline points of the THRIVE programme. Empirically, we used descriptive and regression analysis to compare internal and localised empowerment levels between the survey rounds (2020 and 2023) across study groups – including groups that received EWV before and after 2020 – and to the control group. We also re-interviewed a subset of EWV participants interviewed in 2020 to understand how empowerment has changed at the individual level over time.

Life history diagram for Beatrice.

The results show levels of internal empowerment associated with the EWV intervention persisted between the midline and endline surveys, especially when combined with THRIVE livelihood interventions. At the midline, 80.0 per cent of THRIVE with EWV participants were empowered, compared to 82.3 per cent at the endline. In contrast, 72.6 per cent and 73.07 per cent of the control sample participants were empowered at the midline and the endline, respectively. Quantitative results further show that localised empowerment significantly improved between survey rounds among participants who received EWV training and is positively associated with internal empowerment, consistent with literature that suggests localised enablers (supporting social environments) are crucial to sustaining internal empowerment. The qualitative data shows that persistent internal and localised empowerment was observed mostly among households in the non-poor wellbeing category, suggesting that additional interventions are needed to reach the poorest participants. Results also show internal and localised empowerment are positively associated with indicators of household resilience. We conclude the paper with recommendations for programming.

Life history diagram for Edward

Click here to read the full report

For further insights on the first phase of the study, click here

Zambia Poverty Dynamics Research

Front page of policy brief

The policy agenda proposed here builds on good measures already taken by the Government of Zambia in education, social protection, debt relief and macroeconomic management, and addresses the challenges that remain in creating a more prosperous and equal Zambia.

The rate of poverty reduction slowed in Zambia during the 2010s, and especially with the 2019 drought and policy responses to the pandemic. A high level of rural chronic poverty is associated with farming and other natural resource-based occupations, suggesting that natural resource management requires significant policy attention. Surprisingly, chronic poverty is highest in eastern and southern Zambia, despite the maize- and livestock-based economics in those regions.

In the context of continuing climate change, risks to natural resource-based occupations are increasing rapidly, which keeps people poor. Sustained escapes from poverty have not exceeded downward mobility into poverty. Urbanised provinces have typically done better than rural ones in reducing extreme poverty and deprivation. 

Zambia’s debt servicing obligations and low economic growth have meant that public expenditure is constrained, though a little less in 2023 than in 2022 when reduced debt servicing allowed increased allocations to education and social protection budgets among others. Significantly greater public expenditure will be needed to recapture a higher rate of poverty reduction. However, it is also important that expenditure goes to items that will reach and benefit poor and vulnerable people. 

This policy brief recommends a series measures, several of which are already underway, and within a sound macroeconomic management framework that has been put in place.

Download the policy brief

Covid-19 Life History Infographics: Zambia

Impacts of the Government of Zambia’s Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic on Poverty

Covid-19 tested the social welfare system that successive governments have been building in Zambia over the last two decades. Zambia had one of the highest poverty rates in the world going into the Covid-19 pandemic as well as overlapping vulnerabilities related to climate change, macroeconomic instability, and high external debt. These and other challenges exposed many people living above the poverty line to impoverishment and pushed households living in poverty further towards destitution.

Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN), and the Institute of Social and Economic Research (INESOR) have been monitoring the impacts of the pandemic on people living in or near poverty in Zambia since early 2021 in three districts – Lusaka, Kabwe and Chipata - about the reach and impact of these policies. This policy brief reviews the Government of Zambia’s key policies to mitigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on people living in or near poverty and summarises insights from people affected by these policies about what they have achieved and how they can be improved.

Download the policy brief

Poverty, Hunger and Jobs: Pandemic Update and Recovery Prospects

The COVID-19 pandemic and intersecting crises— including climate change, conflict, debt, and the ‘triple F’ crisis (food, fuel, finance)— have reversed progress on a range of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), increasing the number of people in poverty, contributing to a dramatic rise in hunger and food insecurity, increasing gender inequalities, and constraining the effectiveness of interventions to promote pro-poor livelihoods and decent jobs.

In many countries, the post-COVID-19 recovery has been slow and incomplete. To promote the joining up of SDGs (1- no poverty, 2- zero hunger, 8- decent work and economic growth), CPAN/IDS, IFPRI, Southern Voice, and the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development co-convened a three-day virtual international workshop in June 2023 on “poverty, hunger and jobs”. Its aim was to synthesise latest knowledge and data about the effects and the effectiveness of policy responses on these issues, and to work out its policy/programming implications to re-establish positive development progress on hunger, jobs and poverty.

This brief outlines key takeaways and recommendations from the workshop presentations and discussions.

Download the resources

The Role of Local Resources in Mitigating the Impact of Covid-19

Governments often found it challenging to mitigate the negative socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19 for households in and near poverty. Local efforts were critical to supplement government measures and implement government guidelines.

In Ethiopia, these efforts mobilised a pre-existing, government supported village network system. In Bangladesh, a network of formal and informal strategies played an important role in increasing assistance to people affected by the pandemic, including through industry-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

This policy brief outlines local responses to and lessons learnt from mitigating the negative socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19.

Download the policy brief

Delegating Authority in Bangladesh to Manage the Covid-19 Pandemic

Bangladesh, like most countries, grappled with the harsh conditions of Covid-19, with little infrastructure and set up of institutions to deal with the consequences of the pandemic.

A country with a large informal economy, and an even larger export manufacturing sector it is highly dependent on, the Bangladesh government had tough decisions to make when it came to saving and protecting the lives of millions, as well as ensuring continued economic activity to save livelihoods.

To strike a balance between protecting both these important factors, the central government adopted a unique approach of mobilising and enabling the local government to implement a lot of measures. Their approach was area centric, in that the local government recognised the needs of their districts, and that looked different for different areas of the country, whether rural or urban, agricultural or industrial focused.

This policy brief outlines some of the local measures and responses that worked in minimising the impact of Covid-19 on the dense Bangladeshi population.

Download the policy brief

Mitigating Learning Disruption During Covid-19: Evidence from India

Long school closures in India during the pandemic caused significant learning disruption, with particularly adverse consequences for marginalised girls and boys.

Data from large-scale representative surveys does not show a massive fall in enrolment because of the closures. However, low levels of basic reading and maths skills among school-age children are concerning. In response, various centrally managed interventions took place during the pandemic (e.g. to encourage enrolment, including through social protection).

Schools also undertook measures with a more direct bearing on children’s learning. Continued efforts are needed to reach severely disadvantaged children who are not enrolled.

Download the policy brief

Migrants’ Vulnerabilities in India During the Pandemic

Migration promotes agglomeration of economic activity in more productive locations and improves employment opportunities for households in less developed regions, alleviating poverty and boosting shared prosperity through remittances.

Most internal migrants’ livelihoods are characterised by circular mobility, mandatory physical presence at work, temporary or seasonal nature of work, and informality. Beside their temporary residential status and lack of access to government welfare schemes, most migrants are vulnerable workers.

The Covid-19 pandemic made them more vulnerable due to its mobility restrictions and total shutdown of the economy during lockdown. The extent of precarity migrants faced depended on existing policies, and how agile policymakers were in responding to the crisis and introducing new policies to protect vulnerable migrants.

Download the policy brief

Lessons on South Africa’s Social Protection Response to Covid-19

South Africa stands out for its social protection response to Covid-19, especially regarding the expansion of programmes, number of beneficiaries and benefit amount.

At the height of the pandemic, the government introduced the emergency Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was introduced for over 10 million unemployed adults and informal workers through a digitised system.

Despite successes in expanding the grant system, digitisation of the system presented challenges and led to exclusion errors. An alternative to the country’s school feeding scheme, the National School Nutrition Programme which regularly fed around 10 million children, could not be found.

Download the policy brief

Responding to Polycrisis in Ethiopia and Kenya

The spread of Covid-19 was layered on to various intersecting crises (‘polycrisis’), worsening people’s lives and weakening governments’ responses to the pandemic. Many responses to multiple crises focus on single hazards.

This brief highlights effective responses to Covid-19, drought and conflict from Kenya and Ethiopia, which may offer lessons for future policy and programming that equitably address multiple crises.

It focuses on two examples of how governments and local actors have sought to strengthen people’s ability to cope with multiple crises: through collaboration at different levels of governance across sectors; and strengthening resilience through water management.

Download the policy brief

Measures to Mitigate Pandemic Restrictions

Policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in the global South were dominated by movement restrictions and lockdowns imposed in the global North, and not always relevant to the countries or geographical areas where they were imposed.

Countries must be free to decide how to manage a global crisis, so their governments can take decisions that are in the best interests of their citizens, with specific reference to the poorest people, whose lives are already challenging. Many countries’ political and public finance systems could not support mitigating measures to compensate the effects of the lockdowns and restrictions.

Such measures rarely made up for the job losses, income reduction and erosion of social capital caused by closing economies. They also rarely reached some of the groups most affected – including those in the urban informal economy, poor migrants and poor women.

Download the policy brief

The Pandemic, Informality and Poverty: Rethinking Economic Policy Responses to the Informal Economy

Informal workers, who represent over 60 per cent of all workers globally, were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic restrictions and recession.

The pandemic exposed the pre-existing disadvantages that informal workers face as well as the essential goods and services they provide.

To reduce poverty and inequality going forward, it is important to build on this new-found recognition of the contributions of informal workers and promote an enabling policy and regulatory environment towards them.

Download the policy brief

“We will die in poverty before dying by COVID”: Young adults and multilayered crises in Afghanistan

Afghanistan experienced an extraordinary situation in 2021 that presents a complex example of how an intensified level of conflict and the global COVID-19 pandemic of added to an increasing prevalence of drought due to climate change has been affecting people’s livelihoods from different angles. In pre-August 2021, the country experienced record-level violence across the provinces. This was followed by the gradual fall of districts, provinces and finally the capital Kabul into the hands of the current de facto authorities, the Taliban.

Meanwhile, like any other part of the world, Afghanistan also experienced the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hindered people’s access to jobs, health care and different sources of revenue. Alongside this, the second-worst drought in 4 years (IFRC, 2021) has widely affected the livelihoods of the majority of people who rely on agriculture and livestock as the sole source of income.

There has been limited research into how these situations have combined to affect livelihoods and wellbeing in Afghanistan. This article attempts to advance understanding of this issue and promote research that investigates overlapped crises.

Read the full synthesis paper here.

Vulnerability in Afghanistan before and during the shift in power

Afghanistan is experiencing contemporaneous crises including drought, floods, COVID-19, insecurity, political and economic crises, and displacement, all of which pose serious risks. This layering of crises heightens the probability of welfare loss, which has worsened since the transition of power, and the subsequent suspension of development aid. Though there has been an emergency response from the international community, the scale of macro-level challenges is considerable, and in turn may also compound vulnerabilities at the micro level for population subgroups, such as people in or near poverty, as well as certain groups like women and girls, persons with disabilities, and displaced populations. Though poverty is not synonymous with vulnerability, it is one of the factors that can heighten vulnerability. This brings up the question that if a large share or majority of the population is vulnerable, what is the value in identifying vulnerable groups? Are there degrees of vulnerability, or intersections of contexts and characteristics that may limit resilience capacities and amplify vulnerability that need to be considered?

This paper identifies vulnerable groups in Afghanistan and examines how they can be supported through humanitarian and wider assistance provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). It synthesises a range of quantitative and qualitative data sources from 2019 to 2022, spanning multiple household and settlement survey datasets and qualitative in-depth interviews with households and key informants to understand risks and resilience factors that could contribute to vulnerability reduction. This is complemented with a rapid literature review of vulnerability in Afghanistan based on journal articles and grey literature primarily over the last decade to offer a longer-term perspective. The study was commissioned by the FCDO’s South Asia Research Hub to better understand who is most vulnerable in Afghanistan and how can they be supported through humanitarian and wider assistance provided by FCDO, especially since the August 2021 shift in power.

Authors: Vidya Diwakar, Ihsanullah Ghafoori, and Orzala Nemat

The full paper can be downloaded here.

Tanzania Covid-19 Poverty Monitor: Urban and peri-urban areas

Tanzania had its first and most serious wave of Covid-19 from March to June 2020, and adopted the policy responses of partial lockdown, school and international border closures, and banned mass gatherings except religious ones which could be attended with social distancing. In June 2020 some of the strict measures like closing bars, hotels, schools, social events and other businesses were relaxed with some precautions while hygiene and sanitation practices remained in place. The then President of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli, instructed to stop publishing data on Covid-19 cases and deaths in late April 2020 for several reasons. First, he was sceptical about the corona testing kits, the process and the integrity of the laboratory technicians. Second, giving data to the citizens was of no help but created fear and panic. He declared that people should pray and rely on God and on traditional medicines while doubting Covid-19 tests. The second and third waves of the pandemic occurred from November 2020 to March 2021 and from June 2021 to October 2021 respectively. The fourth wave occurred from November 2021. President John Pombe Magufuli passed away on 17th March 2021. After his death his successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, resumed the publication of Covid-19 cases and deaths and committed Tanzania to a vaccination programme.

She also opened up for external financial assistance to support government’s efforts in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. While lockdown was short lived and partial, the fears induced by the pandemic lived on in people’s cautious healthcare practices through to the end of the second wave of Covid-19 (November 2020 to March 2021). The healthcare practices included wearing a face mask, washing hands with soap and running water and avoiding handshakes. And some of the effects of the lockdown, healthcare practices changes resulting from the pandemic, and global economic pandemic related trends have lived on till the present. The third and fourth waves of the pandemic occurred from June 2021 to October 2021 and from November 2021 to the time of the research on which this bulletin is based (March 2022) respectively.

Read the full report here.

Covid-19 monitoring in rural Tanzania: The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing factors negatively affecting wellbeing

Tanzania avoided a recession due to Covid-19, mainly because it had little stringency in its Covid-19 policy responses. However, the country suffered a decline in real GDP growth rate, and poverty incidence declined marginally between 2020 and 2021. This Bulletin is based on a study which was conducted to disaggregate understanding of who has been affected among the poor and vulnerable, investigate the intersecting disadvantages which may have made it harder for some households and individuals to remain resilient while others were impoverished, and contextualise Covid-19 impacts within a broader examination of the multiple causes of poverty dynamics before and during the pandemic.

The study was conducted in Kongwa and Kilolo Districts, Tanzania, through 48 interviews, which included 27 Life History Interviews (LHIs), 12 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and nine Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). It was found that Covid-19 exacerbated pre-existing factors which were negatively impacting interviewees’ incomes but that it did not have adverse economic effects in some areas such as in Rural Kongwa District.

The poor were most affected by an inability to meet costs to practice preventative measures against the pandemic and subsequent treatment if they succumbed to it, and lower earnings due to missed casual labour work. The non-poor were also affected by higher costs incurred on preventive measures against the pandemic and getting treatment if they succumbed to it, and also by a decline in customers for their businesses, and rises in costs of inputs while the prices of products and other goods they traded declined. The main factors for wellbeing improvement before the pandemic were a diversification of crops planted, the acquisition of more land for agriculture, agricultural mechanisation, and doing non-farm businesses besides farm activities. The main factors for wellbeing improvement during the pandemic were avoiding the high costs on Covid-19 infection prevention and treatment, increases in customers after Covid-19 diminished, and getting a loan and using it successfully on income-generating activities. A big policy implication of the findings is that measures to prevent impoverishment are generally very inadequate.

In order to prevent impoverishment and keep poverty declining, even in the face of pandemics like Covid-19, it is recommended that Tanzania needs to target more chronically poor and vulnerable people by strengthening measures against destitution (movement into Wellbeing Level, WB 1); take proper measures for non-pandemic factors which impede poverty reduction, even when there is no pandemic, such as climatic factors, qualities and quantities of agricultural inputs and technologies, agricultural marketing and selling, and taxation on various businesses; and improve social services including education and health.

Authors: Lucia da Corta, Kim Abel Kayunze, Judith Samwel Kahamba, Constantine George Simba, Andrew Shepherd, and Halima Omari Mangi

Read the full report here.

Sustaining escapes from ultra-poverty: A mixed methods assessment of layered interventions in coastal Bangladesh

Bangladesh has seen its poverty rate, the proportion of people living on less than USD1.90 a day, reduce drastically, from 34.2% in 2000 to 6.6% by 2019. However, households who have escaped poverty remain vulnerable to re-impoverishment, and there are still people in the country living in ultra-poverty marked by limited capabilities and assets.

This research explores the potential of multi-sectoral integration and layering of the Ultra Poor Graduation (UPG) programming combined with inclusive Market Systems Development (iMSD); climate-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions to enhance individual and community level resilience capacities and prevent re-entry of participants of the UPG programme into poverty.  We examined this potential in south-west Bangladesh basing on the Nobo Jatra Project (NJP), a Resilience and Food Security Activity (2015-2022) funded by USAID and implemented by a consortium of NGOs led by World Vision. We used a mixed methods research approach to examine and compare wellbeing and resilience indicators among a sample of respondents of NJP exposed to different combinations of the interventions: UPG+iMSD, UPG+iMSD+DRR, UPG+ iMSD+WASH, and UPG+iMSD+DRR+WASH.

The study set out to test three hypotheses presented in the working paper:

Hypothesis 1: Participation in UPG programme with iMSD is associated with absorptive and adaptive resilience capacity development to tackle chronic poverty.

Hypothesis 2: Disaster Risk Management (DRM) training and mobilization and access to WASH services contribute to improving absorptive and anticipatory resilience capacities.

Hypothesis 3: Social and behavioural change components in WASH and women’s gender equality and empowerment can help support sustained escapes from poverty.

Authors: Vidya Diwakar, Tony Kamninga, Tasfia Mehzabin, Emmanuel Tumusiime, Rohini Kamal, and Nuha Anoor Pabony

The full report can be downloaded here

Education, conflict, and resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa: Report

The Sustainable Development Goals call for action in many areas relevant for girls and boys, not least quality education, but challenges in achieving progress may be aggravated by factors including poverty and armed conflict. Conflict has negative impacts on education, which can operate through a variety of supply- and demand-side channels. It can destroy infrastructure, displace students and teachers, and modify the returns to schooling, all of which can limit school enrolment (e.g. Akresh and de Walque 2008; Dabalen and Paul 2014; Serneels and Verporten 2012; Poirier 2012; Bertoni et al. 2019). Even in countries where primary school enrolment rates may be increasing, conflict can widen disparities in education access and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

In this context, strengthening resilience capacities that can enable children living in conflict-affected areas to continue to access education is critical. USAID’s 2018 Education Policy recognizes that in order to strengthen resilience, “education in partner countries must have the capacity to embed effective approaches to improving learning and education outcomes, to innovate, and to withstand shocks and stresses” (USAID 2018, p. 17). Conflict is generally not a “shock” but more a social process, reflecting something structural and with a long time-dimension (though a single conflict event and its impact may be experienced as a shock locally). The ability to access education in contexts of protracted crises is critical.

This report examines the links between conflict, education, resilience and poverty dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa in a set of USAID Resilience Focus Countries. It relies on panel data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to investigate the relationship between conflict and education, focusing on girls and boys in households on different poverty trajectories (see Box 1). It then builds on Diwakar et al. (2021) to examine the types of resilience capacities that can promote school access for children in conflict-affected areas. In doing so, the paper attempts to contribute to the knowledge base on the pathways through which conflict affects education differently for girls and boys in households on different poverty trajectories, and how resilience capacities of households and institutions can be supported to contribute to increased enrolment in situations of conflict and violence.

Author: Vidya Diwakar

The full report can be downloaded here

The associated brief can be downloaded here