Cash-based transfer programs is a promising approach to alleviate household food insecurity in low-income countries, however evidence from rigorous impact evaluation in West Africa is still scarce. This study measured the impact of a food voucher distribution of the World Food Program targeting vulnerable households in two cities of Senegal. We used a quasi-experimental design and a propensity score matching to compare beneficiary and non-beneficiary households ( n = 1008 in Dakar-Pikine and n = 996 in Ziguinchor) before and after the intervention. Measured outcomes included the standard Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the Coping Strategy Index (CSI). A difference-in-difference approach was used to measure the program impact. In Dakar-Pikine, the mean HDDS decreased between the baseline and endline, similarly in all households ( p value = 0.2). In Ziguinchor, the HDDS decreased between the two rounds, but significantly more in the non-beneficiary compared to the beneficiary households (−0.6 vs. -0.3 points, p value = 0.02). According to the HFIAS, severe food insecurity decreased from 83.9% to 64.6% amongst beneficiaries in Ziguinchor, while it remained high amongst non-beneficiaries ( p value = 0.0003). A similar protective effect was observed using the CSI. In Dakar-Pikine, the proportion of severely food insecure households did not vary between the 2 rounds in both groups ( p value = 0.17). Household’s food security deteriorated between baseline and endline, because the intervention was implemented at the time of a global economic crisis. The food voucher program alleviated the effect of this crisis in Ziguinchor, but not in Dakar-Pikine.

中文翻译：

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在食品价格危机期间，食品券计划对缓解塞内加尔两个城市家庭粮食不安全的影响

基于现金的转移计划是缓解低收入国家家庭粮食不安全的一种很有前景的方法，但来自西非严格影响评估的证据仍然很少。这项研究衡量了世界粮食计划署针对塞内加尔两个城市的弱势家庭分发食品券的影响。我们使用准实验设计和倾向评分匹配来比较干预前后的受益家庭和非受益家庭（达喀尔-皮金的 n = 1008 和济金绍尔的 n = 996）。测量结果包括标准家庭膳食多样性评分 (HDDS)、家庭粮食不安全获取量表 (HFIAS) 和应对策略指数 (CSI)。使用差异中的差异方法来衡量计划的影响。在达喀尔-皮金，平均 HDDS 在基线和终线之间下降，在所有家庭中类似（p 值 = 0.2）。在 Ziguinchor，两轮之间的 HDDS 下降，但与受益家庭相比，非受益家庭的 HDDS 显着减少（-0.6 对 -0.3 分，p 值 = 0.02）。根据 HFIAS，济金绍尔受益人的严重粮食不安全从 83.9% 下降到 64.6%，而非受益人的这一比例仍然很高（p 值 = 0.0003）。使用 CSI 观察到类似的保护作用。在达喀尔-皮金，严重粮食不安全家庭的比例在两组的 2 轮之间没有变化（p 值 = 0.17）。由于干预是在全球经济危机之时实施的，因此家庭的粮食安全在基线和最终线之间恶化。