Presentation by Jose Luis Figueroa, Associatiate Research Fellow at IFPRI, on March 2, 2016 in Cairo Egypt.

1. Theme 2
Institutions and Social Inclusion
Jose Luis Figueroa, IFPRI
Research Priority Setting Workshop
Egypt Strategy Support Program
MARCH 2, 2016 | CAIRO, EGYPT

2. Background & Rationale
• Economic growth is insufficient to eradicate poverty
and to protect vulnerable people.
• Inclusive institutions and policies are key to reduce
poverty.
• Globally, 50% of the poor receive social protection (10% in
MENA).
• Universal subsidies do not meet the needs of the poor.
• Targeted social programs are key to reduce poverty.
• IFPRI’s examples of research topics:
1. Evaluation of national social protection programs.
2. Evaluation of social protection delivery strategies.

3. IFPRI Research Example: Evaluation of
PROGRESA
• Mexico moved from universal subsidies to targeted
cash transfers.
• The program:
• Reduced poverty (10%)
• Increased schooling (0.66 years of school)
• Improve child growth (16% increase)
• Combining health, nutrition, and education
interventions can break the cycle of poverty.
• IFPRI’s Impact evaluations contributed to sustain and
expand the program.
Source: IFPRI. 2002. PROGRESA: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty. Washington, DC; Behrman, J. 2007. Policy-Oriented
Research Impact Assessment Case Study on the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Mexican
PROGRESA Program. IFPRI Impact Assessment Discussion Paper Number 27. Washington DC: International Food
Policy Research Institute.

4. IFPRI Research Example: Cash, Food, or
Vouchers?
• Are Cash or Food subsidies better at tackling
malnutrition?
• Cash transfers are better at improving food security at
significantly less cost.
• Food transfers often increase calorie consumption.
• But, impacts depend on the context.
• Ecuador:
cash  5.75-9.04 increase Food Consumption Score (FCS)/6-11%
increase in calorie intake
food  4.95 increase FCS/16% increase in calorie intake
• Uganda:
cash  3.00 increase FCS/ 19.6% increase in calorie intake
food  0 increase FCS/17% increase in calorie intake.
Source: Hoddinott, J., et al. 2013. Enhancing WFP’s Capacity and Experience to Design, Implement, Monitor, and
Evaluate Vouchers and Cash Transfer Programmes. IFPRI, Washington, DC.

5. Knowledge Gaps & Research Questions
• Not obvious how to move from universal subsidies to
targeted policies.
• Lack of public support for pro-poor and pro-rural reforms.
• Lack of information on objective targeting mechanisms.
• There is a lack of evidence, particularly in the MENA
region, on:
• Policy designs that meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable
populations.
• Costs and benefits of policies across groups (rural vs urban, by
gender, by age, etc.).
• Potential synergies among different strategies.