Impact Evaluation of the Stawisha Maisha Cash Plus Intervention to Improve Child Nutrition

While stunting has significantly decreased nationally from 42% in 2010 to 34% in 2016 to 30% in2022. Tanzania still suffers from high levels of child malnutrition, with roughly 3 millionchildren under the age of five experiencing stunting. A meta-analysis of 21 papers on 17 cash transfer programmes found that while the average impact of cash transfers on height-for-age was positive, the meta-analysis estimate was small and not statistically significant. In light of this mixed evidence, a cash plus approach, whereby cash is combined with complementary programming [for example, behaviour change communication (BCC) or linkages to existing services], is often advocated.The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the Stawisha Maisha ‘Nourishing Life’ intervention implemented by the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) as part of the Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) II. The intervention will target mothers/caregivers from rural TASAF PSSN cash transfer households that include children under the age of five years. The intervention is comprised of: 1) weekly radio broadcasts over 6 months, 2) provision of a solar-powered radio (one per group), and 3) peer-led radio listening groups. The impact evaluation researchers from EDI Global, Policy Research Solutions LLC (PRESTO), and Empathea will have no role in the design or implementation of the intervention Stawisha Maisha II. The overarching research question to be answered by the present research study / impact evaluation is, how and to what extent Stawisha Maisha II – a ‘plus component’ integrated in government structures within a cash transfer programme – affects nutrition outcomes of mothers and young children and their intermediate and underlying determinants. The study will take place in three regions, Geita, Rukwa, Two rounds of data collection will be implemented (baseline in 2023 and endline in 2024). Fieldwork will be implemented by EDI Global (quantitative) and Empathea (qualitative).