Impact Evaluation of the Social Support for Resilient Households Project 2023-2024 - Malawi

Abstract
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This impact evaluation consists of two experimental studies to evaluate the socioeconomic impacts of the Social Support for Resilience Livelihoods Project (SSRLP), a project of the Government of Malawi, implemented by the Community Savings and Investment Promotion initiative (COMSIP) with support from IDA. Experiment 1 will assess the comparative impacts of enhanced livelihoods and graduation packages, while Experiment 2 will assess the impacts of a business-oriented package for youth called Youth Skills Challenge (YSC).

Geographic coverage
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Experiment 1 collected baseline data from 3,255 households in 310 clusters across 2 districts in Malawi: Dedza and Nkhatabay.
Experiment 2's baseline consisted of 640 respondents in 178 clusters across 5 districts of Malawi: Dedza, Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota,Rumphi and Lilongwe.

Analysis unit
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Household and Individual (Intended Beneficiaries)

Kind of data
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Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure
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For Experiment 1, the baseline study was conducted across 11 traditional authorities from Dedza and Nkhatabay districts in Malawi. These locations were chosen based on the Social Support for Resilience Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) operational constraints of Community Savings and Investment Promotion initiative (COMSIP) . Within these districts and Traditional authorities (TAs), 206 Climate-smart Enhanced Public Works Program (CSEPWP) clusters and 104 Social Cash Transfers (SCT) program clusters were randomly selected and enrolled in the study.

We sampled 6,000 members (of which 3,255 were interviewed at baseline) who are part of the SCT or CSEPWP programs across 310 clusters in Dedza and Nkhatabay. Specifically, we targeted 206 CSEPWP clusters and 104 SCT clusters. These targets are based on the anticipated number of clusters that would be assessed to be enhanced eligible.

For baseline, 8 members from CSEPWP and 16 members from SCT clusters were randomly selected. At follow-up surveys, the aim is to target 15 members from CSEPWP and 30 from SCT by including those selected for our baseline sample and randomly selecting the remainder.

The baseline for experiment 2 covers five districts: Nkhatabay, Dedza, Lilongwe, Rumphi and Nkhotakota. The sampling frame for this experiment includes all clusters receiving enhanced livelihood support in Nkhatabay and Dedza, plus additional clusters from the three additional districts: Lilongwe, Rumphi and Nkhotakota.

The unit of randomization for experiment 2 was individual youths. All youths within SLGs in Lilongwe, Nkhotakota and Rumphi districts, as well as youths within SLGs receiving enhanced livelihood package in Dedza and Nkhatabay. A total of 328 slots were available in the 5 districts, hence of the 640 youths interviewed at baseline, 328 were randomly assigned to receive the program while 312 were not. Data for experiment 2 was collected from the eligible youths in the following districts; Rumphi, Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe and Dedza. In some cases, youth in Dedza and Nkhatabay may be a part of both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2.

Mode of data collection
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Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument
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The questionnaire was inspired by the Partnership for economic inclusion (PEI) Impact Collaborative standardized quantitative household survey instrument. The PEI Impact Collaborative has been defining a common measurement framework for research teams conducting economic inclusion-related Impact Evaluations supported by PEI. This includes the development of standardized household survey modules to be deployed across studies.

The development of the common measurement approach has been done collaboratively, with researchers responsible for the various studies discussing the common measures to prioritize, with the goal that studies adopt standardized modules, build consistent indicators, and document local adaptations where needed.

We include the following modules:
1. Household roster
2. Household assets
3. Labor
4. Agriculture
5. Non-farm enterprise
6. Other income
7. Consumption and food security
8. Finance
9. Social status
10. Perceived agency and well-being.

The questionnaire was programmed as a Computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) instrument using Open Data Kit (ODK) language, ensuring a standardized approach to data collection and minimizing the likelihood of different interpretations or understandings of the questions among enumerators and supervisors. The programmed questionnaire also went through a rigorous review process to facilitate a smooth flow of questions and collection of accurate data. The questionnaire was translated into Chichewa, Chitumbuka and Chitonga to accommodate respondents’ language preferences across the five impact evaluation districts. The questionnaire approximately 2 and a half hours to administer.

Cleaning operations
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The data was cleaned and labelled using the Stata statistical software to produce the Baseline report.

Response rate
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For both experiments, the baseline response rate was 99%.
From 3279 households targeted at baseline for experiment one, 3254 were reached.
For experiment two, 640 out of the 641 sampled youths were reached.

摘要
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本影响评估包含两项实验研究，旨在评估马拉维政府支持的“社会支持韧性生计项目”（SSRLP）的社会经济影响。该计划由社区储蓄和投资促进倡议（COMSIP）实施，并得到IDA的支持。实验1将评估增强生计和毕业套餐的比较影响，而实验2将评估针对年轻人的商业化套餐——青年技能挑战（YSC）的影响。
地理覆盖范围
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实验1从马拉维的两个地区（ Dedza 和 Nkhatabay）的310个集群中的3,255户家庭收集了基线数据。
实验2的基线包括马拉维五个地区（Dedza、Nkhatabay、Nkhotakota、Rumphi 和 Lilongwe）的178个集群中的640名受访者。
分析单元
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家庭和个人（预期受益者）
数据类型
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样本调查数据 [ssd]
抽样程序
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对于实验1，基线研究在马拉维 Dedza 和 Nkhatabay 地区的11个传统当局进行。这些地点是根据社区储蓄和投资促进倡议（COMSIP）在“社会支持韧性生计项目”（SSRLP）中运营的约束条件选择的。
在Dedza和Nkhatabay地区及其传统当局（TA）内，随机选择了206个气候智能增强公共工程计划（CSEPWP）集群和104个社会现金转移（SCT）计划集群，并将它们纳入研究。
我们对来自Dedza和Nkhatabay地区的310个集群中的SCT或CSEPWP计划的6,000名成员进行了抽样（其中3,255人在基线时接受了采访）。具体来说，我们针对206个CSEPWP集群和104个SCT集群。
基线时，从CSEPWP集群中随机选择了8名成员，从SCT集群中随机选择了16名成员。在后续调查中，目标是针对CSEPWP的15名成员和SCT的30名成员进行目标定位，包括基线样本中选定的成员和随机选择的其他成员。
实验2的基线覆盖了五个地区：Nkhatabay、Dedza、Lilongwe、Rumphi 和 Nkhotakota。本实验的抽样框架包括Nkhatabay和Dedza地区接受增强生计支持的集群，以及来自另外三个地区（Lilongwe、Rumphi 和 Nkhotakota）的额外集群。
实验2的随机化单元为个人年轻人。在 Lilongwe、Nkhotakota 和 Rumphi 地区的 SLG 内的年轻人，以及 Dedza 和 Nkhatabay 接受增强生计包的年轻人。五个地区共有328个可用位置，因此，在基线调查中采访的640名年轻人中，有328人被随机分配接受该计划，而312人没有。
实验2的数据是从以下地区的合格年轻人中收集的：Rumphi、Nkhatabay、Nkhotakota、Lilongwe 和 Dedza。在某些情况下，Dedza 和 Nkhatabay 的年轻人可能同时参与实验1和实验2。
数据收集方式
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面对面 [f2f]
研究工具
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问卷灵感来源于经济包容伙伴关系（PEI）影响协作的标准定量家庭调查工具。PEI 影响协作一直在为获得 PEI 支持的经济包容相关影响评估的研究团队定义一个共同的测量框架。
共同测量方法的开发是通过协作完成的，负责各种研究的研究人员讨论共同措施以优先排序，目的是让研究采用标准模块，建立一致的指标，并在需要时记录当地调整。
我们包括以下模块：
1. 家庭名册
2. 家庭资产
3. 劳动力
4. 农业
5. 非农企业
6. 其他收入
7. 消费和粮食安全
8. 金融
9. 社会地位
10. 感知能动性和福祉。
问卷被编程为使用 Open Data Kit（ODK）语言的个人计算机辅助访谈（CAPI）工具，确保数据收集的标准方法，并最大限度地减少调查员和主管对问题的不同解释或理解的可能性。
编程后的问卷还经过严格的审查过程，以确保问题流畅和准确收集数据。
问卷被翻译成齐切瓦语、奇图姆布卡语和奇通加语，以适应五个影响评估地区的受访者语言偏好。
完成问卷大约需要2个半小时。
数据清理操作
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使用 Stata 统计软件对数据进行清理和标记，以生成基线报告。
响应率
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对于两项实验，基线响应率为99%。对于实验一，基线时针对的3279户家庭中有3254户家庭被访问。
对于实验二，640名受访者中有640名受访者被访问。