Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial on the Impact of Cash-Based Interventions on Nutrition Status in Mothers and Children from Poor Households in Pakistan, 2015-2016

The <I>Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial on the Impact of Cash-Based Interventions on Nutrition Status in Mothers and Children from Poor Households in Pakistan, 2015-2016</I> study is one of three similar studies conducted under the Research on Food Assistance for Nutritional Impact (REFANI) consortium (2014-2017).<br>
<br>
The aim of REFANI is to ensure more effective humanitarian interventions by strengthening the evidence base on the impact of cash and voucher-based food assistance to prevent under nutrition in emergencies.<br>
The main objectives are to:<br>
<li>Create high-quality, relevant research that fills gaps in the evidence base;<br>
<li>Make results accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences;<br>
<li>Ensure successful uptake of REFANI research by key stakeholders in policy and practice. <br>
<br>
Cash-based interventions (CBIs) (cash and vouchers), offer an interesting opportunity to prevent increases in wasting in humanitarian settings. However, there is a dearth of evidence as to the impact of CBIs on nutrition status in emergency settings.<br>
<br>
The Pakistan study evaluated three different CBI modalities on nutritional outcomes in children under five years of age in the short (6 month) and the medium terms (1 year). The data is from a four-arm (including a control arm) parallel longitudinal cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) conducted in 114 villages in Dadu District, Pakistan. Data was collected at 7 time points: baseline and then every month for 5 months (during the intervention disbursement period-2015), and than 6 months later (1 year after baseline-2016). Dadu was chosen because about 68% of the population is classified as poor and very poor and have limited access to land so are dependent on incomes from casual labour or self-employment; 90% of these households are reliant on markets for food purchase all year. As a consequence very poor households do not typically meet the average daily recommended caloric intake. More details about the survey's methodology can be found on the <a href="http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2380-3" target="_blank">BMC Public Health</a> webpage.<br>
<br>
Further information about this study can be found on the <a href="http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/refani/pakistan-country-study and http://www.ennonline.net/newsroom/refani" target=_"blank">Action Against Hunger</a> webpage and on the <a href="http://www.ennonline.net/newsroom/refani" target="_blank">Emergency Nutrition Network</a> website.<br>
<br>