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                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



 Coping with the "Coffee Crisis" in Central America: The Role of the Nicaraguan Red de
                                    Proteccion Social
      Author(s)            John Maluccio
      Contact              jmalucci@middlebury.edu

      Country              Nicaragua

 Organizing Theme          Economic Opportunities and Access to Assets

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Cash Transfer

       Sector              Social Protection
                           The international and local Nicaraguan media have widely reported on the “coffee crisis” in
                           Latin America and there is substantial evidence that there has been a downturn and that
                           this has been more severe in the coffee-growing regions. Using household panel data from
                           a randomized community-based intervention carried out in both coffee- and noncoffee-
                           growing areas, I examine the role of a conditional cash transfer program, the Red de
                           Protección Social (RPS), during this downturn. While not designed as a traditional safety
                           net program in the sense of reacting or adjusting to crises or shocks, RPS has performed
                           like one, with larger estimated program effects for those who were more severely affected
      Abstract             by the downturn. For example, it protected households against declines in per capita
                           expenditures and, while not significantly depressing labor supply relative to before the
                           program, muted additional labor supply for beneficiaries in coffeegrowing areas, relative to
                           their counterparts without the program. Beneficiaries who participated in the coffee
                           industry as laborers before the program were more likely to have exited the coffee industry,
                           whereas those who participated as producers were less likely to have exited. The findings
                           are consistent with the existence of credit constraints inhibiting such transitions in the
                           absence of the program. Overall, then, RPS appears to be playing an important part in the
                           risk-coping strategies of households.
 Gender Connection         Gender Informed Analysis

 Gender Outcomes           Gender disaggregated consumption, labor force participation

     IE Design             Clustered Randomized Control Trial (Clustered at Comarcas level)
                           The intervention is a conditional cash transfer modeled after PROGRESA. The cash
                           transfers are conditioned on school attendance and visits to preventative health-care
                           providers. Each eligible household received a food security transfer and free health-care
    Intervention           services. Additionally, eligible households received a bimonthly school attendance transfer
                           conditioned upon school attendance. The food security transfer was $224 and the school
                           attendance transfer was about $112. Approximately 95% of household recipients were
                           women.
 Intervention Period       The program began in 2000; transfers were provided monthly



   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                      1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



   Sample population        1396 respondents were surveyed in all 3 rounds.
                            Half of the 42 Comarcas were randomly selected into the program. The half that were not
Comparison conditions
                            selected serve as the control group.
    Unit of analysis        Household Level

   Evaluation Period        2000-2002
                            While not designed as a traditional safety net program, RPS protected households against
                            declines in per capita expenditures and muted additional labor supply for beneficiaries.
        Results             Treated laborers were more likely to have exited the coffee industry while treated producers
                            were more likely to remain in the coffee industry. Results were not significantly different
                            for men and women.
                            Some of the components of the intervention, particularly the healthcare component, were
Primary study limitations
                            delayed. Some Comarcas had higher rates of survey attrition than others.
    Funding Source          Inter-American Development Bank and Norwegian Fund for Social Innovation
                            Maluccio, J. A. (2005). Coping with the" coffee Crisis" in Central America: The Role of the
      Reference(s)
                            Nicaraguan Red de Protección Social. Washington, DC: IFPRI.
    Link to Studies
                            http://www.ifpri.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/publications/fcndp188.pdf
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                       2