A Productive Safety Net for Northern Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Lands: HSNP+ Program
Principal Investigators:
- Christopher B. Barrett (Cornell University, USA)
- Michael R. Carter (University of California - Davis, USA)
- John McPeak (Syracuse University, USA)
- Andrew Mude (International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya)
Problem & Objective
The Hunger Safety Net Program (HSNP) will be launched later this year in Northern Kenya, and will provide reliable cash transfers to poor households. Given the considerable risk faced by households in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of Kenya, theory and empirical evidence both suggest that there may be considerable value added from augmenting HSNP with a productive safety net (PSN). The addition of the PSN can have three key effects: 1) stem the downward spiral of vulnerable households into poverty, 2) stabilizing pathways from poverty through asset accumulation, and 3) crowd-in finance for ancillary investment and growth. To achieve these impacts, a PSN needs to reliable and predictable compensate ASAL households for asset losses. Conventional insurance is not feasible, but researchers are working on an Index Based Livestock Insurance scheme which can be used as a foundation for the PSN program.
ILRI produced video Development of the World’s First Insurance for African Pastoralist Herders.
Policy Relevance
With the HSNP program on the verge of rollout, this project will allow for an impact evaluation of both the HSNP and the PSN programs. The goal is to design interventions that not only serve the immediate needs of vulnerable households, but also put them on a long-term path to asset protection and improved productivity. The evaluation will be set up to look at households receiving both the HSNP and PSN interventions, those receiving only one, and those households that are not involved in either program. This will help inform the design of future cash transfer programs, and assess the utility of including PSN programs with them. It will look at standard headcount/poverty gap measures, as well as asset accumulation, child education and health, and income and consumption to assess the household benefits of program participation.
IBLI in the News
25 August 2011: Principal Investigator Andrew Mude spoke with CNBC Africa's Lerato Mbele concerning the effect of the current Horn of Africa drought on livestock herds and the potential of the livestock sector as a future engine for economic growth.
24 August 2011: Principal Investigator Chris Barrett spoke to the Canadian Broadcasting Company on the current drought in the Horn of Africa and how market-based insurance tools, including the current IBLI product, can avert humanitarian disasters.
I4 is proud to congratulate the Kenya project for being awarded a V2030 ICT Innovation Award from the Kenya ICT Board. For more information, read the ILRI news announcement or the Kenya ICT Board announcement.
Publications
- I4 Brief no. 2011-02
The IBLI Color Legend: Translating Index-Based Mortality Predictions into Meaningful Signals, by Michael R. Carter, Elizabeth Long and Andrew Mude. July 2011. 2 pages. - BASIS Brief no. 2008-08
Altering Poverty Dynamics with Index Insurance: Northern Kenya's HSNP+, by Christopher B. Barrett, Michael R. Carter, Sommarat Chantarat, John McPeak, and Andrew Mude. November 2008. 2 pages. - BASIS Brief no. 2008-07
Insuring the Never before Insured: Explaining Index Insurance through Financial Education Games, by Michael R. Carter, Christopher B. Barrett, Stephen Boucher, Sommarat Chantarat, Francisco Galarza, John McPeak, Andrew Mude and Carolina Trivelli. October 2008. 8 pages.
Spanish version available: Asegurando a los que nunca estuvieron asegurados: Explicando el seguro por índice a través de juegos de educación financiera - Barrett, Christopher B., Michael R. Carter and Munenobu Ikegami. 2008. "Poverty Traps and Social Protection."
- Project Summary: Index-based Livestock Insurance for Northern Kenya's Arid and Semi-arid Lands: The Marsabit Pilot.
- Project Proposal by Christopher B. Barrett, Michael R. Carter, John McPeak and Andrew Mude. June 2008.
Additional Information
Additional information on the project can be found on the ILRI/IBLI website.
