Experimental evidence on post-program effects and spillovers from an agriculture-nutrition program

Area of Science:

• Agricultural and Food Sciences
• Public Health and Nutrition
• Development Economics

Background:

• Integrated agricultural-nutrition programs aim for durable and widespread effects.
• Previous research (Olney et al., 2015) documented immediate program impacts.
• Understanding long-term and spillover effects is crucial for program sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate one-year post-program effects of integrated agricultural-nutrition interventions.
• To assess three-year aggregate program effects and spillover effects on household outcomes.
• To evaluate the durability and reach of agricultural and nutrition interventions.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal analysis using treated and untreated household cohorts.
• Comparison of program period impacts with one-year and three-year post-program effects.
• Estimation of spillover effects on non-treated households within intervention communities.

Main Results:

• Three-year impacts on agriculture, nutrition knowledge, health practices, and severe anemia remained significant.
• Program effects on some outcomes diminished post-intervention compared to the program period.
• Little evidence of agricultural technology or health knowledge spillovers to non-treated households was found.

Conclusions:

• Integrated agricultural-nutrition programs can have statistically significant, durable impacts on key outcomes.
• While direct effects persist, significant spillovers to non-treated households were limited for agricultural and knowledge-based outcomes.
• Positive spillover effects were observed for specific child health indicators, suggesting targeted benefits beyond direct participants.