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Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?

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  • Christopher B. Barrett
  • Stein T. Holden
  • Daniel C. Clay

Abstract

Food-for-work (FFW) programmes have been widely heralded as a means of providing self-targeting transfers coupled with investment in public goods. This paper reviews the changing context that has sparked such interest in FFW, the simple theory that makes it so conceptually appealing, and conceptual problems with that simple theory, all illustrated with empirical examples, primarily from east Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher B. Barrett & Stein T. Holden & Daniel C. Clay, 2002. "Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-24, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:dp2002-24
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    Cited by:

    1. Barrett, Christopher B., 2006. "Food aid as part of a coherent strategy to advance food security objectives," ESA Working Papers 289058, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    2. Lina Salazar & Julián Aramburu & Mario González & Paul Winters, 2015. "Food Security and Productivity: Impacts of Technology Adoption in Small Subsistence Farmers in Bolivia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 87853, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Echevin, Damien & Lamanna, Francesca & Oviedo, Ana-Maria, 2011. "Who Benefit from Cash and Food-for-Work Programs in Post-Earthquake Haiti?," MPRA Paper 35661, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Stefan Dercon, 2002. "Income Risk, Coping Strategies, and Safety Nets," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(2), pages 141-166, September.
    5. Andersson, Camilla & Mekonnen, Alemu & Stage, Jesper, 2011. "Impacts of the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia on livestock and tree holdings of rural households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 119-126, January.
    6. Jaime Hurtubia Torres & Jutta Neitzel, 2017. "Dependency traps in self-targeting food aid programs," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 147-174, November.
    7. Srijit Mishra, 2007. "Agrarian Scenario in Post-reform India - A Story of Distress, Despair and Death," Development Economics Working Papers 22338, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    8. Szirmai A. & Gebreeyesus M. & Guadagno F. & Verspagen B., 2013. "Promoting productive employment in Sub‐Saharan Africa : a review of the literature," MERIT Working Papers 2013-062, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Barrett, Christopher B., 2006. "Food aid in response to acute food insecurity," ESA Working Papers 289057, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    10. Ashima Goyal, 2005. "Making the Politician and the Bureaucrat Deliver - Employment Guarantee in India," Labor Economics Working Papers 22364, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    11. Deshingkar, Priya & Johnson, Craig & Farrington, John, 2005. "State transfers to the poor and back: The case of the Food-for-Work program in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 575-591, April.
    12. Clarke, Daniel J. & Hill, Ruth Vargas, 2013. "Cost-benefit analysis of the african risk capacity facility:," IFPRI discussion papers 1292, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Holden , Stein, 2014. "How Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program Affect Livestock Accumulation and Children’s Education?," CLTS Working Papers 8/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    14. Barrett, Christopher B., 2002. "Food Aid And Commercial International Food Trade," Working Papers 14742, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    15. Standing Guy, 2008. "How Cash Transfers Promote the Case for Basic Income," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-30, July.

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