Targeting for Social Safety Nets : Evidence from Nine Programs in the Sahel
Proxy-Means Testing (PMT) and Community-Based Targeting (CBT) are among the most widely used methods for poverty targeting in low-income settings. This paper analyzes household data from nine programs implemented in the Sahel region using a harmoni...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/322721635209806009/Targeting-for-Social-Safety-Nets-Evidence-from-Nine-Programs-in-the-Sahel http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36434 |
| Summary: | Proxy-Means Testing (PMT) and
Community-Based Targeting (CBT) are among the most widely
used methods for poverty targeting in low-income settings.
This paper analyzes household data from nine programs
implemented in the Sahel region using a harmonized approach
to compare PMT and CBT selection as conducted in practice,
once geographical targeting has been applied. The results
show that the targeting performance measured depends
critically on the definition of the targeting objectives,
share of beneficiaries selected, and indexes used to
evaluate targeting. While PMT performs better in reaching
the poorest households based on per capita consumption, it
differs little from CBT, or a random or universal allocation
of benefits when distances to poverty lines are considered.
When aiming to identify food insecure households, most PMT
and CBT targeting schemes perform no better than a random
allocation of benefits. On the other hand, targeting costs
represent only a small share of budgets. Overall, the
results emphasize the need to study programs as implemented
in practice instead of relying on simulations of targeting
performance, as widely used by practitioners and academics.
Taken together, the findings suggest that while there may be
a need to select households resulting from budget
constraints, PMT and CBT contribute little to poverty or
food insecurity reduction efforts in poor and homogeneous settings. |
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