Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) in the DRC: A pilot study assessing the socio-economic effects in an artisanal mining zone of Maniema Province
IPIS undertook a comprehensive endline study to evaluate key indicators related to the socio-economic, physical, and mental well-being of UCT recipients, and provide insights into the impact of the UCT programme on beneficiaries.
IPIS assessed potential effects of the UCT intervention by comparing outcomes between the UCT village and a Control village before (baseline), during (midline), and immediately after (endline) the UCT programme.
After two years, substantial changes were observed in the UCT village for several key factors, (including housing, health, and diet variety) compared to the Control village.
The findings suggest that the intervention has positively affected socio-economic conditions of the UCT recipients in a village located in Maniema province’s artisanal mining zone.
‘Housing’ is one of the indicators used to measure the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of people: a household is considered deprived regarding housing if at least one of the three materials for roof, walls or floor are inadequate. The endline study confirmed a significant increase in households living in a house with metal roofs in the UCT village.
Several UCT beneficiaries invested in batteries and solar panels. While at baseline access to electricity was highly comparable in both villages, a gradual increase of households gaining access to electricity was observed in the UCT village.
Inhabitants of the UCT village also invested mobile money in livestock breeding, farming tools, or the construction of fishponds. Cash transfers seemed to have contributed to the improvement of the diet quality and variety of UCT recipients, having confirmed that fish has become a daily component of their diet.
In conclusion, the results show changes in several key indicators in the UCT village throughout the intervention, that are absent in the Control village (or present only to a lesser extent). The observation that these changes affect a range of diverse indicators and occurred in the UCT village only, strongly suggests that the intervention has a positive effect on the socio-economic well-being of UCT recipients in a village in an artisanal mining zone, in Maniema province.