CASH TRANSFER FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND HOUSEHOLDS’ VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY IN KENYA: EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA

Authors

• Molly Owino-Owiti, University of NairobiFollow
• Damiano Kulundu Manda, University of NairobiFollow
• Samuel Misati Nyandemo, University of NairobiFollow

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) programme on vulnerability to poverty of households that had experienced a health shock in Kenya. The study used a three-wave panel data set for Kenya, collected in 2007, 2009, and 2011. A Fixed Effects model was used in the estimation. The study found that CT-OVC can reduce households’ Vulnerability to Asset Poverty (VAP) by 6.7 percent and Vulnerability to Food Poverty (VFP) by 33.8 percent. The VAP did not decline as much as VFP, indicating that the transfer may not be sufficient to reduce several competing welfare indicators concurrently. These findings point to the need for the government to increase the transfer amount and budgetary allocation to support more CT-OVC beneficiaries. There is also a need for livelihood diversification advisory services for recipient households to reduce any possible dependency on the transfer.

Recommended Citation

Owino-Owiti, Molly; Manda, Damiano Kulundu; and Nyandemo, Samuel Misati (2026) "CASH TRANSFER FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND HOUSEHOLDS’ VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY IN KENYA: EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA," Tanzanian Economic Review: Vol. 16: Iss. 1, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65085/2507-7740/1011
Available at: https://commons.udsm.ac.tz/ter/vol16/iss1/1