Foreword


strategies. One of the types of assets that households draw down in times of shocks is human capital—including vital investments in the nutrition, health, and education of children—a process with irreversible consequences that perpetuates the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Few shocks have been more devastating to Sub-Saharan Africa than that of HIV and AIDS, with approximately 22.5 million people living with the virus in 2009, and an esti- mated 13–17 million children having lost one or both parents to the disease. The long-term threat to the human capital of these children, combined with strong evidence of the vicious circle between food insecurity and HIV, makes social protection an essential part of any strategy to address HIV and AIDS. IFPRI has conducted research on safety nets and social protection for over 20 years, and on AIDS, food security, and livelihoods for nearly 10 years. This monograph is based on work that IFPRI has done to bring together these themes, joining many international organizations, including UNAIDS, to bring social protection into the arsenal of approaches to reduce the prevalence and impact of HIV. This monograph reviews the impacts of 20 cash transfer programs globally.


I


Our findings show that conditional cash transfer programs have thus far dem- onstrated significant impacts on poverty, education, health, and nutrition in countries with low HIV prevalence, and that unconditional programs in East and southern African countries with high HIV prevalence have also shown promise with respect to impacts on food consumption and human capital. In light of the evidence of a vicious circle among HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, and the drawing down of household assets, including human capital, the mono- graph concludes that social protection must be a critical part of the global response to AIDS. The vast literature review undertaken for this monograph also yielded important findings related to designing social protection pro- grams: they should target poor households in areas of high HIV prevalence, but not HIV-positive households or orphans; and that conditionality should be carefully tested and not yet assumed to be appropriate in Sub-Saharan Africa. It also concludes that cash transfers are not the only relevant social protec-


viii


FPRI’s research in social protection stems from evidence that policies and programs focused on reducing vulnerability and risk and increasing resil- ience to shocks are an essential component of growth and development


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