Ex-combatant Reintegration in Liberia

Evaluating a Landmine Action Ex-combatant Reintegration Program in Liberia

This project is an evaluation of an agricultural training and resettlement program for high-risk young adults in Liberia, especially poorly integrated male ex-combatants. The primary aim is to see to what extent an intensive economic and life skills intervention can rehabilitate high-risk individuals and reduce aggression and armed violence.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Poverty; Social Instability
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Agricultural and life skills training program

Detailed Description

Poor and unemployed youth are widely considered a threat to political stability, often blamed for everything from fights to crime, riots and revolutions. Ex-combatants cause special worry. Not only do they have professional experience in warfare, and hence some comparative advantage in violence, but their social networks may also be dense with potential recruiters. War may also have left them poorer or more traumatized than their peers. Each of these factors could elevate the risk of rebellion, crime, or other aggression, risks greatest in weak states and uncertain economic climates like that of Liberia.

In response, policymakers commonly turn to employment and other poverty alleviation programs, including cash grants, vocational training, small business development, and microfinance. Underlying these programs is the belief that with economic opportunities come stability. When dealing with organized populations, such as former combatants, gang members, or criminal organizations, policymakers are also anxious to break down risky social networks, especially the links between commanders and foot soldiers. Interventions often go beyond simple employment programs, and seek to relocate, resettle, or otherwise remove high-risk individuals from risky networks.

This project evaluates a rehabilitation program for ex-combatants and other high-risk youth in Liberia, a unique case where it was both politically and practically feasible to establish and follow a random control group. The program we study, which was designed and implemented by the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Action on Armed Violence, is among the best of its class. The program is targeted towards ex-combatants and other high-risk populations in resource enclaves and other "hotspots" around the country. It provides extensive agricultural skills training and inputs alongside life skills training and resettlement assistance. Its objective is to reduce the risk of violence and aggression by providing an alternative, stable livelihood in civilian communities to youth otherwise engaged in illicit activities or thought to be easily mobilized into crime or violence. After observing two highly promising courses and classes of graduates, the researchers collaborated with the NGO to randomly evaluate their next round of classes at two training sites.

The program implementers confirmed that the number of youth eligible for the program exceeded program capacity by a factor of at least two. The sample size was limited to 2.5 times the number of spots in the program, for a total of 1500. In order to give all eligible youth an equal opportunity to participate, the program implementers determined entry into the program using a computerized randomization of eligible youth. Respondents were assigned to treatment and control using a randomization program coded in Stata. The sample was stratified by gender, "commander status," and community of registration.

The study has two principal rounds of data collection among both treatment and control groups: a baseline prior to the intervention and a follow-up survey approximately one year following completion of the program.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1330
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Liberia
  • Bong County
    • Salala, Bong County, Liberia
      • Tumutu Agricultural Training Program
  • Sinoe County
    • Panama, Sinoe County, Liberia
      • Sinoe Agricultural Training Program

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria (determined by program):

• ex-combatant
• not served by previous reintegration programs
• engaged in illicit activities such as mining and rubber tapping

Exclusion Criteria (determined by program):

• pregnant women
• individuals deemed physically incapable of agriculture
• foreigners unwilling to settle in Liberia

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group
Experimental: agricultural training program; Three to four month residential agriculture and life skills training program.	Other: Agricultural and life skills training program; Other Names: Tumutu Agricultural Training Program (TATP); Sinoe Agricultural Training Program (SATP)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Potential for Social Instability	This outcome includes engagement in illicit activities, ease of mobilization, political attitudes, violence and aggression, how settled they are, integration into mainstream society, and mental health symptoms.	1 year after completion of program
Economic Stability	This outcome includes employment and poverty level.	1 year after completion of program
Preferences	This outcome includes risk and time preferences.	1 year after completion of program
Interest in Agriculture	This outcome measures level of interest in agriculture, attempts to engage in agriculture, perceptions of agriculture, and level of willingness to invest in agriculture.	1 year after completion of the program

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Level of Social Support and Quality of Social Relations	The outcome includes aggregate level of social support, quality of relationship with family and elders, advising, and peer groups.	1 year after completion of the study
Aspirations and Future Planning	This outcome measures aspirations for the future and thinking about the future.	1 year after completion of the program
Empowerment	The outcome includes locus of control and making their own decisions.	1 year after completion of the study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Columbia University
• Collaborators: World Bank; United Nations
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jeannie Annan, Ph.D., International Rescue Committee; Principal Investigator: Christopher Blattman, Ph.D., Columbia University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 8, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 8, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): October 11, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 11, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 8, 2012
• Last Verified: October 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: agriculture; life skills; economic intervention; ex-combatant
• Other Study ID Numbers: AAAK6203