Transfer Modality Research Initiative - Bangladesh (TMRI)

This is a randomized control trial in two zones of Bangladesh (north and south). Treatment is assigned at the village level where treatments are: cash transfers (north and south); cash transfers + nutrition behavior communication change (north only); food transfers (north and south); food transfers + nutrition behavior communication change (south only); food-cash split (north and south); and controls (north and south). Within treatment localities, women living in very poor households are targeted to receive benefits for two years.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Improving Pre-school Anthropometric Status; Improving Household Food Security; Improving Maternal Nutrition Knowledge
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cash transfer; Other: Food transfer; Other: Food and cash transfer; Behavioral: Behavior Communication Change (BCC)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 5000
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Bangladesh
  • Dhaka, Bangladesh
    • International Food Policy Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 15 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Child age < 60 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: FACTORIAL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

5

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Cash transfer; 1500 taka ($18.75) per household distributed monthly	Other: Cash transfer; 1500 taka ($18.75) per household distributed monthly
EXPERIMENTAL: Food transfer; 30 kg rice, 2 kg lentils, and 2 kg micro-nutrient fortified cooking oil per household distributed monthly	Other: Food transfer; 30 kg rice, 2 kg lentils, and 2 kg micro-nutrient fortified cooking oil per household distributed monthly
EXPERIMENTAL: Food and cash transfer; 15 kg of rice; 1 kg of lentils and 1 kg of micronutrient fortified cooking oil and 750 taka cash per household, distributed monthly	Other: Food and cash transfer; 15 kg of rice; 1 kg of lentils and 1 kg of micronutrient fortified cooking oil and 750 taka cash per household, distributed monthly
EXPERIMENTAL: Cash transfer + BCC; 1500 taka ($18.75) per household distributed monthly Weekly, one hour meetings on maternal and child nutrition, sanitation and health knowledge, attitudes and practice Occasional home visits	Other: Cash transfer; 1500 taka ($18.75) per household distributed monthly; Behavioral: Behavior Communication Change (BCC); Weekly, one hour meetings on maternal and child nutrition, sanitation and health knowledge, attitudes and practice Occasional home visits
EXPERIMENTAL: Food transfer + BCC; 30 kg rice, 2 kg lentils, and 2 kg micro-nutrient fortified cooking oil per household distributed monthly Weekly, one hour meetings on maternal and child nutrition, sanitation and health knowledge, attitudes and practice Occasional home visits	Other: Food transfer; 30 kg rice, 2 kg lentils, and 2 kg micro-nutrient fortified cooking oil per household distributed monthly; Behavioral: Behavior Communication Change (BCC); Weekly, one hour meetings on maternal and child nutrition, sanitation and health knowledge, attitudes and practice Occasional home visits

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child anthropometry	Height for age z scores Weight for height z scores Weight for age z scores Stunting Wasting Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Child food intake	Number of unique foods consumed in previous 24 hours Number of food groups consumed in previous 24 hours Consumption of specified food groups - animal source foods, dairy, Vitamin A rich foods etc Caloric consumption in previous 24 hours Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Child health	Did mother report child was ill in previous 2 weeks Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Distribution of food intake within the household	Consumption of foods by all household members in previous 24 hours as recalled by mothers as measured by yes/no questions on foods, food groups and calories Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Household food security	Food groups consumed by household in previous seven days Number of unique foods consumed in previous seven days Number of food groups consumed in previous seven days Number of food groups consumed in previous seven days weighted by nutritional value and frequency of consumption Value of food consumption in previous seven days Household caloric availability in previous seven days Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Maternal nutrition knowledge	Maternal knowledge of infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF) Knowledge, attitudes, practice of IYCF Scored as yes/no and as a total score on all questions Levels assessed in 2013 and 2014 and as changes between 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Household consumption	Value of food consumption in previous seven days Value of monthly non-food consumption Value of monthly non-food consumption by specified sub-groups (clothing, medical expenses, education expenses, transport, consumables, semi-durables) Value of monthly household consumption (food and non-food) Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Household income	Value of annual income derived from agriculture at endline (2014) Value of annual income derived from non-agricultural sources at endline (2014) Value of annual total income derived from all sources at endline (2014) Change in annual income (agriculture, non-agricultural, total) between 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014 Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Asset accumulation	Index (z score) of consumer durables Index (z score) of productive assets Index of quality of housing stock Productive land ownership (ha) Outcomes specified in terms of levels one year after intervention started (2013), two years after intervention started and as changes: 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2012-2014	Baseline. Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Women's empowerment	Index of women's decision making autonomy within the household Index of women's mobility outside the household Outcome measured as level in 2013, level in 2014 and change between 2013-2014	Up to 12 months. Up to 24 months.
Information spillovers to non-beneficiaries	Knowledge of infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF) of mothers Knowledge, attitudes, practice of IYCF Scored as yes/no and as a total score on all questions Non-beneficiaries are mothers living near intervention households (within approximately a 10 minute walk) in the following treatment arms: North: cash, cash + BCC, control. South: food, food + BCC, control. Levels assessed in 2014	Up to 24 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: International Food Policy Research Institute
• Collaborators: United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Department for International Development, United Kingdom; United Nations World Food Programme (WFP); Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers; Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: John Hoddinott, DPhil, International Food Policy Research Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hoddinott J, Ahmed I, Ahmed A, Roy S. Behavior change communication activities improve infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of neighboring non-participants in a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bangladesh. PLoS One. 2017 Jun 21;12(6):e0179866. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179866. eCollection 2017.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2015
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): July 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 3, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2014
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): September 11, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 6, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 3, 2019
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: AEARCTR-0000247