The Roles of Nutrition Education and Food Vouchers in Improving Child Nutrition: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ethiopia

Mothers’ lack of knowledge about child nutrition and limited resources lead to poor diets among children in developing countries, increasing their risk of chronic undernutrition. We implemented a cluster randomized control trial that randomly provides four-month-long Behavior Change Communication (BCC) and food vouchers in Ethiopia. We find improvements in child-feeding practices and a reduction in chronic child undernutrition only when BCC and vouchers are provided together. BCC or voucher alone had limited impacts. Our results highlight the importance of adding an effective educational component to existing transfer programs.