Impact Evaluation of the Western Highlands Integrated Program in Guatemala: Midline Report

Author(s): Gustavo Angeles, PhD (team lead); Aimee Benson, MA; Paul Brodish, PhD; Kristen Brugh, PhD; Roberto Molina, MSc; Martin Romero, PhD; Tory M. Taylor, MPH; Emily Weaver, PhD; Jose Urquieta, PhD

Year: 2018

Abstract:

The main objectives of the Western Highlands Integrated Program (WHIP), which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Guatemala, were to reduce poverty and chronic malnutrition among children in 30 priority municipalities. The program combined the Rural Value Chains Project (RVCP) with a health and nutrition program. The primary evaluation question focused on the effects of the WHIP on key indicators at the population level in the program’s zone of influence (ZOI). The secondary evaluation questions focused on understanding the impacts of the integrated (RVCP plus health/nutrition) program and the health/nutrition program by itself; the relative effectiveness of the integrated program compared to the health intervention alone; and the presence of spillover effects from RVCP direct beneficiaries to nonassociation members’ households in RVCP areas (known as RVCP indirect beneficiaries). The evaluation used a prospective, quasi-experimental study design with a matched comparison group, and implemented a difference-in-differences analysis controlling for household-level fixed effects using pooled baseline and midline data from a panel of households. Results of the midline impact evaluation indicated that although there was no statistically significant program impact on household consumption, poverty, or hunger, these indicators were moving in the expected direction consistent with the program’s theory of change. Mixed results in the time trends for infant and young child feeding practices, nutritional status, and the decreasing use of reproductive and maternal health services suggest that the cessation of the health and nutrition program in 2013/2014 may have had detrimental effects on these indicators in the ZOI areas.