The Transfer Project is an innovative research initiative led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to understand the broad impacts of government-led cash transfer programs in sub-Saharan Africa. National governments and local research organizations are key partners in all stages to assure research is utilized to inform the design and expansion of national social cash transfers (SCTs).
The Transfer Project supports learning and innovation on social cash transfers by:
- Designing and implementing impact evaluations of national programs;
- Promoting learning on the impacts of SCTs;
- Contributing to the expansion of the knowledge base on technical aspects of impact evaluation design and implementation by sharing tools, protocols and instruments; and
- Sharing rich primary impact evaluation data sets.
The Transfer Project started in 2008, and has participated in evaluations in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, and Madagascar. Key project personnel are based at the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Food and Agricultural Organization.
Transfer Project Data Guidelines
Not all datasets are currently available to the public, although the Transfer Project’s staff are preparing more data for release. Non-sensitive data are available for download upon approval of a restricted use application, which comprises a data request form, a data use agreement and a security pledge. Sensitive data are likewise available to qualified researchers through an additional process of obtaining an IRB approval and providing a satisfactory data security plan. Available datasets vary by country and wave of the data collection, and may be designated “sensitive” due to inclusion of birth day and month, sexual history, or other medical information.