PL-480, Title II, Food for Work impact evaluation : recipient profile study; Catholic Relief Services (Calcutta Zone, North Bihar)

Impact evaluation, focusing on recipient characteristics, eater characteristics, and nutritional status, covers FFW projects implemented during FY 1980; it is based on interviews with a random sample of 322 beneficiaries (30.5% still active in FFW activities). Key findings are: (1) Socioeconomic characteristics - About 67% of recipients were nonagricultural laborers, 84% were illiterate, and 94% lacked formal education; 84% belonged to scheduled castes or tribes and 11% to backward classes. Very few owned land and few had a monthly income above Rs.300. (2) Eater characteristics - 95% of recipients shared FFW commodities with their families - 39% shared with their wives, 49% with their children, and the remainder with other relatives - while the other 5% consumed the commodities themselves. Some 62% consumed the food received as FFW wages in less than one week. (3) Recipient families' nutritional status - 73% of recipient families were above the minimum calorie consumption norm for their geographic area and 82% were above the norm for protein intake. Nonactive recipients were superior to active recipients in both protein and calorie intake. (4) Children's nutritional status - According to American standards the extent of malnutrition is generally very severe and relatively greater among children of nonactive recipients than among children of active recipients. By Indian norms, when analyzed according to a weight-for-age index, 16% of active recipient children were normal and 39% mildly malnourished; the corresponding percentages for nonactive families were 26% and 46%. By weight-for-height index, the percentage of normal children was greater among nonactive recipients, while by height-for-age index, children belonging to active families showed higher nutritional status. (5) Other - 80% of recipients were willing to work on FFW even if they received no direct benefits from the completed projects; the average employment provided was 96 days a year. About 70% knew the commodities came from America.