PL-480, Title II, Food for Work impact evaluation : study of low cost housing; Catholic Relief Services (Cochin Zone)

Impact evaluation focuses on housing constructed during FY79-81 and is based on questionnaire data from a random sample of 300 project beneficiaries and 60 nonbeneficiaries. The FFW program helped to improve living conditions among the Cochin zone's rural poor. Most beneficiaries were agricultural and nonagricultural laborers with monthly incomes of Rs.500 or less who had lived in damaged kutcha (mud walls, thatched roof) houses. Some 95% of the beneficiaries would not have been able to build houses without FFW assistance. The average cost of a house in Cochin was nearly Rs. 4,000; over the 3-year period, FFW commodities financed 10-24% of the total housing costs. Almost all the beneficiaries (65% in 1979 houses, 80% in 1980 and 1981 houses) were satisfied with the houses and willing to live in them permanently. Among those not satisfied, the principal reasons were that the houses were too small or lacked doors, plastering, or flooring; a few houses were missing roofs and ceilings. The average house size was 150-300 square feet, although some houses built in 1979 were more than 400 square feet. Household size averaged 2-3 people in 1979 housing and 6-7 people in 1980-81 housing. Most households had wells for drinking water; although electricity was available in most villages, few households had connections. Nearly 90% of the beneficiaries owned the plot on which the house was built. Among the major impacts of the housing were: incidence of sickness was lower as the length of residence in FFW houses increased; acquisition of the houses enabled beneficiaries to have some type of food grain storage facility; and beneficiaries accumulated assets after acquiring the FFW houses, and the value of these assets increased with duration of stay. No impacts on employment were found.