The "Glass of Milk" Subsidy Program and Malnutrition in Peru
The authors evaluate the Vaso de Leche (VL) feeding program in Peru. They pose the question that if a community-based multistage targeting scheme such as that of the VL program is progressive, is it possible that the program can achieve its nutritional objectives? The authors address this by linking VL public expenditure data with household survey data to assess the targeting, and then to model the determinants of nutritional outcomes of children to see if VL program interventions have an impact on nutrition. They confirm that the VL program is well targeted to poor households and to those with low nutritional status. While the bulk of the coverage of the poor is attributed to targeting of poor districts, the fact that the poor receive larger in-kind transfers is attributed to intradistrict targeting. But the impact of these food subsidies beyond their value as income transfers is limited by the degree to which the commodity transfers are inframarginal. The authors find that transfers of milk and milk substitutes from the VL program are inframarginal for approximately half of the households that receive them. So, it is not entirely surprising that they fail to find econometric evidence of the nutritional objectives of the VL program being achieved. In models of child standardized heights, the authors find no impact of the VL program expenditures on the nutritional outcomes of young children-the group to whom the program is targeted.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2003-06
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| Subjects: | SUBSIDIES, FOOD SUBSIDY PROGRAMS, MALNUTRITION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, TARGETING, INCOME TRANSFERS, MILK BASIC NEEDS, BENEFICIARIES, COMMODITY TRANSFERS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, FOOD SUBSIDIES, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, IMPACT ASSESSMENT, INCOME, INSTRUMENTAL VARIABLES, LIVING STANDARDS, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PER CAPITA INCOME, POOR, POVERTY HEADCOUNT, PROGRAM COVERAGE, PROGRAM DESIGNS, PROGRAM INTERVENTIONS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRANSFER PROGRAMS, WAGES, WELL-BEING, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/06/2446560/glass-milk-subsidy-program-malnutrition-peru https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18168 |
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| Summary: | The authors evaluate the Vaso de Leche
(VL) feeding program in Peru. They pose the question that if
a community-based multistage targeting scheme such as that
of the VL program is progressive, is it possible that the
program can achieve its nutritional objectives? The authors
address this by linking VL public expenditure data with
household survey data to assess the targeting, and then to
model the determinants of nutritional outcomes of children
to see if VL program interventions have an impact on
nutrition. They confirm that the VL program is well targeted
to poor households and to those with low nutritional status.
While the bulk of the coverage of the poor is attributed to
targeting of poor districts, the fact that the poor receive
larger in-kind transfers is attributed to intradistrict
targeting. But the impact of these food subsidies beyond
their value as income transfers is limited by the degree to
which the commodity transfers are inframarginal. The authors
find that transfers of milk and milk substitutes from the VL
program are inframarginal for approximately half of the
households that receive them. So, it is not entirely
surprising that they fail to find econometric evidence of
the nutritional objectives of the VL program being achieved.
In models of child standardized heights, the authors find no
impact of the VL program expenditures on the nutritional
outcomes of young children-the group to whom the program is targeted. |
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