kizazi kijacho
Research
Our studies
Field experiments
Randomised evaluations of interventions delivered at scale
Parenting support and cash transfers in Dodoma — Analysis
A cluster-randomised trial testing three approaches to supporting families through the first 1,000 days: a parenting programme delivered by community health workers using a digital app, an unconditional cash transfer, and the two combined — alongside a control group. The trial compares five study arms in total, cross-randomising a lab-in-the-field allocation experiment to examine financial constraints, parental preferences and household decision-making.
- Design
- Cluster RCT with lab-in-the-field, 5 study arms
- Sample
- 3,585 pregnant women / households
- Location
- Dodoma region, 387 communities, 8 district councils
- Years
- October 2022 — February 2025
Photo — parenting session, Dodoma
Information and peer support for infant nutrition in Mainland Tanzania — Planned
Details to follow as the study is designed.
Photo — to be added
Lab-in-the-field experiments
Measuring preferences, constraints and decision-making
Financial constraints and parental investment — Analysis
In the cash transfer arms of the trial, recipient mothers could receive funds via mobile money or nominate someone else to receive it on their behalf. This study shows that women with limited digital access are substantially more likely to nominate others — often their spouse if they have lower household autonomy — which can shift effective control over the money away from the women the transfer was meant to reach. The findings point to a key design challenge for targeted transfer programmes: without addressing digital and intra-household constraints, targeting a transfer to a woman doesn't guarantee she controls it.
- Design
- Sub-study within the Kizazi Kijacho RCT
- Sample
- 1,239 households (UCT:Fixed and UCT:Vary arms)
- Location
- Dodoma region, Tanzania
- Years
- 2022 — 2025
Photo — lab-in-the-field session
Household decision-making and bargaining — Analysis
A lab-in-the-field allocation experiment where parents divide a hypothetical (or, for half the sample, real) endowment between themselves, their spouse, and their child. In the control group, mothers allocate slightly more to the child than fathers do — a gap driven entirely by children's clothing. The Kizazi Kijacho parenting and cash-transfer arms don't change mothers' allocations, but they increase fathers' allocations to the child, especially when fathers receive the cash transfer directly or when it's combined with the parenting programme — closing the mother–father gap in child-related spending.
- Design
- Lab-in-the-field allocation experiment, embedded in the RCT
- Sample
- 1,330 parents of children under age 2
- Location
- Dodoma region, Tanzania
- Years
- 2022 — 2025
Photo — to be added
Longitudinal surveys
Following the same children and households over time
Cohort follow-up survey — Planned
Open item: confirm whether this belongs under Longitudinal surveys or Field experiments before publishing.
Photo — household interview
Qualitative & measurement studies
Implementation, sustainability and how outcomes are measured
Implementation and sustainability of the parenting intervention — Complete
Qualitative research combining three linked studies — a process evaluation around 14–18 months into the programme, an endline evaluation at programme closure, and a sustainability and scale-up study conducted 9–12 months after KK support ended. The research explains how (and why, or why not) the parenting and cash-transfer interventions changed caregiving practice, and what helped or hindered community health workers' delivery of home visits and group sessions — including the practical effects of distance, availability, and how the cash transfer's presence or absence shaped trust and participation.
- Design
- Qualitative — interviews and focus groups, 3 linked studies
- Sample
- Implementing NGOs, local government, health workers, community health workers, community leaders and caregivers
- Location
- Dodoma region, Tanzania
- Years
- 2022 — 2026
Photo — child assessment
Measuring early childhood development at scale — Analysis
Summary to follow.
Photo — to be added
Facts for completed and in-progress studies are sourced from the linked reports and working papers. Entries marked "Planned" are provisional and will be updated once those studies are designed.