The impact of Nutrition-Sensitive Direct Support program on household consumption and poverty reduction in Rwanda

Rwanda's Nutrition-Sensitive Direct Support (NSDS) programme provides cash transfers to socioeconomically and nutritionally vulnerable households. This study examines whether NSDS is associated with household consumption and poverty status by linking data from the seventh Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey with Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme beneficiary records. The analytical sample comprises 15,054 households, including 558 beneficiaries. Covariate-adjusted regressions and nearest-neighbour propensity score matching were employed to estimate programme effects. The matched results indicate that beneficiary households spent FRW 41,745 more annually on food and FRW 33,904 more per adult equivalent than comparable non-beneficiaries, with effects statistically significant at the 5% and 1% levels, respectively. In contrast, the effects on total annual expenditure and poverty status were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that NSDS contributes to protecting food-related consumption among vulnerable households but does not appear to facilitate poverty exit during the study period. Given the cross-sectional nature of the data and reliance on observed covariates, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Future research using longitudinal administrative and survey data could provide stronger evidence on the longer-term welfare effects of programme participation.