Giving aid in ways that empower
How narratives that convey dignity help achieve aid’s aspirations
Billions of dollars of international aid are given every year and anti-poverty programs are rapidly expanding in the context of COVID-19, with the most popular form of social assistance being cash transfer programs. According to a series of studies run in Kenya and the US by Stanford psychology researchers, where we were the survey partner, how that aid is given matters.
Often we think of giving aid as “helping the poor.” But new findings show that this narrative can undermine the very purpose of aid to empower recipients. In the wake of COVID-19, anti-poverty programs are rapidly expanding, with the most popular form of social assistance being cash transfer programs. The researchers provide causal evidence that giving aid with a culturally-resonant narrative of empowerment, instead of a status quo deficit-focused narrative, improves recipients’ psychological and behavioral responses to aid and, moreover, comes at no cost to donor support.
In their preliminary review of the program communications of the top 30 cash transfer programs across Africa, they find that the predominant narrative of aid is deficit-focused. One typical program described its objective as being “to reduce extreme hunger and vulnerability of the poorest.” Domestically, the US welfare program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) conveys a similar message. At the same time, many communications also included empowerment-oriented language, highlighting the assets, aspirations, and potential of recipients and their communities. The researchers find that the narrative chosen by an organization matters and has causal effects on recipients’ psychology and behavior.
Study 1: How do cash-aid narratives affect recipients?
To determine what effect cash-aid narratives have on recipients’ psychological and behavioral responses, the researchers gave small cash transfers to 565 individuals in low-income settlements in Nairobi, Kenya accompanied by one of three randomly-assigned narratives: the default poverty alleviation narrative, which highlighted recipients’ financial scarcity and need, an individual empowerment narrative, which highlighted recipients’ capacity for self-direction and independence, or a community empowerment narrative, which highlighted recipients’ capacity for advancing their community, which may be most fitting in the culturally interdependent world in which participants lived.
While both the community empowerment and individual empowerment narratives increased the recipient’s belief in their ability to accomplish important life goals more than the poverty alleviation narrative, the community empowerment narrative came out strongest. This primary behavioral outcome that was measured here is the extent to which recipients chose to watch videos that taught business skills relevant for their local economy — one in which self-owned micro enterprises are the main source of income.
Only the culturally-tailored “Community Empowerment” narrative significantly increased recipients’ choice to build business skills compared to the poverty alleviation narrative. This narrative also reduced stigma. Recipients of the Community Empowerment Organization were less likely to think that others in their community would view them negatively, such as being seen as “inategemea msaada” (dependent on aid), “mchoyo” (selfish), “kukosa tumaini” (hopeless), or subject to “wivu” (jealousy).
Study 2: How can program designers learn from communities to identify effective aid narratives efficiently?
Not every community interprets this idea of agency in the same way. As sociocultural context changes, so does the meaning of empowering. Program designers need efficient tools for identifying effective narratives. “Local forecasting” is a particularly efficient way to meet this need. This methodology, introduced by the researchers, involves predictions of an experimental outcome by members of the local population.
Study 3: Do empowering cash-aid narratives reduce donor support?
They do not. The research team wondered whether deficit-focused narratives persist because they compel greater donations from donors. In an online experiment with 1,400 Americans, they randomly assigned potential donors to read about one of the three aid organizations from Study 1 and found that the narrative did not impact the amount donated.
Overall, the studies suggests that a basic ingredient in successful cash transfer programs will be program messages that affirm the dignity and agency of recipients rather than status quo messages that reinforce their need and vulnerability.
