Planning for government adoption of a social protection programme in an insecure environment: the Child Grant Development Programme in northern Nigeria

Cash transfer programming (CTP) is increasingly used in West Africa in response to food and nutritional crisis. Beyond emergency situations, cash transfer mechanisms are key mechanisms for national social protection strategies and policies.

Despite the rapid development of social protection programmes, and the partnerships established with national institutions for the implementation of such interventions, few studies aimed at examining operational progress and challenges of implementing cash-based social protection interventions in Nigeria have been conducted.

Similarly, although CTP is increasingly being implemented in insecure areas, the extent to which insecurity and mitigation measures that may affect programme implementation, notably in cases requiring remote management, have not been well documented.

It is the aim of this case study to present progress, issues and lessons learned from a social protection cash transfer programme targeted at pregnant women and children under two years old, in the northern Nigerian states of Jigawa and Zamfara, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), led by Save the Children in partnership with Action Against Hunger (ACF).