Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to 48 million orphaned children, having lost one or both parents. Many other children, while not yet orphaned, are nevertheless vulnerable to the effects of disease, wars and chronic poverty.

Numerous interventions have been used in the care and support of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC). Institutionalization; and reactive strategies of care—involving provision of “aid” for physical needs such as food items (Drew, Makufa & Foster, 1998)—have dominated most approaches. Although these approaches are responses of well-meaning governmental and non-governmental organizations, they have attracted some criticism. Institutionalization tends to be expensive and may not allow children to feel like they belong to any specific community (UNAIDS, et al., 2004). Reactive strategies tend to encourage overdependence without empowering the families.

This study evaluates a relatively new intervention that incorporates an economic empowerment strategy—including micro-savings promotion—in the care and support of OVC. Specifically, the study answers two questions: (1) To what extent would OVC caring families in Uganda participate in family economic interventions? (2) What are the socio-economic and family-level factors that influence participation and performance in a family economic intervention for OVC in Uganda?

Methods: The study uses data from SEED/SUUBI research project (2004-2007). SEED/SUUBI tested an economic intervention model for OVC using an experimental design in which 384 participants in Rakai district of Uganda were randomly assigned to receive the family economic intervention—comprising of matched children savings accounts (CSA) for education or starting a family micro-business (n=187), or the usual care for OVC (n=197). Randomization was carried out at the level of the school. Since this study addresses questions related to participation and performance (represented by savings), we only included participants with CSA (n=187). The data were obtained from the financial institutions holding the children savings. The study uses average monthly net deposit (AMND)—defined as net deposits per months of participation (Schreiner, et al., 2001)—as the measure for participation and performance.

Findings OLS was performed to understand the socio-economic and family factors that influence AMND. Results indicate that children saved an equivalent US$6 in AMND. With a matching rate of 2:1, the average participant accumulated US$18 monthly, an impressive amount in a poor country like Uganda.

Regression results indicate that presence of a biological mother (?= .487, p=.004) or any other adult female caregiver (?=.340, p=.011) were positively associated with children's AMND. On the other hand, age, gender, or orphan status of a child did not have a significant impact on AMND.

Implications The findings imply that provided with the economic opportunity, families caring for OVC would save and participate in economic interventions aimed at bettering the plight of “their” children. Moreover, orphanhood status does not seem to influence participation and performance (AMND). Double orphans participate and perform just as well as any other OVC. There may be a role for family economic interventions in Uganda—and probably other countries in SSA that need responsive programs and policies to address the plight OVC.