How Much Does It Cost To Invest In People’s Income and Livelihoods?
Despite global progress in poverty reduction, about 700 million people are still living in extreme poverty and unable to access employment and livelihood opportunities to generate sustainable income for survival and self-reliance.
Cost information can help understand the investments required to improve the income and livelihoods of as many people in need as possible. The Dioptra Consortium analyzed the average cost per person of 54 interventions to improve people’s income and livelihoods within 5 major intervention types across 12 countries in 5 regions between 2015–2025.
The new study, How much does it cost to invest in people’s income and livelihoods, revealed that:
There is wide variation in the average cost per person of different interventions (within the same intervention type, as well as between different intervention types) in different contexts. See the report below for the range and median across contexts.
Interventions that provide higher values of productive grants/assets per person tend to cost more per person.
Most (about three quarters) of the interventions reached fewer than 500 people.
Key recommendations for donors and implementers include:
In the absence of comparable outcome information, donors should not establish arbitrary benchmarks of cost per person for economic inclusion interventions. Moreover, donors should refrain from using indirect costs as a proxy measure for value for money.
In the absence of accurate outcome information, donors and implementers should think critically about the appropriate level of income and outcomes expected per dollar within a specific time horizon for specific participant profiles.
Interventions that cost more than the GDP per capita in that context should demonstrate cost-effectiveness through reliable outcome estimates.
To better understand the sustainable effects of income and livelihood interventions, donors should consider funding longer-term cost research across a variety of program scales, contexts, populations, and actors.
Cost-efficiency data set: Income and Livelihoods
This new research builds on the Dioptra Consortium’s mission to make cost-efficiency data widely available and actionable across the aid sector. Using tools such as Dioptra to conduct cost analysis can help to improve the value for money of program interventions.
The Dioptra Consortium includes Acción Contra el Hambre, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Danish Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, and Save the Children. For any questions or more information, please contact: www.dioptratool.org/contact-us