Case study report
This case study examines the role of official development assistance (ODA) in the design, delivery and sustainability of social protection programmes in Kenya. It analyses trends in ODA disbursements to Kenya and to the social protection sector in particular, and explores how aid has interacted with domestic financing, policy frameworks and institutional capacity over time.
Focusing on three flagship social assistance programmes—the Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, the Hunger Safety Net Programme and the Home-Grown School Meals Programme—the report shows how ODA played a catalytic role in programme piloting, expansion, system building and evidence generation, before gradually transitioning to increased domestic financing. Drawing on administrative data, impact evaluations and key informant interviews, it identifies factors that have supported programme effectiveness and sustainability, as well as remaining challenges related to coverage, adequacy and fiscal constraints.
