Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) is a 'proof of concept' project to support African rural communities in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Scientists in agriculture, nutrition and health, economics, energy, water, environment and information technology, working together with communities, local partners, and governments empower and backstop villages to accelerate progress in achieving the MDGs. The concept to prove is that science-based interventions, appropriate local institutions and community participation and empowerment can be combined to achieve the MDGs, within the cost estimates derived by The UN Millennium Project. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has provided a grant of £11.5 million to implement a new Millennium Village in northern Ghana (distributed via its DFID-Ghana centre, based in Accra). The MV ran for several years from 2012 to 2016 with interventions targeting a cluster of communities with a total population of around 26,000. In the survey rounds of 2012, 2014 and 2016 the full MVP package of questionnaires was administered by the Earth Institute to track progress on the MDGs. The additional survey rounds of 2013 and 2015 administered a restricted version of the MVP household questionnaire focusing on tracking progress in poverty reduction. Users should note that the current study includes data from Years 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the study, conducted in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.The site is located in Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Region in Northern Ghana. It encompasses 34 communities located in three Area Councils, in the poorest sections of two District Assemblies. While MVPs across Africa have established their own monitoring and evaluation systems, designed by the Earth Institute at Columbia University, DFID has requested that the new MVP in northern Ghana be accompanied by an independent...