Beyond Beneficiaries: Spatial Spillover Effects of Social Safety Nets on Food Security in Malawi

ABSTRACT Persistent food insecurity continues to undermine development of low‐income countries despite significant investments in social protection programs. While social safety net (SSN) programs aim to stabilize household welfare, their broader community‐level effects remain underexplored. Using a balanced panel dataset from the Malawi Integrated Household Panel Survey (IHPS) from 2010–2019, we employ a Spatial Durbin Difference‐in‐Differences framework (SDM‐DID) combined with propensity score matching. Baseline estimates from two‐way fixed effects (TWFE) and Extended TWFE (ETWFE), which accounts for staggered treatment timing, both indicate positive and statistically significant effects of SSN participation on dietary diversity. The SDM‐DID results show that SSN participation improves dietary diversity among beneficiary households and generates positive spillovers to neighboring non‐beneficiary households. A focused analysis on the Social Cash Transfer program (SCTP) yields positive direct and spillover effects, confirming that results are not driven by program aggregation. Spillover effects are amplified through social networks, household income, and market access. Heterogeneity analysis suggests similar effects across gender with limited statistically differences. Regionally, effects are more pronounced in the Central and Southern regions. The findings highlight the importance of spatial spillovers in shaping program impacts, suggesting that SSNs can generate community‐wide improvements in food and nutrition security.