Leveraging Mobile Phone Expansion in LMICs to Improve Parental Practices

We implemented a large-scale RCT in rural Côte d’Ivoire to measure the impact of an easily scalable intervention to promote simple parental practices fostering early childhood stimulation (ECS). The intervention consists of mobile phone videos that were disseminated via memory cards with the help of volunteer local actors. After five months, the videos had reached a third of the target population and video exposure had improved caregivers’ ECS-related knowledge and practices, including those of male caregivers. In particular, the intervention reduced the prevalence of violent discipline. Our results highlight the public policy potential of mobile phone expansion in LMICs.