What is the best way to tackle poverty in Ethiopia? This new study tries cash, therapy, and more.

What is the best way to tackle poverty in Ethiopia? This new study tries cash, therapy, and more. A new study is out that looked at various ways to try to tackle poverty in Ethiopia. Turns out, cash helps, but the impact of therapy is less clear. Transcript MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Cash transfers have become one of the most widely used tools for reducing poverty around the world. Economists, though, are still looking for ways to produce longer-term impact, and that is the idea behind a new study from Ethiopia. Researchers tested whether pairing cash with mental health counseling could help people build more stable lives. But when an ongoing conflict spread into some of the villages in the program, it produced unexpected results, as NPR's Fatma Tanis reports.FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: In low-income settings, poverty and mental health are often locked in a vicious cycle, says Melissa Hidrobo. She's a senior fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute.MELISSA HIDROBO: Poor mental health can impair your decision-making. It can reduce your productivity. At the same time, the stresses of poverty, such as not having enough food to eat, can also exacerbate ill mental health.TANI...