More than Cash? Relief cash transfers as a springboard for recovery and long-term development.

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

While cash transfers enable immediate access to life saving needs like food, water, education, medical treatment, cash-based assistance is said to also have the potential to promote resilience among affected communities by enabling them to grow assets, rebuild their livelihoods, all geared to empowering individual’s ability to meet their needs. The 78th UN General Assembly resolution 46/182 shares the aspiration of seeking such opportunities of moving along the humanitarian-development nexus; “In order to ensure a smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development, emergency assistance should be provided in ways that will be supportive of recovery and long-term development.” (Annex 1; Guiding principle 9)

While much is known about the merits of cash-based assistance for affected persons, little has been documented about how cash transfers concretely link to better, more resilience livelihoods. Beyond exploring those linkages, its important to identify those contexts and scenarios under which cash transfer programs offer the most viable springboard for self-reliance. I then suggest what favourable conditions would look like as well as the critical questions to consider when exploring this nexus programming.

A markets systems lens provides us not just an opportunity to critically evaluate the different nodes, practices, behaviours, actors and forces in cash delivery, but also enables us to design interventions that position for better longer-term viability and systemic change – where such opportunities might exist.

One would rightly wonder how cash transfers which are free at the outset have anything to do with market systems development. And for good reason. For example, the first or subsequent points of contact between affected populations and financial service providers is free and often involves subsidized fees such as cash out, often characterized by a lack of agency in selection of the financial service provider. I have determined that the potential for resilience exists, building on the business logic and inevitability for the financial service providers to continue making their services available to recoup their often high entry costs or gain market share by expanding into target populations leveraging the cash assistance activity, while building an understanding on how people currently access, store, or send money.

It therefore seems to be in the best interest of all actors (conditions allowing) to explore what the incentives, behaviours, demand and supply condition, rules and norms, to attempt to optimize for such a scenario where conditions work efficiently and equitably long in the future.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherAmazon KDP
Number of pages68
ISBN (Print)9798378557738
Publication statusPublished - 17 Mar 2023

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