Nathan Perkins
Country: USA
Background - International Development Studies
Research Project: Innovations in Emergency Food Security Interventions: Lessons Learned from Concern Worldwide’s Mitigation Programme in Niger
BACKGROUND: Conventional food aid is undergoing a transition towards market-based alternatives. Cash transfers have gained prominence as an alternative food security delivery mechanism. The impacts of such interventions have been difficult to assess, given the precarious nature of crisis contexts. Furthermore, “cash transfers” has become a generalised term; its incorporation into a wide variety of programmes has caused some confusion in the literature. This research qualifies the use of unconditional targeted cash transfers1 in conjunction with a targeted Blanket Feeding programme (BF) in a context of slow-onset food insecurity resulting from drought among high rates of malnutrition approaching emergency levels.
METHODS: This is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study using mixed quantitative methods. Structured interviews were conducted with beneficiaries of supplementary food aid and targeted cash transfer programmes in Tahoua District, Niger during the hunger period in 2010, which began earlier than in most years due to a poor harvest (May to August). The questionnaire investigated the usage of both types of transfer, household livelihood strategies, and the impact each transfer had on household food security. Focus Group Discussions were conducted with beneficiaries from communes demonstrating the best and worst food deficits to draw comparisons of household food security and coping strategies.
RESULTS: 378 respondents (95% response rate). 24.1% were BF and cash beneficiaries and 75.9% were BF only beneficiaries. 100% of respondents were women. The results reveal that the majority of food aid was eaten by members of the household additional to the registered beneficiary. Almost 80% of food aid was consumed in less than one week. All cash beneficiaries reported spending most or all of the transfer on cereals for the household (100%). These findings were reinforced by the FGDs conducted among 30 women which found that food aid was shared in the household and that the majority of monetary expenditures were dedicated to food.
CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the appropriateness of both the BF and cash transfer programme in a context of slow-onset and prolonged food security. These findings were complemented by a recent nutrition survey demonstrating remarkable differences between non-beneficiaries, food beneficiaries, and food plus cash transfer beneficiaries.