Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, visits Concern’s Emergency Cash Trans
Monday, 12 February 2007
On Monday 5th February Hilary Benn, the UK's Secretary of State for International Development, visited Concern's innovative Dowa Emergency Cash Transfer (DECT) programme in Sungeni, in Malawi's Dowa district. The programme is being funded by DFID and is providing small holder farmers with cash to buy food (or other essentials) for their families.
Click here to see a video explaining how the programme works.
Concern's Emergency Co-ordinator in Malawi, James Davey, explained to Hilary Benn that whilst Malawi as a whole had a bumper harvest last year, some parts of the country experienced drought that led their crops to fail. This, combined with bad tobacco prices, left many farmers unable to buy enough food to feed their families this year.
Concern has committed to providing assistance to all those affected in Dowa District with support from DFID. The programme is targeting around 10,000 households living in poverty in the area or approximately 70% of the population. Rather than giving food aid Concern is providing cash payments - about £6.70 every month on average – but this amount varies according to household size and is linked to the price of maize to ensure that the families’ ability to buy food is maintained.
An innovative approach to delivering the cash is being used, in partnership with Opportunity International Bank Malawi (a development bank). A member of each household, generally the wife, has been issued with a smart card that is activated by their fingerprint to prevent theft and corruption. The beneficiary is able to access their cash from a mobile bank (a secure vehicle) that travels round Dowa district setting up in different remote locations every day.
Previous programmes of a similar nature run by Concern have shown that the beneficiaries appreciate the cash over food as it allows them to make choices on how that manage their lives and livelihoods – they choose to spend the cash as they see fit for their own particular circumstances. So whilst the cash might be spent on food, it could also be used, for example, to pay for medicine, or to educate a child.
Concern also believe that injecting cash at the grassroots level generates a “multiplier” effect that benefits the whole community. For example, small markets are springing up at the sites of the mobile bank because traders know that people will have cash to spend.
Mr Benn was very impressed with the DECT programme, and commended Concern's innovative approach:
"We've got to ask ourselves that question all the time: are we doing the right thing, could we do it in a different way, listen to what people have got to say about what they want, and not be afraid to try things out. How do you provide for people for whom life has made circumstances very difficult; how do you enable people to get their foot back on the ladder when they've recovered from what the current crisis is. This is a really good example of approaches you can use to do that. I must say I'm really impressed with what Concern has done."
