Kassoum’s story: making cash work for today and tomorrow

“Sometimes I have good harvests, but often it’s the other way around,” says Kassoum, 67.

In the past, his family of six sustained themselves year-round by growing millet. It sounds like a reliable system. But they live in central Mali, where bitter conflict and violence are devastating people’s livelihoods. Last year, even with good rains, Kassoum’s harvest failed due to a weed infestation.

Through an emergency food security and nutrition project in partnership with Aktion Dutch Hilft—a coalition of German relief organizations—World Vision began cash transfers to hundreds of vulnerable families in the area, helping them weather the crisis.

Kassoum’s village head saw their family’s especially tenuous situation, and nominated Kassoum for inclusion in the program.

Four cash installments set Kassoum’s family on a new trajectory

“The day I found out that I had been selected to receive the money, I couldn’t believe it,” says Kassoum. His first installment was equivalent to C$125. “When I received the first grant, I rushed to buy a 100-kilogram sack of millet so that my whole family could share the good news.”

The next month, when he received the same amount: “I bought a 50-kilo bag of rice and school supplies for my little daughter.”

With the third and fourth installments, he bought a male sheep to add to the two females he already had. “I hope that they will multiply a lot so that I can turn them into a small income-generating activity to help me provide for my family,” he says. “I’ve never had such support in my life.”

It’s easy to feel that Kassoum is both proud of the path he’s on and humbled by the circumstances he faces in his sixth decade of life. “It helped me a lot, I won’t hide it,” he says, gracefully expressing his thanks. “It was very difficult for me, as the head of the family.”

Common questions about cash assistance

Fifteen years ago, cash support like the transfers Kassoum received made up less than one per cent of humanitarian response funding. Today, it accounts for 21 per cent. Let’s talk more about it.

1. What is “cash assistance”?

Cash assistance is direct financial help. It’s different from “in-kind” assistance, which provides material goods like bags of grain, cooking oil, shelter or hygiene supplies.

2. Do you simply hand out money?

World Vision uses many methods! Whatever works best for the situation at hand. For example, we may give paper money, prepaid ATM cards or digital bank transfers. We also use physical or digital vouchers that people can exchange for goods or services like food or medical care at verified vendors.

3. Why is cash-based assistance becoming more popular?

Research tells us that cash-based programs are more flexible, cost effective and beneficial for communities’ long-term resilience. Families also say they prefer financial assistance for many reasons. For example, cash and vouchers:

• Give people choice, dignity and control over how they meet their needs.
• Help families avoid taking measures that will hurt them long term (like selling their equipment or eating through seed crops).
• Strengthen local markets by putting cash and vouchers in people’s pockets.
• Help us reach people who are often excluded, like women, people in remote areas and those with disabilities.

Learn more about the benefits of cash assistance.

4. If cash-based assistance is so great, why ever give physical goods?

The benefits of supporting families through cash and vouchers are compelling, but not every scenario is right for it. Response projects should always be tailored to the needs and preferences of the people affected.

For example, in conflict zones or environmental catastrophes, local markets may be unable to bounce back quickly, or even unsafe to access. Cash isn’t helpful if there isn’t a reliable supply of goods for purchase. In these scenarios and others, methods like in-kind distributions may be a better choice.

5. Are there risks that the cash and vouchers will be stolen or used in negative ways?

The most common concern about cash and voucher assistance is that the money might be misused or stolen. The humanitarian community has developed guidelines and best practices that address these concerns and others, like

• safety protocols during distributions,
• coaching for recipients on how to use the funds, and
• strict digital security measures that reduce the risk of money being stolen or diverted.

For organizations providing assistance, robust internal processes are also critical. “This is why we have a lot of financial oversight,” says Elizabeth Araniva, cash transfer advisor at World Vision Canada. “It’s time-consuming—but necessary.”

Backing up experience with research

Cash-based programs have been extensively researched and evaluated. Findings show that the dangers of cash transfers being misused are no greater than other forms of assistance and might even be less, since cash and vouchers are less conspicuous than physical goods.

There is also strong consensus in humanitarian literature—including a review of 30 studies—that people who receive cash assistance do not spend it on “temptation goods” like alcohol and drugs.

On the contrary, both experience and research show that families going through crisis use the financial assistance as Kassoum did: to meet their immediate needs, like purchasing food, protecting their livelihoods and caring for their children.

Did you know? Nearly 10 lives are saved every day through World Vision Canada’s food assistance work, which includes cash-based programming.

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