Instead of complex formulae of kilocalories per family, figuring out the best way to ensure food security and still encourage farmers to grow during food distributions, and myriad other issues and technicalities, most organisations are getting better at a more simple, elegant solution. Just give them cash.
Food surplus will soon be a thing of the past
There are a number of reasons why cash-based assistance is gaining popularity and acceptance. The background is a changing picture of food availability in the world "We will soon be entering the 'post food surplus era,'" says Erik Johnson, head of humanitarian response for DanChurchAid/ ACT Alliance.
"The large, traditional grain donors such as Canada and the US have supplied food distributions to disaster responses around the world for the past 50 years, but due to the increasing use of biodiesel and increasing meat consumption in Asia, most experts agree that worldwide food surpluses will soon be a thing of the past."
Nobody prefers a handout
In addition, cash-based assistance offers a number of advantages; it's cheaper to transport than food. It stimulates the local economy with immediate effect, thereby returning the community to the path to self-sufficiency. It empowers families to make choices about whether food is a more urgent need, or whether it's medicine, paying off debts, or paying school fees. And it helps people maintain their dignity.
Even in the worst of situations, nobody really prefers a handout. People want to be able to work for themselves, and in many cases, cash is the tool that helps them become self sufficient faster.
From food aid to food assistance
Cash-based assistance carries a number of risks as well, and it isn't right for every emergency response. A thorough understanding of the environment, and especially of the local market, is a necessary precursor, as is the availability of food. And it isn't as simple as throwing money off of the back of a truck; cash-based assistance still requires careful identification of beneficiaries on the basis of vulnerability, and thorough monitoring to measure impact, and determine how the money is used.
But in Haiti after the earthquake, dozens of organisations have found that cash is the fastest and most appropriate tool to make sure that people don't go hungry.
However, nothing's for Free!
The move toward cash represents a shift from a paradigm of 'food aid' to one of 'food assistance.' The point is not to hand out food, but to ensure that people don't go hungry.
"In Haiti, that's meant a whole lot of cash for work," explains Erik. "Cash for work doesn't appeal to people with money or jobs. It's really only attractive to the unemployed, or those with meagre resources. Unfortunately, in the communities where we're working in Haiti, that applies to just about everybody."
Long-term benefits
DanChurchAid/ ACT Alliance's cash for work has included things like rehabilitation of hillsides to reduce erosion, or improvement of roads to enable farmers to have better access to local markets. So the projects have both an immediate impact for families, but also benefit the community over the longer term.
"In the shift from Food Aid to Food Assistance," says Erik, "We know we'll be seeing more cash-based assistance, and that we'll get better at using it right, and at the right time, to help more families achieve food security. Because in a world where people are literally growing grain to burn in their cars, nobody should go hungry."