Imagine the logistics of distributing cash to communities in one of the poorest countries in the world. A riot or rugby
scrum springs to mind, but it was a much more orderly affair when the British Red Cross distributed cash grants in Niger.More than three million people were affected by a food crisis in Niger in 2005.
The Sahel region of West Africa suffers chronic food shortages due to a range of factors including climate change and poverty. The British Red Cross raised more than £6 million for Niger
and other countries in the region. Following the emergency phase of food distribution and healthcare, the British Red Cross invested the remaining funds in longer-term programmes to support the most
vulnerable people. This included distributing cash in two phases to the impoverished Tanout region to help people help themselves. Charlotte Dawson, Africa programme support officer at
the British Red Cross, took part in the cash distribution process. She described how it worked:Distribution"During the first distribution, in 2005, the President of Niger
insisted that we give money to the female heads of household so when we arrived in a Touareg community at 8am on the first day of distribution there were a couple of hundred women waiting for
us. We planned a 'pilot' distribution with all the teams in one location and in fact it went incredibly smoothly.On the first day of distribution there were a couple of hundred women waiting
for us.Charlotte Dawson, British Red Cross"There were three teams of volunteers from the Niger Red Cross who organised the distributions to 400 people on the day. A baseline data
collection and census had identified in advance all the households to be given the cash."The Niger Red Cross volunteers had taken photos of the beneficiaries and information about the
household members so we could be sure we were giving the money to the right people.Beneficiaries "The first two volunteers in each team had the list of beneficiaries and a
stack of photos. Once they had a positive identification they took a little receipt that the women had been given during the census. "The women then moved to the second two volunteers in the
team who had the money. The notes were counted in front of each woman and she was given the money in an envelope. Each woman put her thumbprint on the list as a signature to say she had received her
money."Each household in the pastoral communities, containing an average of eight people, received the equivalent of £120, which Charlotte said was probably more money than many of the women had
ever had."The good thing about distributing cash is that it gives people choice – they make decisions for themselves on how best to use the money, whether that means buying food that they
need now, replacing possessions or buying animals."She explained that many households would have been forced to sell the few items they had to buy food during the lean season, or Soudure
period, just to try and make ends meet. Many people in the Tanout area would have had just one very basic meal a day composed essentially of cereal and salt. In total 5,250 households received
cash grants in November 2006. The British Red Cross is also supporting a livestock vaccination programme in Tanout, inoculating more than 50,000 cattle, sheep and goats against three critical
diseases.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
