Yesterday, FAO and UNICEF presented their new joint publication From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfers and Impact Evaluations in Sub-Saharan Africa, which provides a detailed account on how cash transfers have expanded dramatically in the past two decades, becoming a key social protection tool, improving consumption, school attendance, health, food security, productive activities and agricultural investment.

The official launch was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, during a Critical Thinking Forum, a talk-show type of event organized with the international outlet Mail & Guardian. The panel featured social development experts from FAO, UNICEF and Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), as well as high-level representatives from Ministries in Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and Lesotho’s Minister for Social Development, Molahlehi Letlotlo.

The publication features a group of researchers and practitioners from FAO, UNICEF, the University of North Carolina and Save the Children UK collaborating under the Transfer Project to provide new evidence about the effectiveness of cash transfer programmes undertaken in eight sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, and South Africa).

“The book dispels a number of popular myths about cash transfers—Cash does not lead to dependency or working less; in fact beneficiaries invest in agriculture and work more on their own farms. The cash is not spent on alcohol or cigarettes; it is spent on food and children’s necessities,” explains Benjamin Davis, director and strategic programme leader of SP3.

It showcases that social protection does not create dependency – a prevailing concern among policy makers – but rather supports poor people in becoming more productive and that unconditional cash transfers stimulate local demand for goods and services, generating multiplier effects and bolstering local economies.

In Zambia for example, the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health has been implementing a Social Cash Transfer programme since 2003. The programme is having positive effects across the country, increasing food security, productivity and ownership of productive assets while improving living conditions, including child wellbeing. Thanks to cash transfers, families increased the amount of land dedicated to crop production by 36 percent, while expenditure on materials for agriculture more than doubled. This increased the value of the harvest by almost 37 percent, with the production being sold mainly in local markets.

Benjamin Davis expressed that “the real merit of this book is that it chronicles how the cash transfer impact evaluations fed into the policy debate and improved programme implementation in each country.”  

The book thus demonstrates how the strong collaboration among national policy makers, development partners and researchers has led to the expansion of cash transfer programmes and social protection policies across the region, thus supporting the idea that giving cash to the poorest and most vulnerable children, families and communities is a worthwhile investment in the nations’ future, as it has significant positive effects on eradicating poverty and stimulating growth.

Access the publication, From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfers and Impact Evaluations in Sub-Saharan Africa, here.