cash based programming in emergency context the case of ... · traders’ business ethics at the...

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice

Cash Based Programming in Emergency Context

The Case of PoC Voucher Project Juba South Sudan


The Juba POC Voucher Project


The Project Overview

Project Overview Project covers Protection of Civilian Camps(PoC)

located in the outskirts of Juba town where internally displaced persons(IDPs) sort protection from UN.

Funded by WFP and World Vision Support Offices . Total project funding is USD 7,957,962 for 1 year Covers all registered IDPs in the PoC.


The Project Overview

The camp has about 30 000 registered IDPs World Vision in partnership with WFP is providing value

vouchers to the IDPs. The Vouchers are provided on a monthly basis. The transfer value is determined by the rate of inflation hence

it changes regularly as informed by the monthly pricemonitoring reports.


The Voucher Project ObjectivesImproved access to diversified foods that meet basic

nutritional requirements for households in Juba PoC

Improved nutritional status for the IDPs hosted in the Juba PoC.

Boost market functionality within the IDP community/conflict populations


Triggers for Change from In-kind to Vouchers

PDMs showed that IDPs were selling the food they received(27.8%). Main reason stated was to buy culturally accepted foods and other food items not in the in-kind basket.

Pipeline challenges. In some instances rations were reduced or some items were totally unavailable.


Triggers for Change from In-kind to Vouchers

WFP faced increased demand for in-kind in remote areas , especially in the Upper Nile where there were no markets and people’s source of food was mainly aid.


Considerations on the ModalityThe following considerations were taken into account on deciding whether or not to provide assistance through cash/vouchers or stick to the in-kind. Program objectives and effectiveness Efficiency - WFP research showed providing assistance through

vouchers was 30% cheaper than in-kind Markets – Access & availability of key commodities Institutional and administrative capacity Statutes – instrument on mobile money not yet promulgated by gvt Beneficiary preferences


Cash Transfer Mechanism for Traders

Direct cash was the best option. A financial institution delivers cash for payment to

traders in the camp Traders in the camp have no access to banks outside . Most traders felt unsafe to go outside and get their

money in the banks or any other form of financial institution.

Lack of infrastructure for mobile money and statutes. - mobile money not yet legalised in South Sudan.


Key Achievements…… Diversifying the Basket Results show that vouchers increased the ability of IDPs to diversify their food basket . They were now able to buy food that is culturally acceptable to

them

The IDPs are now able to buy food of their choice using the vouchers at a time that is convenient to them.

They are also more empowered to budget as households and make decisions on their priorities.


…achievements Improved dietary diversity and improved nutrition HH now had access to additional commodities through the voucher

project which the in-kind could not provide.e.g. PDMs showed that wheat flour and milk were the most popular items, followed by tomatoes , onions and dry fish.

A survey showed that 68 per cent (from 18% at baseline) of households now have improved diversity in their food baskets.


One of the IDPs Preparing Okra Purchased Through Vouchers


…achievements… Income & Growth of the Local Traders

Currently the voucher project injects about 4.048million SSP (Approx US$101 000) into the local economy per month.

World Vision is partnering with 157 traders in the PoC, with some employing two to four workers to help them during the voucher redeemed period.

Around 400 youth are now engaged in economic activity, where previously they had little opportunity to engage in meaningful income activities

With 157 traders participating in the project, IDPs can choose from where to buy and what to buy thus a wider choice

,


Snap Shot of Traders’ Income Levels…

100 - 1000 1001 - 5000 5001 - 10000 10001 -50000

50001 -100000

100001 -200000

200001 +

9%

23%

19%

38%

4%6%

1%


Achievements…

At the beginning of the voucher project men came to collect the vouchers(about 60%).

With time the number of women collecting the vouchers went up to 92%. A similar percentage was captured at the shops where they redeemed the vouchers.

Main reasons gender focused training by WFP & WV plus the fact that the vouchers were restricted to certain commodities. Men discovered that they could not purchase items outside the agreed commodities


Contingency Plan Although assessment showed that a cash based programme

like the vouchers was possible , due to the insecurity in South Sudan , WV decided to build in some contingency in the project design.

A plan to revert to food in-kind once markets collapsed/failed to support the project was included in the proposal.

When conflict broke out again in Juba in July , all markets closed and the traders’ access to commodities was totally cut off.

As a result the contingency plan came into effect. New assessments will be done before reverting to the vouchers


The Lessons Learnt… Community trust issues due to nature of conflict

Initially IDPs resisted the transition to vouchers because they suspected that commodities coming from outside posed a security risk to them as their adversaries could conspire with suppliers.

They wanted WV to run the shops

Discussions were held but this delay project inception by about 3 months.


…Lessons… Inflation Issues A few months after the project started the country started to

experience currency fluctuations due to high inflation leading to instability in prices.

Price of commodities increased intermittently. As a solution the transfer value of the voucher was reviewed

on a monthly basis based on price monitoring data and the value was changed with the same elasticity of the market price changes of cereals.


…Lessons… Traders’ Business Ethics At the beginning some contracted traders were buying vouchers

instead of redeeming them for the selected items despite the fact that this was against the contract they signed.

This threatened the project goal. Close shop monitoring helped flush out such traders . Those found

guilty of the offence had their contracts cancelled. Also did a lot of awareness messaging on these issues to the

community. e.g. partnered with Internews to air some programmes. 2 help lines were put in place for anyone to report such offences

among other feedback mechanisms like the help desk .


Conclusion Piloting value vouchers in the PoC has helped demonstrate that CBP

can also work in such fragile contexts as long as traders in camps are linked to the bigger markets outside.

This also reduces logistical challenges and costs associated with the in-kind modality.

As such if the economic situation in SS improves and prices stabilize it is worth increasing the cash based modalities especially considering the benefits it brings both to the donors and the community.

WV and other interested partners continue to learn from this initiative to influence better project designs and a more succinct programming in future


The End..

Links…..

http://www.wvi.org/disaster-management/publication/cash-based-programming-address-hunger-conflict-affected-south-sudan-case-study

http://www.wvi.org/video/video-cash-based-programming-address-hunger-conflict-affected-south-sudan

http://www.wvi.org/disaster-management/publication/cash-based-programming-address-hunger-conflict-affected-south-sudan-case-study

cash based programming in emergency context the case of ... · traders’ business ethics at the...

Documents