Civil war Quote by Guy Standing
““The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), which compared ‘food versus cash’ in four countries, found that in three of the four – Ecuador, Uganda and Yemen (before the civil war) – cash transfers led to better nutrition at lower cost, meaning many more people could be helped for the same outlay. (In the fourth, Niger, severe seasonal food shortages meant that in-kind deliveries improved dietary diversity more than cash.)54 This has led the WFP to put more emphasis on cash transfers; today, just over a quarter of WFP’s aid globally is cash-based.””
About This Quote
Source Report: World Food Programme evaluation, 2023
Cash assistance can improve nutrition more cheaply than food aid in many contexts, though not all.
In simple terms: Cash often works better than food aid.
Key Takeaway
Consider cash aid where markets function.
Themes
humanitarian aid
nutrition
economics
Mood
analytical
pragmatic
Type
policy
evaluation
When to use this quote
- post‑conflict recovery
- urban poverty relief
- emergency response
- development projects
Key Concepts
cash transfers
cost‑effectiveness
food security
Questions to Reflect On
- How do local market conditions affect cash aid outcomes?
- When should food aid be preferred?
A Different Perspective
In areas with market failures, cash may be insufficient or cause inflation.
![“In a nutshell, this United Nations non-profit organization [World Food Programme] feeds millions of starving children at schools in third world countries as an incentive for them to attend school, which in turn might better their futures. They do so much more but I was so struck by this story.” quote by Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b6d/sheryl-crow-2654_children_in-a-nutshell-this-united-nations-non-pr_473702.jpg)
