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Transferring Cash and Assets to the Poor
Transferring Cash and Assets to the Poor

This report examines whether the Department is achieving value for money through transfers by reducing poverty and increasing well-being at reasonable cost. This involves reaching people in need and giving optimal support, in a timely and scheduled way, as well as assessing whether it knows the short- and longer-term effects of its interventions. 

This publication reports that in 2010-11, the Department for International Development (DFID) spent £192 million on social protection programmes, which includes its transfer programmes. The evidence heard suggests transfer programmes are effective in targeting aid and ensuring the money goes directly to the poorest and most vulnerable people. It is therefore surprising that the use of transfer programmes has not increased. The DFID's transfer programmes deliver cash, food and assets, such as livestock, directly to people living in poverty. Transfers can be used to tackle a range of issues, such as hunger and malnutrition, or give access to health and education services, in a variety of contexts. The Department only plans to support transfer programmes in 17 of its 28 priority countries. It does not have an overall strategy for the use of transfers and its decisions on where to support transfer programmes look reactive. The decision as to whether or not to propose a transfer programme is taken by staff working in the country and it is not clear why there are extensive programmes in some countries and none in others. The Department does not collect data on all the costs of the transfer programmes it supports and is therefore unable to say whether it is lifting more people out of poverty for every pound spent on transfers compared to other programmes.

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