Feeding West Africa: An Agenda for Regional Trade

Date: 03 Nov, 2015  3 Comments

Food price volatility remains a pressing challenge for many African countries (FAO, IMF, and UNCTAD, 2011). The vast majority of Africa’s population still derives a substantial share of their income from agriculture and low-income households allocate a large share of their budget to food (often more than 60 percent). As a result, large and unexpected swings .

But it is more than that.

Many of the largest and best-known cash-transfer schemes attach conditions to the money people receive. In the case of Brazil’s bolsa familia, which is a decade old this year, cash is paid on the condition that children go to school and get vaccinated. Give Directly attaches no conditions – its recipients can spend the money in any way they want.

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The charity’s no-strings approach, it’s minimalistic website, and even its name, give the impression that it heralds the end of the middleman. But underneath, there are lots of moving parts. Recipients are identified, for example, using a combination of census data, satellite imagery and door-to-door visits looking for homes with thatched roofs – which the charity uses as an “objective indicator” of poverty.

However, not everyone is convinced. Some point out the obvious: you can’t use cash transfers to buy food or textbooks if they’re not on sale. Others argue that such schemes do not directly tackle structural issues underpinning poverty and inequality.

Indian economist Jayati Ghosh warns that “the current tendency is to see this as a further excuse for the reduction of publicly provided services, and replace them with the administratively easier option of doling out money”.

However, not everyone is convinced. Some point out the obvious: you can’t use cash transfers to buy food or textbooks if they’re not on sale. Others argue that such schemes do not directly tackle structural issues underpinning poverty and inequality.

Indian economist Jayati Ghosh warns that “the current tendency is to see this as a further excuse for the reduction of publicly provided services, and replace them with the administratively easier option of doling out money”.