Lessons learned from a cash transfer project in Malawi

In response to the 2004/5 crop failure, Oxfam planned a programme in southern Malawi, which included a ‘pilot’ cash-transfer project in Traditional Authority (TA) Kapichi, Thyolo District. The project was to support 4,000 households with monthly cash transfers to provide for their immediate food needs from November to March. After the first two months, coverage was increased to a total of 6,000 households.

This report provides:

* assessment and analysis of the effectiveness of the programme
* recommendations for improvement to be used in future responses
* recommendations with respect to the design of longer-term social transfer programmes in the same geographic areas.

The report finds that the project was well implemented in terms of delivering the cash transfers to those who were targeted to receive them. Prior experience of working in the area and the involvement of finance staff from the start of the project resulted in a very smooth and effective operation.

There were, however, concerns about the targeting methodology used. This should clearly be a cause
for concern and there is a need therefore for Oxfam to review how it approached targeting in this case. However, these targeting concerns do not seem to have been particularly related to the use of cash.