• It restores dignity and decision making to the poor;
• It is easier to manage from the logistics point;
• It does not disrupt markets locally.
• It enables people to decide what they want to spend on. There is no reason to  believe that the poor cannot make good economic decisions.

You can see the talk here,

The talk has attracted a flurry of inputs and questions. This post is to try and address some of those. Interestingly the queries have been more on the mechanics of how to do it rather than questioning whether it should be done.

1.     Is there any chance of short term economic distortion in the local economy?

There is, no doubt, some danger of localised temporary inflation. This will happen when there is money in the hands of the people and no supplies in the market. The trick is to work in advance with the suppliers and ensure that there are adequate stocks. If this is done, there is little possibility of distortion. The reason is that the amounts introduced are very small. In the areas where we work in the Horn and East of Africa, the population density is not too high. In fact we expect that the infusion of cash will actually boost the economy by increasing circulation and preventing small businesses from going under. Plus the cash will also help meet other needs – social (marriages) and long term (education, health care).

2.     What sort of coverage do you hope to achieve? Some families? All families?

The coverage, normally, is very focussed and targeted to the most vulnerable families. Vulnerability is determined by the situation in the area in which you are doing cash transfers. It could be women / child headed households, aged, disabled, refugees etc.

In some cases, the best way to make this work is blanket coverage. This is not as outrageous as it may sound. For instance, in the area that was mentioned in the Ted Talk, Turkana in Kenya, 95% of the people live on less than a dollar (PPP) a day. Sifting through the whole population to identify the ‘non-eligible’ 5% would cost more than just including them. This is what the Hunger Safety Net Programme is doing too.

3.     What amounts are we looking at? Are they dependent on family size?

There are many mechanisms and this depends on the reason for the aid. Important to know that one size will not fit all situations. Some families may get one time support to last over a temporary emergency, some may get amounts for a few months to help them tide over a lean season (say during planting season up to harvest for farmers) and for the chronically poor (in a safety net context) it could be longer term.  Whatever the case, one is looking at small amounts, around 75-100US$ per tranche. Important to remember that this amount is to supplement what the HH is earning and not meant to enable them to survive on this amount. Over time, one expects that this amount will go down. This needs to be studied.

4.     Is there any possibility of leakages? 

There are always possibilities of leakages, even in food transfers. The mechanism to address this is by having strong monitoring checks and balances in place. Ensuring that people know what they are expected to get, that there are accountability and complaints mechanisms where they can register complaints if they do not get it, proactive monitoring by independent teams by visits or phones. It is realistically impossible to eliminate all leakages, one can definitely reduce them significantly.

5.     Would there be absolutely no conditionality?

There are different ways of doing this. One is with no conditionality at all – the family decides how and where to spend. Other is to do it with a conditionality related to a desired outcome. A classic and successful example of this is the PROGRESA (rechristened Oportunidades) cash transfer programme in Mexico which made it conditional for the recipient to send the children to school and get them immunised. This has enabled huge strides in education and health in Mexico.   However, what it is not supposed to be is dictate what the family uses the money for; as mentioned earlier it is not a dignified way of doing it.

6.     How would you monitor impact?

The issue is indeed tricky. It would be important to remember that the cash aid is only contributing to the overall welfare & development of the people. There are a number of factors that impact development. The monitoring & evaluation system will be a combination of qualitative and quantitative and will look at improvement in resilience. Since the metrics for resilience depends on the situation, it will have to be tweaked for each location. Normally one would pick up a representative sample of households and follow them over a period of time to see impact. It would actually be interesting to compare and contrast this approach with another similar area which is engaged in food aid. That way one would be able to get evidence of the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of this approach.

Fran Equiza & Makarand Sahasrabuddhe

Fran Equiza

@BeyondTheTribe

They say necessity is a mother of invention and albeit any human being faced with challenges, will tap into the inner strength and knowhow reinventing themselves so as to survive or probably thrive with the changing dynamics.

Last week I travelled to Turkana, a far place from my base of operation, Nairobi. Turkana is at the border of Kenya with Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda. So isolated is this place, that the residents here feel less of being part of Kenya such that in conversations you will hear people referring to the nation’s capital, Nairobi as Kenya – that is how bad the disconnection is and unfortunately this has been going on for as long as pre-colonial times. Life expectancy here is 46 with constant challenges of conflict as a result of cattle rustling with the neighboring communities, drought and scarcity of food. But all is not lost and things are now changing in Turkana. With a total population of approximately 840,000 people, 95% living below poverty line, most of them are now looking for alternative sources of livelihoods to supplement their age-old tradition of pastoralism which is under threat due to long dry spells and lack of enough pastures for their animals. Most Turkana people are now getting involved in small scale farming and fishing which not only provides supplementary food for their families but also as an additional source of income generation.

When I spoke to Albat Hamisi a pastoralist turned Aloe farmer and it was quite evident that times are changing. “I have moved from being just a pastoralist to growing Aloe Vera as a business. I harvest the produce and from it I make products such as Aloe juice, which adds value to my newfound source of income. I have now diversified and I no longer depend on my animals as the only source of income and I’m more resilient. Before I only had livestock now I entered in aloe vera business so I’m better prepared for the rough times to come” He says. Albat further tells me that he made a mind shift by identifying what he was capable of doing. This has indeed enabled him to deal with the changes most of which are beyond his control.

Its not only the men who are looking for means and ways to adapt, during my visit I came across women who are doing something for themselves for the greater good of the community. I met Elizabeth Lokaut who is part of a women’s group that has created a Savings and Loans scheme. With this scheme, women are able to save and borrow money at a low interest. The women’s group also provides a platform for them to discuss and share on important issues affecting their community. This has exposed the women to different ideas opening up their minds to think differently while appreciating their customs and culture. As Elizabeth explains, “I am now more aware and understand better the importance of animal vaccination in fighting diseases. The savings and loans have also given us opportunities to access finances easily whenever we need to. I feel now more conscious of my own power in my community and what I can contribute!”

The other thing that captured, as always,  my attention was the strong interest parents do have in sending their children to school. It is obvious that they do realise the importance of education though the levels of enrolment are still quite low with primary school enrolment being at 42% and mainly boys and adult literacy at 27% …am sure with time this is bound to change significantly as they embrace new ways of managing change.

In my opinion, Turkana is awakening…and this is a fact we all have to appreciate. The various challenges have actually gotten the communities to think of other means and ways to cope. All those I met, heard and saw impressed me. In Turkana, they are not just sitting waiting for the government or some NGOs to come to their rescue…they are taking charge of their lives and working hard to change the narrative of poverty and food scarcity to one of prosperity and hope.

Fran Equiza

@BeyondTheTribe

Thanks to Makarand Sahasrabuddhe, colleague but more important a friend, here you may find a summary of my tweets in Turkana.

Fran Equiza

In her nightmare, Alice saw the white rabbit but he was always late. She looked hard the magic mushroom that would get rid of her nightmare, but never found it. Her government, the rebels, the international community promised her the magic mushroom but it never arrived. Last time she needed it was three months ago. The armed group M23, well supported from abroad, decided it was its moment to create its own state in Congo, in North Kivu. Then the armed clashes started with the Congolese Army. We could see the Heart Queens playing their croquet game and Alice losing again.

Alice and her family, who happen to be Hutu, ran away from their village with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. They went to Goma. They ran away before they could be killed, raped or any of her sons could be recruited forcedly by M23 as cannon fodder. A young soldier is a good prize and since he is expendable as he is Hutu, it is even better.

Alice is one of the more than 400,000 people displaced because of instability in the country. Once again the Congo is in the news!! But this time almost no one noticed; there are too many hatters around pretending to be mad. When Alice and her family arrived in Kanyaruchinya, just outside Goma there were 60,000 people there already! Their camp soil is on the lava from the last volcano eruption. There are no mattresses and they sleep on the rocky, hard and irregular land. They have just got some food but Alice was amazed about the poor quality of the beans. It is not only that being that poor they have not much nutrients despite how much Alice and her family needs them. It also implies more time for cooking them, hence more firewood, hence more trips or more time in the bush, hence more work for Alice and her daughters and much more risk to be assaulted or raped.

Kanyaruchinya Camp

There are 200 latrines…for 60.000 people –don’t do the maths- and 70 showers –keep not doing maths. Oxfam is working hard to build more but…most donors say this is not a priority and we can hardly find money for Alice and her family.

Of course there are no schools, no livestock and now the planting season is going to be missed because of the conflict. That means in three months Alice will struggle to harvest anything….but that looks so far now, she has enough with living every day. And now her elder son has told her he is going to enrol in the Congolese Army. The Army that disrespecting any principle is recruiting young unemployed people –they have no choice- in the camp. Just more cannon fodder!

Alice told me she was happy with the water she was receiving and thanked me for it. Then she saw my cell and said “Oh, I have been told that works with the mineral is extracted from my village and that is the reason we have had to run away.. Is it true?

I could not answer her…would you know what to tell Alice to help her awaken from her nightmare?

Fran Equiza

Today, while reviewing the draft of the new Oxfam Strategic Plan I found this statement, “Oxfam believes that there is a realistic possibility that the present decade could witness a tipping point, with the power of global elites successfully challenged by accountable and active global citizenship.”

My first reflection thought was what my colleague, now I can call him so, the taxi driver said. That is exactly the sentiment he expressed; … this is going to change, and it is going to change because it cannot continue it is now.

It cannot be that, that in a world plenty of obscene wealth, inequality and poverty is increasing. In a hyper connected world, where everything may be instantly known, that we do not know about a huge number of inaccessible secrets like tax havens, lack of transparency in governments or the use of funds of big corporations. Nothing happens when someone breaks a bank, a government or a country.

Hence, if my taxi driver was right and so is Oxfam, it looks the capacity and onus for change is on us. The push may come from indignation or hope or even ingenuity, but it seems that accountable and active global citizenship may have some of the answers. At the same time on those answers we find our challenge, those three adjectives.

Accountable, so easy to say but so easy to forget. This is one of the task, to tell, to share, to disclose, the actions, the successes and failures, the mistakes and the right decisions. We have been thinking that the triumph is only of those ones who never mistakes, what a silly thing! All of us succeed everyday in something, no matter what it is. Taking care of one children or our elders, go to work hard everyday, or go to find a job, be everyday a bit better, we do it, and we succeed, and not always things are right, we make mistakes but we continue doing our best. That is the collective spirit, no matter to make mistakes, only matter to keep doing the same mistakes and to avoid that accountability is the best vaccine.

Active, what a laziness! With so many things I have to do, am I going to engage in such a thing? Well, it is your call. The old Greeks, wise people even misogine, call “idiot” to those who refuse to participate on the issues of the city, on the common issues, on the public issues, the things related to the citizenship. You can always end being happy with not participating, but remember, you will be happy idiot.

Global, very hard that one! How difficult is to feel those suffering 8,000 miles far away are my siblings. How difficult to feel solidarity to those we do not even know. It is hard with the acquaintances, so guess how is it with the aliens? So in such moments we became hard with the immigrant, with the different, with the weakest. We compare cynically our poor with the poor of the others. But such a thing does not exist. One of the reasons of our trouble is that false difference. The solution to be a solution needs to be global, I cannot save myself without saving the other.

And now I am back to my colleague the taxi driver: “This can’t be as it is and it’s going to change…” Are you going to be one of those who engage with the change or you rather will be a happy idiot?

Fran Equiza

During that process some government officials have repeatedly said to me , “We love NGOs, but they should do their job and not do politics.” As for myself, I naively wonder,….We fight injustice and poverty. Is that not politics? We struggle to change the imbalance of power in societies towards those less powerful. Is that not politics? We try and give voice to those who are voiceless. Is that not politics?

For sure it’s politics. Social organizations have been doing politics since the beginning of the game, what they didn’t do, and some of us keep thinking should keep not doing, is to do party politics. I mean aligned themselves with a specific party or other, but they should align to a specific ideology or another. Taking sides with those more in need is a very clear ideology in itself, but they shouldn’t be dealing with day-to-day politics.

So I regularly answer, Yes Mr Minister (almost always is a he), we don’t do politics (and I mumble party politics), just we defend the interest of the poorest…and I think, well maybe it’s possible that this is the politics you, honorable powerful, don’t want us to do……

Fran Equiza

Mme Djara with a customer

Five weeks ago, I was in Mali. At that time, we were talking about the Sahel food crisis which had the potential to become a huge tragedy if not addressed on time.

It was just a short time back but since then two other issues put Mali in the news ;, the coup and the return to democracy. According to the President of the Election Commission, Mali was expecting to hold elections in April, despite the conflict in the north which was also being talked about as a rebellion by the Tuareg. Even the coup was associated to that conflict and the fact the Tuareg were very quickly taking over big part of the territory.

This is not an article on the coup, or the elections or indeed the food crisis. I want to share a story. A story of investment, innovation and entrepreneurship. I want to talk to you about Madame Fatouma Djara. She is the founder CEO of the company which is the star in my story.

A couple of years ago her business was in difficulty and desperately, needed injection of capital to get out of the red. After hard efforts she managed to get an international investor interested in investing on her business. The investors were banking on her management skills However, they were cautious and agreed to invest in three instalments – the first in May 2009 , the second in October 2009 and and the final one January 2010.

With the fresh money of the first instalment Madame Djara decided to enter in the ready-to-eat food. She knew that in in Mali, specifically in Fakola in the south, the families spent long hours in working so there seemed to be a clear market in the market for her products. The savings in time and the convenience of having the food ready will be worth if she was able to find the right price range. She started it and the business was doing very well, the company was selling out all the production, the initial investment was paying off, actually the demand was so huge that production could not keep up. .

Then it arrived the moment for the second instalment. Madame Djara encouraged by the initial success decided to keep the investment in the same business but expanding it geographically. She saw a very clear opportunity in satisfying the market demands of other locations beyond the original one. Transportation was a challenge, but she was able to overcome it. And not only that, also the company invested in diversifying the suppliers so getting better prices, reducing costs and increasing profits. The business was going even better than before, but Madame Djara was already musing something different.

So when the third bit of the international investment arrived she decided it would be worth to diversify. She analyzed her current market and thought it would be difficult to make it grow because of the associated costs of opening new markets further and further away. Some issues related to health were coming up in the ready-to-eat food business. So the decision was to embark the company in a new sector, in apparels. There was hope that the customer base for the ready-to-eat food would move to the apparel segment too.
In order to minimize the risk the decision was to keep both businesses at the same time. This would provide evidence on what was more profitable. Finally the figures were clear, the margins in the apparel business were higher. So she disinvested in the ready-to-eat food business and focused in the apparel one. And that is as she told me her story and how I learned it my recent trip.

That is with no doubt a clear tale of business success. A story what could be printed in the business pages of any newspaper. The only reason is not in such papers is because the international investors who trusted in Madame Djara are Oxfam. Because that investment amounted only 90USD, paid in three instalments of 40,30 and 20. Because the ready-to-eat business was selling around french fries, first in her village and later in close villages. And her apparel business was selling second hand clothes in those villages. And, you know, such stories lack the glamour you need for business pages.

But nobody will deny me a couple of insights. The first one, the story is as good as any of those big multinationals if we think in how to achieve business success and to show that talent, innovation and entrepreneurship may work in any place, no matter the scale, the starting point or the difficulties. Even more, such success may help people like Madame Djara to get out of poverty.

The second one, what is much more important. To be poor is not a synonym to be dumb, or not be entrepreneur, or to be lazy, or not to be innovative. To be poor is a synonym of not having opportunities, nor access, neither the trust of the others. Because as Madame Djara taught me, when the opportunities are provided, the access granted and the trust showed, all the potential explodes and you achieve amazing results. Nor a single international investor, as all the Oxfam supportes are, could never have used 90 USD of investment better that in this wonderful story of success of a women like Madame Djara that now can feed her family and can keep dreaming with a better life.

Fran Equiza

While occupied in my reflections I happened to watch this wonderful TED Video of Richard Wilkison Co-director of Equality Trust  which is a UK based institution working to promote equality. The central argument in their book “The Spirit Level” is that equality is better for everyone.

The video starts with a very provocative statement, if we look at the relationship between life expectancy and GDP per capita among different countries (the study focused on rich countries) there is no correlation, but if we do the same analysis within a specific country there is a huge correlation. Something similar happens with a set of social indicators or with the UNICEF indicator of Child Well Being, the performance of those indicators have little to do with the GDP per capita, but has a lot to do with inequality within a given a country. The more unequal the country the worse the performance of such indicators.

We can also observe what happens in the more unequal countries with mental illness, violence, people in prison, trust or social mobility and we clearly will arrive to the evident conclusion, equality is not only morally desirable is also the needed condition for a better life in a better society.

Enjoy the Video.

Fran Equiza

So we are witnessing a change in the traditional challenge of “there is food for everyone, but is poorly distributed,” towards “in addition of having the food poorly distributed, as we produce and consume it there is no food for all.”

Clearly, the future speaks of scarcity and we must speak also about the justice in the distribution.

As for the shortage seems evident that one of the actions is to increase production, FAO says about the need to rise by 70% food production in the coming years, but how? The first consideration to make is to what extent food production competes in land and water, with other products such as biofuels, -40% of U.S. corn production will go for ethanol this year- timber or the need for conservation in terms of CO2-maintenance of forests for example.

Therefore there is less land and more need in each aspect. The second point has to do with the increase of the global middle class that has led to increased food intake. A third factor to consider is the climate change that is affecting the patterns and amounts of production in much of the planet. All this in an environment of limited resources where we must act now, says Johan Rockstromin his great TED video

This leads us to turn our hear to a place that has traditionally been paid little attention; in the world today there are 3,000 million people who make their living  directly from family farming,  in Africa alone there are 33 million farms with an area of ​​around one hectare on average. Can these holdings be the new breadbasket of the world? No doubt they can, just remember that most of them have not had access to new technologies, or credit, or marketing tools, and we can find very good examples that demonstrate how those exploitations may flourish with such care as much or more than large farms.

The other part of the equation is the distribution and this has to do both with access to food as with the way we consume it. And talking about access something is very clear, as Amartya Sen has made clear: “Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough to eat. It is not the characteristic of there not being enough to eat”. And the amazing thing is that approximately 80% of hungry people live in rural areas where food is produced. But the poorest are heavily exposed to price volatility and in general spend over 75% of their income on food, which gives them little room to maneuver. So without regulating prices and reducing speculation, with investment in their development, their access to the food they need seems so far away.

And finally, yet closer to all of us, is the issue of consumption, in this case of irresponsible consumption, of waste, of the amount of food thrown away literally. According to Tristram Stuart with just a fourth of the food that is wasted in Europe and the U.S. we could feed 1,000 million people going hungry to bed in the world every day.

Today is the World Food Day, in such a day if we are aware of the limitations of our planet, of the possibilities of small-scale farming, of how the speculation of a commodity such food left over hungry a billion people. And finally we are also aware of our individual personal and civic responsibility in every aspect and of our own waste, we can probably take the first step towards a world in which all of us, and those to come, we will have enough food without suffering to have it.

Fran Equiza