To bring more options to the people we serve, WFP uses
cash-based transfers
allowing them to decide
what to eat, when to shop and
from where to purchase
their food.
Through cash or vouchers, beneficiaries can
tailor their household food baskets
according to the family's dietary habits and preferences, including fresh and staple foods. A variety of items can be purchased at the markets or stores of their choice, at their preferred time. This allows beneficiaries to better arrange their daily
responsibilities and meet their household priorities.
To bring more personalized and helpful assistance, WFP uses the SCOPE platform, which is a set of possibilities that allows to know better the people it serves.
SCOPE is conceived as a very flexible and scalable platform with online/offline capabilities that can collect, manage and provide operational information to understand beneficiaries' needs, behaviour and consumption patterns, enabling better decision making and targeting.
The use of this powerful data source opens new possibilities, permitting course correction during the interventions and supporting multisectoral assistance through a single delivery platform.
SCOPE in the field
keeping the information safely stored in a single repository.
Photo: WFP/Paul McCann.
giving a great input of data.
Photo: WFP.
payment instructions and collecting redemption feedback from them.
Photo: WFP/Carlos Muñoz.
for children under 2 in Malawi.
Photo: WFP/Carlos Muñoz.
Photo: WFP/Paul McCann.
In last years, WFP has established beneficiary service desks in several field operations to create a direct line with the people it serves. Receiving feedback and offering guidance for a better use of the assistance has become a fundamental step in the way WFP relates to its beneficiaries. Hotlines and other feedback mechanisms strengthen the trust between the organisation and the beneficiaries by putting them at the centre. The initiative gives the beneficiaries a voice and offers the opportunity to improve WFP support at the same time.
Photo: WFP.
Photo: WFP.
Photo: WFP.
Photo: WFP.
Photo: WFP.
WFP has launched an innovative way to reach faster the people we serve with cash or vouchers in an emergency.
- Development of two user-friendly apps to:
- Support fast assessments.
- Select and contract retailers (in the case of a voucher operation).
- Prepositioning of equipment in central locations for immediate deployment.
- Mobile registration of beneficiaries using the WFP end-to-end management platform SCOPE.
- Trained teams.
- Streamlined processes.
December 2015, Kenya. Photo: WFP.
February 2016, Nigeria. Photo: WFP.
February 2016, Nigeria.
To better serve food insecure people and communities, WFP aims at enhancing government-owned social safety net systems such that they are also used in emergency responses, thus playing a fundamental role in bridging the humanitarian-development divide. The partnerships with Governments, in order to have 'agile' safety nets, upgrades these social safety nets to be more shock responsive.
In the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, WFP assisted more than 500,000 people with a mix of in-kind food and cash transfers, the latter delivered through the Government's existing social safety net mechanism (4Ps – Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program). By leveraging the Government's 4Ps programme as a payment platform WFP is now able to support the people of the Philippines faster with unconditional cash transfers.
Similar partnerships with government safety nets is being implemented in Ethiopia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Palestine, to mention a few...
Read about other examples:
Dominican Republic, partnering for a better nutrition
The Progresando con Solidaridad social protection programme is managed and funded by the government and supported by the World Bank and IDB. WFP is a key ally for the government for the introduction and implementation of the nutritional component of the programme, improving the impact of its interventions for those most vulnerable to undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. WFP activities include procurement, logistics and distribution of micronutrient powders as well as capacity development of government counterparts and communities. This conditional cash-based transfer programme also showcases the cooperation and communication between distinct actors to deliver positive results to the beneficiaries (e.g. 50% reduction in anemia rates).
Honduras, national home grown school feeding
WFP partners with the Government of Honduras to manage the national school feeding programme, which reaches 1.4 million school children in about 22,000 schools nationwide, representing the largest safety net in the country. WFP and the government are scaling up a Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) approach which on one side incorporates P4P farmers (30 small farmer groups with more than 14,000 members), and on the other side introduces local fresh products in the school meals through cash transfer modalities. HGSF not only increases access to diversified and nutritious food for school children, but also supports livelihoods, promotes the local economy, increases food and nutrition security, and improves resilience in the face of shocks.
Haiti, vulnerability assessment mapping and targeting for social protection safety net
The nationally-run Kore Lavi programme aims to assist the most vulnerable and deprived households. WFP is working to aid the government in providing national coverage and institutionalizing an equitable and effective mechanism for targeting vulnerable households by using vulnerability assessment and mapping (VAM) to establish a replicable national household-level targeting database.
To streamline the experience of receiving assistance, WFP set up during 2015 common delivery platforms to provide cash-based delivery services on behalf of several humanitarian partners. Through the efforts of the WFP offices in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and 15 other actors, WFP manages a single card to provide cash-based services to the following partners:
- Lebanon: World Bank & Government of Lebanon, UNHCR, UNICEF, NGO Consortium (Save the Children, ACTED, CARE, IRC, Solidarites International, World Vision International)
- Jordan: UNICEF, IOM, Mercy Corps
- Palestine: UNRWA, UNICEF, OXFAM GB, HelpAge and Médecins du Monde
Transactions are remotely monitored, strengthening transparency and accountability.
Photo: WFP/Eyad al-Baba.
Photo: WFP/Eyad al-Baba.
Photo: WFP/Eman Mohamed.
Increased purchasing power of the people we serve; stronger local retail supply chains.
WFP utilizes its
extensive supply chain expertise
to bring
greater purchasing power
for the people we serve. Through an innovative approach to cash-based transfers, WFP aims to strengthen their purchasing power by
10 percent
in countries where we operate. WFP will do this by helping local retail supply chains become
more efficient.
So far, WFP's retail supply chain engagement strategy has increased the purchasing power of some 80,000 Syrian refugees living Zaatari camp in Jordan by 6 percent – providing each person with an extra US$2 per month to buy additional food and better support their families' needs. In Lebanon, contracting different actors in the food value chain provides 7 percent of additional purchasing power to beneficiaries. By itemizing retail point-of-sale data to determine buying habits, WFP works with retailers to make their supply chains more efficient. This information will allow WFP to aggregate demand and use other innovative ways to help shopkeepers achieve savings on their own purchases. Overall, this commercial supply chain approach to cash-based transfers –WFP's retail engagement strategy– aims to lower shelf prices by an additional 5 percent before the end of the year.
While WFP's retail strategy aims to improve the lives of those it serves, we also help to improve local retail supply chains – ultimately lowering shelf prices for all consumers in areas where we operate and strengthening local economies. In 2016, WFP plans to scale-up its retail strategy in five countries – in addition to Jordan and Lebanon.
To enhance access for the people we serve to cash-based distributions, WFP in 2015 launched a global tender to select Financial Service Providers (FSP) with substantial global coverage. As a result, a number of potential providers were identified as able to mobilize WFP's funds in the fastest and most secure way possible. This will help reduce lead time for cash transfer operations from an average of 9 months to 1-2 weeks.