ReliefWeb

Background

Save the Children’s Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods team responds to emergency food crises worldwide, and cash transfers are one of the essential approaches that can be used to help families meet their basic needs before, during, and after a crisis. In 2016-2017, with funding from USAID/FFP, Save the Children implemented a project that targeted 11,074 households (HHs) (66,444 people) in the Bari, Nugaal, and Hiran regions of Somalia with monthly cash transfers for food assistance using mobile money. The purpose of the project is to increase the access to and availability of diversified and nutritious food for households in the region. Building on the project experiences, Save the Children commissioned a study with three leading questions:

1. To what extent has the mobile money project influenced the use of mobile money among the cash recipients?

2. What are the key barriers and enabling factors in influencing uptake and use of mobile money services?

3. What steps can Save the Children take to leverage current projects to expand the use of the e-wallet and other financial services?

Research Methodology A team of two external consultants led the study. The consultants conducted the fieldwork in Puntland (Bari, Nugaal regions) and Hiran; fifteen villages were purposively selected to include some of the most remote communities in the project, with the representation of different livelihood zones. A total of 377 household surveys, 23 Focus Group Discussions, and 35 Key Informant Interviews were conducted. Eight of the villages were observed taking inventory of the services in the villages and the potential for the residents to use mobile money to pay for goods and services.