Attachments
Executive Summary
Introduction
Existing literature has found that cash transfers can be an effective way to meet the basic needs of crisis-affected people across contexts, often at lower costs compared to alternative forms of aid such as in-kind food and non-food aid where contextually appropriate.
To learn how to further maximize the cost-efficiency of unconditional cash transfers focused on meeting basic needs (also known as multipurpose cash assistance, or MPCA) in different contexts, the Dioptra Consortium reviewed 79 cost-efficiency analyses implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 29 countries between 2013–2025. Each analysis includes the program costs, support costs, and indirect costs from the NGO implementer’s perspective to implement a basic needs cash intervention, from targeting, registration, distribution, to post-distribution monitoring. Our question was: what contextual features and design characteristics of basic needs cash are correlated with cost-efficiency?
Key Findings
The median cost of delivering $1 in unconditional cash for basic needs (i.e., multipurpose cash assistance, or MPCA) across multiple contexts is $0.68 (CTR 0.68), even in fragile and conflict-affected contexts with high humanitarian risk. In other words, out of the total intervention costs (including program, support, and indirect costs), the median proportion of cash transferred to recipient households is 59% (TCTR 59:41).
Unconditional cash for basic needs (i.e., MPCA) can deliver the most value per donor dollar when implemented at scale. Larger program scale is associated with better cost-efficiency and lower delivery costs for every $1 of cash transferred. For example, for the 43 interventions spending at least $1 million in total intervention costs, the median cost of delivering $1 cash was $0.59. (more)
Larger program scale can be achieved by:
- Larger program size, in terms of total costs, total amount of cash transferred, and number of households reached.
- More household cash, in terms of the transfer value, amount of cash per household, and cost per household.
- More months of cash, in terms of providing multiple months’ worth of cash, whether as single or multiple transfers.