Cash transfer programming is now widely accepted as a way to meet a variety of needs in humanitarian and transitional settings. Although the literature on cash transfers has grown exponentially over the last few years, as has their use in humanitarian interventions, the relationship between cash transfer interventions in crisis contexts and malnutrition has received little attention. This is surprising given that many cash transfers have nutritional objectives, such as improving access to an adequate quantity and quality of food. Nutrition, food security and health actors all could consider cash transfers as a way of addressing the multiple causes of malnutrition. The purpose of this paper is to explore evidence on the nutritional impact of cash transfers in emergency and transitional settings. It has been commissioned by the German government (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Sarah Bailey and Kerren Hedlund