Editing Aid effectiveness (section)

=== Cash aid versus in-kind aid ===
A report by a High Level Panel on Humanitarian Cash Transfers found that only 6% of aid is delivered in the form of cash or vouchers.<ref name="cashpanel">{{cite web |date=9 February 2016 |title=Doing cash differently: how cash transfers can transform humanitarian aid |url=https://www.odi.org/publications/9876-cash-transfers-humanitarian-vouchers-aid-emergencies |website=ODI}}</ref> But there is a growing realization among aid groups that, for locally available goods, giving [[Cash and Voucher Assistance|cash or cash vouchers]] instead of imported goods is a cheaper, faster, and more efficient way to deliver aid.<ref name="csmonitor">{{cite journal |date=4 June 2008 |title=UN aid debate: Give cash, not food? |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p01s02-woaf.html |journal=Christian Science Monitor}}</ref>

Evidence shows that cash can be more transparent, more accountable, more cost effective, help support local markets and economies, and increase financial inclusion and give people more dignity and choice.<ref name="cashpanel" /> Sending cash is cheaper as it does not have the same transaction costs as shipping goods. Sending cash is also faster than shipping the goods. In 2009 for sub-Saharan Africa, food bought locally by the WFP cost 34 percent less and arrived 100 days faster than food sent from the United States, where buying food from the United States is required by law.<ref name="fixes">{{cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Tina |date=24 April 2013 |title=When food isn't the answer to hunger |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/when-food-isnt-the-answer-to-hunger/ |access-date=5 May 2013 |newspaper=nytimes.com}}</ref> Cash aid also helps local food producers, usually the poorest in their countries, while imported food may damage their livelihoods and risk continuing hunger in the future.<ref name="fixes" /> [[Unconditional cash transfer|Unconditional cash transfers]], for example, appear to be an effective intervention for reducing extreme poverty, while at the same time also improving health and education outcomes.<ref name="doi10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub2">{{cite journal |last1=Pega |first1=Frank |last2=Liu |first2=Sze |last3=Walter |first3=Stefan |last4=Pabayo |first4=Roman |last5=Saith |first5=Ruhi |last6=Lhachimi |first6=Stefan |year=2017 |title=Unconditional cash transfers for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=CD011135 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub2 |pmc=6486161 |pmid=29139110}}</ref><ref name="doi10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub3">{{cite journal |last1=Pega |first1=Frank |last2=Pabayo |first2=Roman |last3=Benny |first3=Claire |last4=Lee |first4=Eun-Young |last5=Lhachimi |first5=Stefan |last6=Liu |first6=Sze |year=2022 |title=Unconditional cash transfers for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2022 |issue=3 |pages=CD011135 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub3 |pmc=8962215 |pmid=35348196}}</ref>

The [[World Food Program]] (WFP), the biggest non-governmental distributor of food, announced that it will begin distributing cash and vouchers instead of food in some areas, which [[Josette Sheeran]], the WFP's executive director, described as a "revolution" in food aid.<ref name="csmonitor" /><ref name="wfp">{{cite web |date=12 August 2008 |title=Cash roll-out to help hunger hot spots |url=http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212124012/http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |archive-date=12 February 2009 |access-date=5 May 2013 |website=World Food Programme}}</ref>