2. Key Concepts in CBI
Cash Based Interventions Using cash grants or vouchers as economic assistance to enable households or individuals to meet identified needs (e.g. – food and non-food items, shelter, services, or assets). CBI is not a sector in itself, it is a means to an end and it can be used in early recovery or development responses. A primary difference between CBI and in-kind programming is that the beneficiaries are able to obtain goods and/or services directly from the local market and service providers. Within other agencies, CBI are sometimes refer to as Cash Transfer Programming (CTP).
Restricted Cash grants are restricted when CARE or its partners limit the way the cash should be spent by the beneficiaries. Common conditions include requiring the money to be spent on: food, educational expenses (e.g. school fees, school uniforms, etc.), shelter materials, inputs, assets or works. Vouchers are restricted by nature.
Conditional Cash grants or vouchers are conditional when CARE or its partners are implementing the transfer only after recipients have performed some task or activity as a condition of receiving the transfer. Common conditional conditions include: performing some work (e.g. public works, creation of community assets), undergoing some form of training, enrolling children in school or having them vaccinated.
Multi purpose and multi sector CBI Multi-purpose and multi-sector cash based interventions are those which address needs across the sectors and clusters by which relief operations are traditionally organized. Multi-sector programmes address more than one sector in the intervention. The programme is designed to create specific, simultaneous impacts in the sectors involved. In multi-sector programmes, M&E and expenditure are monitored by sector to ensure sectoral impacts are felt.
Cash For Work This is a form of conditional cash grant that requires beneficiaries to fulfil the condition to `work’. Cash for work is different from employment generation because the primary purpose of cash for work is to transfer income/resource to people and `work’ is a secondary purpose or a means to achieve the primary purpose. Cash for work can provide dual benefit to the participants: the cash income and the individual or collective benefit of the work being done.
Cash grant The provision of money to beneficiaries (individuals, households, groups or businesses) to cover one or several of their identified needs. Cash grants can be conditional or unconditional and/or restricted or non-restricted.
Cash transfer modalities Refers to the different types of cash based interventions. These include cash grants (conditional as well as unconditional and contributory as well as not contributory) and vouchers (which could be for a value, service or commodity; or contributory as well as not contributory).
Cash payment mechanism/agent This refers to the financial system used for making payment to beneficiaries e.g. banks, post offices, micro finance institutions, remittance companies, VSLA etc.
Cash delivery instruments These refer to the instrument used for making the actual payment to the beneficiaries e.g. bank cheque/draft, postal order, direct cash, smart card, mobile phone, etc.
E-transfers These are digital transfers of cash or vouchers from the implementing agency to a program participant. E-transfers cover cash grants through mobile phone or SMART card (ATM card, pre-paid card) and access to goods and/or services through electronic vouchers.
Voucher A paper, token or electronic card that can be exchanged for a set quantity or value of goods, denominated either as a value (e.g. $15) or predetermined commodities or services (e.g. 5 kg maize; milling of 5kg of maize). They are redeemable with preselected vendors or in ‘fairs’ created by the agency. The vendors are paid by the contracting agency upon production of these vouchers or evidence of exchange between the trader and beneficiaries.
E-voucher A card or code that is electronically redeemed at a participating distribution point. E-vouchers can represent cash or commodity value and are redeemed using a range of electronic devices.
