Research Snapshot: Does cash assistance help during acute food insecurity?

Cash-based programming is an intervention commonly provided to people affected by humanitarian crisis. Although focusing on the relationship between cash transfers and intimate partner violence, this study also explored links between cash and food insecurity. It finds that seasonal cash for work may not have substantial lasting benefits on food security within the context of crisis level food insecurity. The broader context and trends in food availability, access, and prices may be more important drivers of household food security, and are important to consider within humanitarian programming.

This research snapshot contains key messages, findings, implications for humanitarian policymakers and practitioners and recommendations for further research.