Emergency Cash Transfers for livelihood support in Awdal region, Somaliland The overall objective of the proposed project is that the food security situation of 865 vulnerable households (5160 individuals) in mostly rural communities in Zeylac district of Somaliland is stabilized and communities are more resilient towards adverse conditions.

To achieve the overall objective, the project offers: a) unconditional and b) conditional cash transfers for improved access to food. The project directly targets an estimated 5160 individuals ( mostly rural communities) particularly women, children and the elderly and other vulnerable persons in Casha Cado, Togoshi, Lawya cado, Sheikh Awaare and Zeyla villages. The project duration is 8 months to allow families to recover from adverse weather conditions and the potential desert locusts’ threat. 

Specifically, 565 households (HH) will receive Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) while 300 households will receive Conditional Cash Transfers. The cash transfers empower people with choice to address their essential and individual food needs, while also helping to boost local markets. Another reason for Candlelight to apply cash transfer are the reduced facilitation costs, as mobile transfers do require less administrative costs. The cash values to be transferred on a monthly basis are provided by the Cash Working Group (CWG) Somalia based on minimum expenditure basket (MEB) as per region across Somalia. The latest food cash transfer values for families in Awdal are USD 90 (October - December 2019)

The target group for the UCT will mainly be the rural and most vulnerable families facing high levels of food insecurity among other vulnerabilities. The timeframe for UCT to be disbursed will be 4 months to stabilize food security levels in the lean and Ramadhan seasons. The major activities for UCT will start with sharing selection criteria in a transparent manner with village leaders and communities. 

A local telephone company (Telesom) with extensive experience of conducting cash transfer to beneficiaries in remote areas will be commissioned to conduct monthly cash transfers to beneficiaries mobile phones. The beneficiaries who may not know how to use the services will be trained on how to use it. 

For conditional cash transfers relating to Cash for Work (CfW) activities, the project will follow a similar selection and disbursement cycle. As part of CfW, the project will, village cleaning campaigns and rehabilitation/ replanting of mangrove forests especially in Toqoshi and Zeyla villages to provide for sustainable communal livelihood assets that enhance collective resilience. The individual sites for CfW activities will be identified together with the communities. The CfW beneficiary selection criterion will be their physical capacity in conjunction with the vulnerability of their families, such as families with more than three children, or families who lost major parts of their livestock and livelihoods. The families with men eligible for CfW might not be as vulnerable as the families receiving the UCT, however they have a risk of sliding into crisis mode. Beneficiaries shall be paid at a rate of approximately 7 USD each based on a standard piece of work but each beneficiary working for atleast 13 days in a month. Each 50 Cash for Work beneficiaries will be supervised by 1 foreman who will be paid a slightly high rate of approximately 10 USD each working day.