Red Cross launches cash-for-work scheme

Thousands of drought-affected Ethiopian farmers are being given cash for work, in an effort to combat a food crisis in various parts of the country, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Tuesday. Some 48,000 people are receiving monthly payments of US $4 from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society in return for helping with development work such as soil and water conservation. Farmers are also being employed to carry out construction and repair of roads and footpaths, the Federation said. The cash-for-work scheme – which replaces food handouts for work – aims to boost local markets and create demand for goods. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society is the first in Africa to launch such a scheme, which the Federation hopes to expand to other societies on the continent. The scheme is being run in Kuta Ber and Ambasel 'woredas' (districts), in South Welo, northern Ethiopia. Both districts are densely populated, with communities farming land that is just half a hectare - known as a starvation plot because it cannot produce enough food for a family. Getachew Ta’a, Secretary-General of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, said that cash could eventually break the cycle of dependency. "For a population living in absolute poverty, the cash-for-work programme is the only bridge between relief and development," Getachew said. "As opposed to food distributions, cash transfers are a useful means to energise the market and revitalise the engine of recovery. It can attract surpluses and eventually lead the way to building sustainable economies," he said. "Being the first national society to successfully implement cash-for-work activities, the Ethiopian Red Cross acts as an ice-breaker, setting the example to follow for other African sister societies," said Cecilia Brunnström, the Federation representative in Addis Ababa. The cash-for-work activities are part of a larger emergency appeal launched by the Federation to help the Ethiopian Red Cross Society assist drought victims. But the Federation also warned it was facing a funding shortfall and so far had just half of the US$12 million it had appealed for to tackle the food crisis. It said the shortfall could threaten schemes like the cash-for-work programme unless additional funding was received.