Conditional cash transfers beyond poverty alleviation

I really liked Tina Rosenberg's "To Beat Back Poverty, Pay the Poor" reading for this week. Thinking of a conditional cash transfer program as a "person-centered" approach is key. It is necessary to delve micro-level and understand what could empower a family to pull themselves out of poverty. What makes Oportunidades successful seems to be a realization that moving out of poverty is only the first step and finishing high school is a part of the process.

This also reminds me of my summer experience working with the Global Enviornment Facility's Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. The SGP funds community based innovative projects towards environmental sustainability. But the grants go a long way as they empower communities to take ownership of their own livelihoods. I was able to connect with Mariamma Djitté, a woman in Senegal who had joined a community initiative to make and utilize solar cookers. I learned that the solar cooker was much more than an object made possible by a grant. It was something that helped her spend less time cooking and spend more time with her family, significantly improved her health as she didn't have to use firewood, and that she actually purchased another solar cooker to make baked goods and sell them in the market. With the additional revenue, she was able to pay for her children to attend school. It amazes me how this limited grant, similar to a conditional cash transfer, had gone such a long way.