Cash Transfer Technical Working Group (CTTWG) in Kenya

Thursday September 1, 2011

# / Name / Organization / Telephone Number / Email Address
1 / Megan McGlinchy / CRS / 0734400718 /
2 / Christopher Parker / Embassy of Switzerland / 0704324342 /
3 / Rogers Mutie / World Concern / 0720964167 /
4 / Lucas Chacha / Oxfam GB / 0728571783 /
5 / Dan Irura / VSF Belgium / 0723364583 /
6 / Henry Mark / UNHCR (Regional) / 0704835180 /
7 / Laura Meissner / USAID/OFDA /
8 / Christopher Butchtrog / ACTED / 0715051348 /
9 / Jane Strachan / USAID/OFDA / 0722570676 /
10 / Brian Kiswii / Save the Children / 0725207475 /
11 / Kate Churchill Smith / Horn Relief / 0738690162 /
12 / Alexa Swift / Horn Relief / 0701706162 /
13 / Carolyne Alondo / Ocfam GB (K) / 0722747646 /
14 / George Odingo / FAO-Kenya / 0722720045 /
15 / PriscaKathuku / Oxfam GB (K) / 0722 615333 /
16 / Lilian Mutiso / CaLP / O722528304 /
17 / Nichola Peach / WFP (SOMALIA) / 0704593851 /
18 / Glenn Hughson / CaLP / 0731777421 /
19 / Frederic Vignoud / CaLP /

Agenda

  1. Summary of the cash transfer technical forum from August 24th, 2011
  2. Transfer amounts delivered by organizations and coverage in Kenya
  3. Delivering cash – payment methods in Kenya and cost of delivery (open forum)
  4. TOR’s 2nd draft revisited
  5. A.O.B

The meeting started promptly at 10:00 am with introductions and Glenn introducing the agenda items. It was agreed that discussions start with the two agenda items below while Fred is given time to arrive and provide feedback for agenda item 1.

Transfer amounts delivered by organizations and coverage in Kenya

Delivering cash – payment methods in Kenya and cost of delivery (open forum)

It was indicated that many organizations are still in the process of assessments and identifying the gaps. We are likely to see more CTP implementation; however there are still many gaps.

Discussion on the payment methods organizations are utilizing:

Somalia; Hawala system is being used in Somalia and parts of North Eastern Kenya. It was explained that the Hawala system is traditional cash transfer systems mostly utilized by Muslim community to transfer remittances. It is currently used by some organizations to transfer money to beneficiaries

ACTED informed the group that they are currently in Mandera West exploring possibilities of cash transfer options and are likely to implement Cash Vouchers and Cash for work. They have observed Equity Bank in area transferring cash to the blind and single mothers and this could be an option to consider.

Mercy Corps has completed an EMMA in Wajir and its environs. The report has not been shared with wider audience yet but it is something to look out for organizations based in these areas. They have a team on the ground looking into scaling up their programmes.

Horn Relief has just wrapped up the use of Hawala system for cash transfer and is in discussion with Safaricom to start using the MPESA system. Safaricom will be able to create short term network to allow cash transfer in areas not covered by their network through the use of network masts on trucks. They will not charge anything extra for this service but just ksh.30 for MPESA transaction to beneficiaries. Horn Relief will transfer cash to 1200 households with plans to scale up.

Equity Bank; WFP indicated that the process of registering beneficiaries in Tharaka is taking longer than expected. They are using Equity Bank for the payments and are faced with beneficiary registrations challenges while scaling up the programme.

Service providers; Glenn informed the group that he has been trying to get Safaricom to come and give a talk to the forum but it has proven challenging. He will also talk to Equity bank to make a presentation during one of the scheduled meetings.

Bank Cards; For the HSNP programme implemented with the government of Kenya, Oxfam uses Equity bank cards as payment method. It took Equity bank approximately 2 months to prepare the cards and make the first payment. Oxfam conducted initial beneficiary registration however, Equity Bank took longer as the beneficiaries had to have an Identity card and the process is comparable to a beneficiary opening a bank account.

Isiolo; Cash for the elderly and groups in special circumstances is being delivered through Equity Bank. This is a government long term safety net program. Equity Bank is present and can be approached for humanitarian related cash transfers.

Samburu and Pokot; delivering cash to these areas is very risky given the security situation. Organizations operating in these areas have to carefully choose payment methods. There was no one in the forum to present how cash is being delivered in these areas.

Oxfam GB in Wajir:Oxfam and two partners (ALDEF and WASDA) are implementing the programin partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) as the payment agent. Oxfam registered 20,450 households to benefit from the program using national identification card numbers and also provided them program cards. KCB on the other hand took about three weeks to set up their systems and make the first payment. Ksh3000 is transferred to each household on a monthly basis via KCB. At the moment using KCB is an expensive option for Oxfam at 7% (works at ksh100 per kilometer covered) but they have promised to come down after they analyze the situation and learn from the first payment. Oxfam has also transferred the risk of transporting cash to KCB. Oxfam has a two month contract with KCB as they negotiate with them and explore any other cheaper options to transfer the cash. Field monitors monitor the program activities

The cash transfer is based on needs analyses using HEA in north eastern Kenya. Another assessment is planned to take place in September 2011.

Oxfam GB in Turkana; Oxfam GB is providing direct grants targeting 5532 households in Turkana and using local traders as cash delivery agents. OGB and the partners registered the beneficiaries using identity cards and provided the list to the paying traders. The process took one month until the first payment.

A total of 127 traders are making payments to approximately 40 to 50 households each. The traders charge up to 2% operational costs (mainly transport and service provision) to Oxfam GB which works out as one of the lowest so far.

Ksh3000 is transferred to each household on a monthly basis. The traders are provided the initial 50% of the cash and the balance is provided after they make the payments.

ACTION: OGB was requested to make a presentation of this project in the next CTTWG on October 6th, 2011 due to the interest it generated among those present.

**USAID/OFDA and CaLP strongly expressed the need for organizations to coordinate among themselves especially when working in the same areas as well as in choosing the various payment methods and negotiating with the payment service providers.

Turkana South; VSF-G – using cash for work while Oxfam GB is providing direct cash to identified beneficiaries. Telkom Sans frontiers has tested an alternative mobile(Vodafone) network in the area in conjunction with VSF-G. It takes a while to put the network up due to negotiations and agreements with the government and buy in from providers like Safaricom.

Telkom Sans Frontiers; Fred and Glenn discussed with Telkom Sans frontiers about putting up networks and supporting cash transfers. They have good ideas and will set up a pilot for VSF Germany by mid October 2011. They still need to sort out the issue of cash flow by identifying agents who will make payments to beneficiaries. There is also a need to facilitate beneficiaries who have never used phones before prior to implementation. It is important that mobile phone companies explore the possibility of beneficiaries purchasing goods via their mobile phones ones the money is sent and not necessarily retrieving the cash then go shopping.

Dadaab and surrounding area; World Concern is working in area around dadaabbut not in the camps. They will implement cash transfers by use of food and non-food vouchers. They plan to expand towards Garissa in the near future. The chair recommended that World Concern meet with Horn Relief who are already present in the area to discuss and coordinate activities. It was noted that Safaricom is present and MPESA service is available in all the local markets.

Agenda Item: Summary of the cash transfer technical forum from August 24th. 2011

Technical group deliberations: Frederic Vignoud debriefed the forum on organizations cash transfers in Kenya and Somalia based on the technical group meeting held at Jacaranda Hotelon August 24th, 2011 as follows(and detailed presentation attached);

  1. Needs analysis and how to calculate amount to be transferred to beneficiaries
  • Organizations have tools in place for needs analysis
  • Organizations were not very comfortable on how to assess what households (hhs) and their incomes so that they can calculate the gap. They have quick and dirty tools to assess income, remittances and casual labour but nothing well structured.
  1. Modality selections
  • Looked at key issues to address when selecting a modality
  1. Recommendations for next steps for the technical group deliberations
  • Setting the amount and exact costs of transfer

In addition the following suggestions were made by the group to be discussed:

  • Payment methods – evaluating which payment methods are being used and cost involved
  • Monitoring – WFP had a meeting with FSNU for the Somalia programme and will agree on how to share market price information in a decentralized way. There is need to include information from organizations.
  • It was recommended that the price information collected should include prices of staple food basket in a specific area
  • ACTION: CaLP to approach FEWS NET and WFP to establish if similar market price data exits for Kenya and how it can be shared with organizations.
  • FAO informed the group that there is a lot of market data available at the ministry of agriculture and livestock however there is a need to facilitate the timely analysis so that it can be of use

Agenda 4. TORs 2nd draft revisited

  • Three forms were completed and sent to Glenn
  • Glenn will send out a revised version based on the feedback from the 3 forms. He urged the group to take time and complete the forms and send back to him for collation.

A.O.B

The following ideas were suggested to be taken up in the next technical group deliberations in addition to what Frederic’s presentation:

Innovative monitoring systems given security situation in some of the areas where member organizations are implementing cash transfers (north eastern Kenya and Somalia)

  1. Organizations to exchange best practice on monitoring Process and impact of CTP
  2. Coordinating on price monitoring also key

ACTION: CRS requested to share their system of monitoring vouchers and cash grants in the next meeting

USAID/OFDA: Donors are worried about overlap and double targeting by organizations working in the same areas and not coordinating. They are also concerned about partners being overloaded as there are only a few good ones in an area. The need for coordination was again stressed and indicated that failure to this, organizations could jeopardize future funding.

The chair informed the group that the next CTTWG meetings will focus on Kenya

Announcements

  1. November 16 and 17th, 2011 – Deliberations on Markets and the second day CTP Technologies. A notice will follow soon
  2. September 5-9, 2011 CaLP level 2 training in Nairobi Lenana House. Short listing of participants has been completed with a few on the waiting list.

Next Meeting is planned for October 6th, 2011 at 10am at NRC