This post by Ali Blumenstock was originally posted on Marketlinks.

Mercy Corps has been implementing the USAID-funded Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA), a market systems development (MSD) program, in Northeast Nigeria since 2019. In response to COVID-19, RRA layered on a short-term cash transfer activity to help households cope, jumpstart local economies and prevent further backsliding among the businesses that marginalized groups rely on most. This combination of approaches enabled Mercy Corps to assess the impact that cash transfers can have on MSD programming, including operational lessons and insights into how cash affects market actor incentives and behavior. Highlights include:

• The positive impact of Northeast Nigeria’s short-term cash response, particularly in improving coping and recovery for marginalized groups.

• The importance of pre-existing market knowledge, networks, and partnerships to the design and impact of humanitarian interventions.

• Operational lessons for implementing direct-delivery interventions alongside market facilitation strategies.