GAIN’s membership in the Better Than Cash Alliance reflects the critical role of inclusive, equitable economic growth as a driver of food systems transformation.
Responsibly transitioning to digital payments can help strengthen markets and improve transparency across the food system, making nutritious foods more accessible and expanding economic opportunity in food value chains. This aligns with GAIN’s mission to improve consumption of healthier diets for all—especially the most vulnerable.
Recent evidence on the relationship between financial inclusion and food security highlights how individuals who lack access to financial systems may be particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition. Despite notable recent expansion of electronic payment options in the Global South, transactions in food systems still often depend on cash; particularly those operating in informal economies, or who lack access to banking infrastructure, and particularly women.
In the public sector, which has crucial lifelines safeguarding access to healthy diets and sustainable incomes for the most vulnerable households, there is scope to expand digital payments across social protection systems and public procurement pipelines. While many public programs have made significant strides to digitize payments, significant challenges that constrain implementation at scale, remain. In Ethiopia, for example, the National Digital Payments Strategy identifies issues like mobile phone access, local agent capacity, and limited consumer awareness, as challenges in digitizing cash payments under their flagship social protection program.
Promoting responsible transition to digital payments across both the private and public sectors can support sustainable and equitable food systems transformation by boosting transparency, expanding opportunity, and enhancing market connectivity.
In joining the Alliance, GAIN affirms its commitment to addressing these challenges through policy change, programming, and technical support for government partners and actors across the food system.
“Digital payments take much of the jeopardy out of money transfers. They have their own risks—for example online fraud and digital exclusion—which must be managed, but they surely outweigh the risks of robbery, violence and threats of violence, corruption, high transactions costs and devastating kickbacks. The balance sheet of risks must be closely monitored but the future is with these kinds of payments and there is no reason the most vulnerable should be excluded from them.”
Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, GAIN.
GAIN’s efforts to promote payment digitization initiatives in food systems as an Alliance member will align with the nine UN Principles for Responsible Digital Payments, which define who needs to be responsible, what it means to be responsible, and how to be responsible in the design and implementation of digital payments.
“We are delighted to welcome the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) as members of the Better Than Cash Alliance. GAIN’s work to improve nutrition and strengthen inclusive food systems aligns closely with our mission to advance responsible digital payments, as digital financial services promote women’s economic participation and food security. Women with bank accounts are more likely to have greater bargaining power and to allocate more household resources to buying nutritious food. We look forward to collaborating with GAIN to expand financial inclusion and resilience for underserved communities worldwide.”
Nshuti Mbabazi, Managing Director, Better Than Cash Alliance.
The first initiative under GAIN’s membership will focus on promoting sustainable delivery of digital cash payments in social protection systems and public procurement pipelines across GAIN’s country programs in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. GAIN and the Alliance will engage with local, sub-national, and national stakeholders at the intersection of social protection and food systems to better understand and overcome constraints to digital payments across diverse program implementation contexts.