The rise of digital financial services in Senegal has seen the financial inclusion rate increase from 15 percent in 2014 to 42 percent in 2017, according to the Global Findex. Observing the successes of digital financial services, the World Food Programme (WFP) in Senegal became interested in adopting a digital payment system, including mobile money, to deliver its food aid. For the agency, it would improve the security, reliability and traceability of the aid. For the beneficiary, it would reduce the time required for notification and receipt of funds and provide access to basic financial services such as savings and cash transfers.

WFP asked the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to support its cash transfer projects in the pilot countries of Senegal and Niger. By digitalizing these transfers, WFP hopes to support the genuine financial inclusion of beneficiaries, who will be able to access an account, use it independently and assert their consumer protection rights. This objective aligns with the UNCDF mission to increase access to and usage of digital financial services. The partnership will help optimize the existing network as well as the digital transfer process of the WFP food aid.

The pilot project will involve various assistance programmes, in particular, the school canteen programme and the social cash transfers to households programme. UNCDF will provide technical assistance to WFP, which will include a human-centred design approach focused on beneficiaries, the development of training modules for trainers, the staffing of agent networks based on actual needs, and the monitoring of technical assistance provided by consulting firms.

The project, which began on 10 October 2018 with a two-day immersion phase in the Matam region of north-eastern Senegal, will reach more than 22,000 beneficiaries over the long term. During the immersion, the WFP and UNCDF teams met with beneficiaries to better understand their circumstances, aspirations and challenges as they support themselves and their families. The immersion, which was led by the consulting firms Innate Motion and PHB Development, enabled the teams to meet different beneficiary types (e.g., recipients of conditional and unconditional assistance, canteen managers and traders) who receive WFP humanitarian aid.

Maimouna Lo, Trader

Maimouna Lo is a trader who runs her stall in the heart of a traditional women’s market in the village of Sinthiou Garba, located in the department of Ourossogui of the Matam region, almost 700 km from Dakar. She is also one of the community representatives who works with WFP to distribute food supplies to beneficiaries in school canteens. She buys her supplies in the southern part of the country, travelling seven hours by road from her village.

“If this project is implemented, I could save CFAF 100,000 [US$173] every fortnight and use this money to travel to Casamance myself. I could pay with my digital wallet and have goods sent to me, instead of having to rent an entire car. And most importantly, I wouldn’t have to travel long distances in buses anymore. However, I would need to come to grips with this new service,” she explained to team members, full of enthusiasm.

Aliou Tall, Beneficiary

A few kilometres from Maimouna's village, in Thiambe, Aliou Tall is an apprentice who works at a public transport station. He benefits from WFP social cash transfers. He explains, “I receive food vouchers worth CFAF 80,000 [US$139] to provide my family with food. If I have a digital wallet, I’ll be able to save a little money. It’s almost impossible for me to have a bank account.”

Results of the immersion phase will be used to improve the interview guides for the human-centred design research planned for November 2018 in the Matam and Tambacounda regions. Furthermore, lessons learned from the pilot will be used to improve the digitalization process of various WFP programmes at the regional level.

Conversion rate: US$1 = CFAF 576.564 (Source: https://treasury.un.org/operationalrates/OperationalRates.php#S, 1 December 2018).