Mobile phone-based cash transfers: lessons from the Kenya emergency response

Kenya is the first country in the world to use mobile phones for cash transfers. The service, called M-PESA, was developed by Safaricom Limited. Concern Worldwide pioneered the use of M-PESA for bulk cash transfers during the post-election emergency in early 2008 in the Kerio Valley, one of the remotest parts of Kenya. During the violence, cattle rustlers attacked communities in the Kerio Valley, looting their livestock and displacing them. Concern’s initial response was to provide food aid, but carrying and distributing food proved very costly and insecure. Cash transfers were seen as a way of overcoming the challenges posed by the terrain and the security situation. In all, 570 households were targeted with cash transfers. A total of €36,000 (about $53,000 or 3,600,000 Kenya Shillings) was disbursed in two instalments.