*Mercy Corps Ventures, in collaboration with Shamba Network, Fortune Credit, and DIVA Technologies, launched an innovative pilot project to support Kenyan pastoralists during droughts. This initiative leverages blockchain and smart contracts to provide anticipatory cash transfers, aiming to enhance climate resilience and improve aid delivery efficiency. Let's explore the project's implementation, impact, and insights for future applications.*
⏳ Providing anticipatory cash transfers before disasters occur is more efficient and cost-effective than reactive aid.
🔗 Blockchain technology can automate aid delivery, reducing delays and ensuring transparency and accountability.
🌾 Using ecological data for real-time assessments improves the accuracy and timeliness of humanitarian interventions.
🤝 Partnerships between tech providers and humanitarian organizations create impactful solutions for vulnerable communities.
In the Horn of Africa, pastoralism is the lifeline for nearly 50 million people who rely on livestock for their livelihoods. This way of life involves moving herds across vast lands in search of pasture.
However, climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of droughts, leading to devastating losses of over 7 million livestock and putting millions at risk of starvation in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
*[Image Credit: Mercy Corps Ventures](<https://www.mercycorps.org/blog/anticipatory-cash-transfers-in-kenya>)*
Traditional aid systems in the region are plagued by bureaucratic delays, corruption, and logistical hurdles, often reacting only after disasters have struck. This reactive approach is inefficient, as 99% of aid typically arrives post-crisis. With climate challenges escalating, there is an urgent need for a more proactive method of delivering aid.
<aside> 🌪️ Research shows that anticipatory action, which involves providing aid before disasters occur, is not only more efficient but also seven times more cost-effective.
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To tackle these challenges, Mercy Corps Ventures partnered with Shamba Network, Fortune Credit, and DIVA Technologies to pilot a program using blockchain and smart contracts to deliver anticipatory cash transfers to pastoralists in Laikipia and Kajiado counties in Kenya.
This solution automates financial aid distribution based on real-time ecological data, providing timely support to communities before droughts escalate.
The program uses Shamba Network’s ecological data oracle to monitor pasture conditions through satellite data, specifically employing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to assess vegetation health. When NDVI values drop below a critical threshold, indicating drought, the smart contract automatically releases funds to affected communities.