Intrahousehold preferences for humanitarian assistance—Who prefers what: Evidence from internally displaced households in Sudan

Hala Abushama, Halefom Yigzaw Nigus, Kibrom A. Abay and Khalid Siddig

No 26, ReSAKSS issue notes from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Understanding the preferences of beneficiaries for what form of humanitarian aid they receive is critical for improving the effectiveness of such aid in conflict-affected settings that are characterized by rapidly changing markets and information asymmetries. This paper examines intrahousehold differences in preferences for in-kind, cash, and hybrid assistance among internally displaced households in Sudan, with particular attention to gender, decision-making power, and agency differences. While cash remains the most preferred modality, about half of the respondents reported favoring in-kind or hybrid assistance options. On average, women report a 7-percentage point higher preference for in-kind transfers than men, but with some variation across states. Preferences are strongly shaped by intrahousehold decision-making—spouses, particularly women, who control decisions over the use of aid are more likely to prefer cash, while those with less agency in such decisions favor in-kind assistance. We also find suggestive evidence that limited market access and self-control constraints are associated with a higher preference for in-kind transfers. These findings highlight the importance of agency and intrahousehold dynamics in shaping aid modality preferences and offer practical insights for designing more equitable humanitarian and social protection interventions in contexts with significant population displacement.

Keywords: capacity building; intrahousehold relations; humanitarian organizations; aid programmes; internally displaced persons; gender; gender-responsive approaches; Sudan; Africa; Northern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-ara
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179715

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:resain:179715

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in ReSAKSS issue notes from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().