Can Digital Aid Deliver During Humanitarian Crises?

Michael Callen (), Miguel Fajardo-Steinhäuser (), Michael G. Findley () and Tarek Ghani ()
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Michael Callen: Department of Economics, London School of Economics, London WC2A 3PH, United Kingdom
Miguel Fajardo-Steinhäuser: Department of Economics, London School of Economics, London WC2A 3PH, United Kingdom
Michael G. Findley: Department of Government, McCombs School of Business, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
Tarek Ghani: Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130

Management Science, 2025, vol. 71, issue 11, 9730-9748

Abstract: Can digital payments help reduce extreme hunger? Humanitarian needs are at their highest since 1945, aid budgets are falling behind, and hunger is concentrating in fragile states where repression and aid diversion present major obstacles. In such contexts, partnering directly with governments is often neither feasible nor desirable, making private digital payment platforms a potentially useful means of delivering assistance. We experimentally evaluated digital payments to extremely poor, female-headed households in Afghanistan, as part of a partnership between community, nonprofit, and private organizations. The payments led to substantial improvements in food security and mental well-being. Despite beneficiaries’ limited tech literacy, 99.75% used the payments, and stringent checks revealed no evidence of diversion. Before seeing our results, policymakers and experts are uncertain and skeptical about digital aid, consistent with the lack of prior evidence on digital payments for humanitarian response. Delivery costs are under 7 cents per dollar, which is 10 cents per dollar less than the World Food Programme’s global figure for cash-based transfers. These savings can help reduce hunger without additional resources, demonstrating how hybrid partnerships utilizing digital payment platforms can help address grand challenges in difficult contexts.

Keywords: hunger; fragility; digital payments; grand challenges; partnerships (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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