Send cash to families on the frontlines of climate change in Africa.

Giving cash helps people in poverty survive the climate crisis they did not create.

The poorest communities suffer most from climate change, though they’re the least responsible for the emissions that created it.

GiveDirectly is delivering your money to impacted families living in poverty, which they can spend recovering and building resilience to future crises.

Your money helps them recover from climate disasters.

Digital cash transfers reach families quickly and let them meet their own changing needs in a disaster – as opposed to receiving pre-determined aid or donated goods they are forced to sell or leave behind. 

Giving survivors cash directly and unconditionally allows them to both meet their short-term needs (e.g. food, water, and medical needs) and rebuild their homes and businesses in the long-term. GiveDirectly has delivered rapid-response cash in the Bahamas, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Nigeria.

With cash, they can improve resilience to future shocks.

Poverty and cyclical climate shocks prevent families from investing in themselves; targeted payments encourage development during more stable periods. 

• In Uganda, our one-time $1,800 transfers let families move away from worsening mudslides. 
• In Malawi, two $400 transfers timed around the planting season allow farmers to adopt climate-smart farming practices. 
• In Mozambique, a $40 monthly basic income helps flood- and drought-affected communities build resilience. Research from Niger and Zambia found a multi-year basic income helps households weather climate shocks better than those who did not receive funds.

Our carbon has consequences; direct cash is a solution.

The average North American has contributed 11x more than the average African to climate change, yet our solutions to date have not centered their survival. Over 90% of climate funding goes to prevent future emissions, with just the small remainder for those struggling to adapt to the already warming climate. Essentially, we’re telling the family too poor to move away from floods in Mozambique or landslides in Uganda that our money would be better spent elsewhere. Yet we can do both. Let’s save lives in the future and the present. 

IN THE NEWS

A New Kind of Disaster Aid: Pay People Cash, Before Disaster Strikes

Climate disasters hit poor people hardest. There’s an obvious solution to that.