Effects of cash transfers on food expenditure patterns in northern Kenya

Most households in the ASALs lack access to sufficient and nutritious food, among factors contributing to this include; conflicts, droughts, invasion of desert locusts, increase in food prices, crop failure, and livestock diseases. Cash transfers have risen rapidly over the years in both emergency and developmental contexts as a means of responding to food security and livelihood threats. To understand whether cash transfers are effective in addressing food insecurity we need to know how cash transfers affect beneficiaries' food expenditure patterns. This paper adopted the Quadratic Almost Ideal Model (QUAIDS) to understand how food expenditure patterns changes in presence of cash transfers. The findings indicate that households diversified their diet to some high-value foods, the diet was not only based on starch but also some proteins. The paper also adopted a difference-in-difference model to determine the effects of cash transfers on household food expenditure. The findings indicate that cash transfers increased the food expenditure of the beneficiaries.