Cash for Loss and Damage Case Study: Report

In 2023, GiveDirectly and the Scottish Government sent cash transfers to survivors of Tropical Cyclone Freddy to address the losses and damages they had experienced. They provided $766 to 2676 households in Nsanje District in southern Malawi who had relocated to higher ground fo lowing the cyclone. This case study presents the key impacts, successes, challenges and lessons learned from the project. It synthesizes quantitative and qualitative data from recipients, as well as interviews with key internal and external stakeholders. It shows that large, unrestricted and direct cash transfers are a uniquely effective, flexible and community-led tool for addressing loss and damage. It aims to support Governments, donors, the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) and other actors to scale and replicate this approach, making cash a central tool for addressing loss and damage.