Links and bridging mechanisms between cash assistance and livelihoods development/restoration programming. A review of evidence and learning from the VenEsperanza consortium

As part of VenEsperanza’s research and learning agenda, this report provides guidance on links and bridging mechanisms between cash assistance and livelihoods development/restoration programming using the VenEsperanza Consortium as a supporting case study. This research adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating the promise and potential for bridging cash and livelihoods programming. Findings from VenEsperanza’s multipurpose cash assistance and partners’ livelihoods programming illustrate the benefits and limitations of MPCA and livelihoods programs and illuminate ways that the combination of complementary MPCA and livelihoods programing may be combined, layered, and sequenced to create synergistic impacts.

There is a winning opportunity for greater complementarity between cash and livelihoods programming and a need to better understand which types of interventions work best together and which combinations of cash and livelihoods assistance can best contribute to outcomes in conjunction with other support. The lessons and considerations presented in this report offer a starting point for cash and livelihoods actors to work towards overcoming obstacles and seizing opportunities in building the bridge between cash and livelihoods programming.