Upbeat211 Asháninka neighbours got cash with no strings attached — and chose to replant the forest
In three Indigenous communities in Peru's Asháninka region, 211 people received six unconditional payments of 1,032 soles (about $280) over two years — money with no instructions — plus optional training in finance, rights and conservation, in a pilot co-designed with Indigenous women's organisations and analysed by the University of Bath. What people did with that freedom is the story: close to 90% adopted greener practices such as reforestation and protecting water sources. Households unable to afford nutritious food fell from 73% to 26%; meal-skipping dropped from 49% to 22%; and the share of people saving money rose from 49% to 70%. 'Cash makes a massive and immediate difference to people's lives,' says Bath researcher Dr Neil Howard. The study was small and had no control group — and the pilot is now expanding to more communities in Peru and Colombia.
SDG 1 · No poverty — Mechanism: funding & finance