Hybrid Cash & Voucher Assistance in Malakal, South Sudan
- Partner
- DanChurchAid · Nile Hope
- Modality
- 60% QR-based food vouchers · 40% unrestricted cash
- Context
- Malakal, Upper Nile State · host, IDP and returnee communities
Context
South Sudan remains one of the world's most severe and protracted humanitarian crises. Decades of conflict, recurring floods, economic collapse and mass displacement have created a population deeply dependent on humanitarian assistance — and deeply sceptical of the systems meant to deliver it. Physical cash distribution carries compounding risks: security clearances for cash in transit, vulnerability to proxy abuse and duplication, and the operational challenge of working across a divided community with intermittent power and connectivity.
What we delivered
Between October and December 2025, DCA and Nile Hope partnered with AIDONIC to implement a pilot built around a deliberate 60/40 split: 60% of each household's entitlement as QR-based vouchers redeemable at four pre-contracted local vendors for food items, and 40% as unrestricted cash. Nile Hope registered households against agreed eligibility criteria and uploaded verified data to AIDONIC. Vendors scanned each QR code and logged goods digitally while the cash was distributed in parallel. The platform automated vendor payment reconciliation and donor-compliant reporting.
What the proof looked like
Every voucher redemption was fully traceable for DCA, with goods logged digitally at the point of delivery and automated vendor payment reconciliation. A post-distribution monitoring survey of 218 households captured outcomes across the pilot: all surveyed households reported receiving their full entitlement and feeling safe throughout, and zero households reported tension or conflict related to the distribution.
In numbers
632
households reached across host, IDP and returnee communities
October–December 2025 · AIDONIC case study
100%
of surveyed households received their full entitlement
2025 post-distribution monitoring · 218 households · AIDONIC case study
98%
of surveyed households were completely satisfied
2025 post-distribution monitoring · 218 households · AIDONIC case study
96%
of surveyed households reported children eating more often
2025 post-distribution monitoring · 218 households · AIDONIC case study
“We didn't have to carry bulky money anymore. We didn't have to do all the clearances with security agents.”
Tombek E. L. Pitia, MEAL Specialist, DCA South Sudan