In remote areas of South Africa, cash transfers have stabilised the demand for food, reduced market risk for producers and traders, and supported local agricultural production (Samson et al., The social pension in Namibia also improved market access to food by attracting traders to remote communities and enabling pensioners to buy food on credit (Devereux, 2002, cited in HLPE, 2012). However, where markets are not able to respond to increased demand by increasing supply, cash transfers can have a negative impact, by pushing up local prices. In Ethiopia, the Meket Livelihoods Programme shifted from food- to cash-based transfers, with negative impacts on the availability and price of food in local markets for beneficiaries, especially in remote, areas with food deficits (Kebede, 2006; DFID, 2011).