Free Money: Providing a Basic Income as Development Aid

It sounds like a dream: Poor villagers are handed money regularly every month, for several years, with no conditions attached. An American organization is currently testing the model in Kenya. When the village elder came to her in September to invite her to a meeting under the acacia trees, Norah Odhiambo was skeptical. Storm clouds were gathering above nearby Lake Victoria, the 34-year-old relates, and she set aside the machete she uses to clear brush from her neighbor's field for a few shillings a day. A new aid organization called GiveDirectly, the village elder said, would like to introduce itself.