18 March 2016, Guetema , Mali - Women receiving the first tranche of the cash transfer, Diabidiala village, Simby, Nioro du Sahel Circle, Kayes Region, Mali. Under the productive transfers/CASH+ programme, women are the direct recipients of cash transfers in 99 percent of the cases in this country. In order to increase the resilience of vulnerable households affected by repeated shocks in the Sahel, FAO is currently experimenting the ?roductive transfers" approach (CASH+) in Mali and Mauritania. The 18-month programme, based on a successful FAO project implemented in 2014 in Burkina Faso and Niger, combines unconditional cash transfers with the provision of in-kind livestock inputs to benefit 1250 very poor vulnerable households in 46 villages of the Kayes region and the Wilaya of Gorgol. In order to better cope with, recover from and adapt to the multiple shocks and recurrent crises affecting the Sahel region, the poorest households need to protect their livelihoods, diversify their sources of income and accumulate productive assets.