Basic income pilot program linked to lower hunger, conservation gains in Peruvian Amazon

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) - An unconditional basic income pilot program involving three Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon was associated with improved food security, financial stability and participation in conservation work, according to a University of Bath analysis published Tuesday.

The two-year project provided 211 Ashaninka and Yanesha adults with six payments, each worth 1,032 Peruvian soles and distributed every four months. Participants were free to spend the money as they chose.

The program, conducted from late 2023 to mid-2025, also offered voluntary training in financial management, Indigenous rights, community governance, environmental conservation and climate resilience.

Researchers described the initiative as a “Cash Plus” model because it combined unconditional payments with community-led education and organization.

The project was managed by climate charity Cool Earth and co-developed with two Indigenous women-led organizations: the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru and the Ashaninka and Yanesha Indigenous Women’s Organization of the Central Sector.

University of Bath researchers compared surveys conducted before and after the program among 82 participants. They also carried out 24 in-depth interviews and three focus groups.

The proportion of households reporting that they could not afford nutritious food fell from 73% to 26%, while the share skipping meals declined from 49% to 22%.

Households with savings rose from 49% to 70%, while the proportion of participants who had to leave their communities to seek temporary work fell from 43% to 18%.

Participants said the payments enabled them to spend more time on their own farms, families and community projects instead of taking precarious jobs elsewhere.

“Cash makes a massive and immediate difference to people’s lives, whether it’s reducing outward migration for work, reductions in poverty or enabling future planning and investments,” said Neil Howard, head of the University of Bath’s Universal Basic Income Research Group.

- Environmental benefits largely self-reported

Nearly 90% of participants reported adopting environmentally beneficial practices, while 87% took part in collective initiatives such as planting native trees, reducing forest burning and restoring water springs.

Researchers said greater financial security appeared to reduce pressure to exploit or abandon Indigenous land while allowing residents to devote more time to farming and environmental stewardship.

However, the study did not directly measure changes in deforestation or forest cover.

The researchers also cautioned that the relatively small study had no control group, making it difficult to establish that the payments alone caused the improvements. Some findings were based on participants’ perceptions, creating a potential risk of response bias.

They called for longer studies using direct environmental indicators to determine whether the benefits persist and whether the model can be expanded.

Cool Earth said it plans to incorporate the approach into its continuing work and design programs with additional communities in Peru’s central Amazon region.