WHEN times are tough, how should governments in poor countries ensure their citizens remain fed? In the past most of them used subsidies to keep food prices low for all their citizens. But these policies have become unsustainable: the cost of maintaining Egypt’s food subsidies, for instance, nearly doubled between 2009 and 2012. And much of the money goes to the wrong people. In Burkina Faso, Egypt and the Philippines less than 20% of spending on food subsidies goes to poor households. In the Middle East and North Africa only 35% of subsidies reach the poorest 40%, the IMF reckons.

Motivated, in part, by a desire to curb growing budget deficits, many countries are replacing broad subsidies with policies aimed more directly at the needy. But what form should the targeted aid take? Earlier this month Iran introduced free handouts of food to replace its subsidy schemes. Other countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, have chosen instead to provide extra cash benefits to the poor. So far, vouchers have been the least popular option. Proposals to introduce food-stamp schemes in such countries as Malaysia have been rejected on the basis they were too American and un-Asian.

A new paper* by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a think-tank, suggests that might have been a mistake. The authors analysed the results of an experiment conducted by the World Food Programme in Ecuador in 2011, which compared handouts of food, cash and vouchers—all conditional on attending nutrition classes.