The dilemma

The board wants your recommendation by morning. You can empty the reserve into food and cash transfers now, or lock it into irrigation and farm retraining that ends the dependency but shows nothing for years. Your deputy slides the ledger across. 'Whatever you pick,' she says, 'there is less here than we thought, {{NAME}}.'

Your options

1. Empty the reserve now. Food and cash to every family before winter deepens.
2. Lock it all into irrigation and retraining. Break the cycle even if this winter hurts.
3. Split it. Half as relief now, half released only as families hit clear recovery targets.