FutureProof is a collaboration between HuffPost and Unearthed , Greenpeace UKs journalism unit

While $21 a month may not seem like a life-changing amount of money, for Denis Otieno Anam it has been exactly that. It was a big, big thing, said the 40-year-old teacher, who lives outside the town of Bondo in western Kenya. I could get some basic things I want in life. Every month, money is transferred to him, no strings attached, to spend however he chooses.

He previously scraped by with slim earnings from his job in a small bar and whatever he could make from his goat and chickens. Once he had bought food and essentials for himself, his wife and four children, there was nothing left over. He dreamed of being a teacher, but even applying for jobs was really difficult, he said. He could not afford the costs of sending off applications.

That changed when he started receiving the money in 2017. He sent off a bunch of applications and landed a teaching job in a nearby high school. The money didnt just transform his work; it changed things at home, too. Every month, he and his wife (who also receives cash payments) sit down together to budget, plan and figure out how to make their lives more secure. Anam, previously the sole breadwinner, feels the pressure on him has dissipated. Its brought harmony into my family, he said.