Of course the best solution is for everybody to just coordinate. But coordination is hard, because there are strong incentives for individuals to defect (see also "Meditations on Moloch").

Making incremental improvements is the next best hope, and this one (giving cash) could turn out to be much more effective than previous state-of-the-art interventions (giving food, medicines, books, etc.). Additionally, enough incremental improvement might reach a tipping point where the poverty/coordination trap can be escaped, and the global equilibrium shifts.