USING STRENGTHENED LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURES CAN DELIVER: MALAWI SOCIAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMME FROM OPERATION TO ULTRA POOR VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL PROTECTION: ARUSHA, TANZANIA 15TH TO 17TH DECEMBER, 2014

Presented by

Dr. Esmie Tamanda Kainja

OUTLINE About the MSCTP Objectives of the paper Methodology Findings Conclusions Policy implications Recommendations

Population: 13 million (NSO, 2008) 80% live in rural areas and rely on

agriculture 50.7% live below poverty line

(USD1.25/day) 22.5% ultra poor 10% ultra poor and labour constrained

(The targeted group for SCTP)

INTRODUCTION

To contribute to national efforts to reduce poverty and hunger among ultra poor and labor constrained households.

To increase school enrolment and attendance of children living in target group households

To improve health, nutrition, protection and well-being of vulnerable children in target group households.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM

WHO CAN BE IN THE PROGRAM

The SCTP targeted households comprise of the following groups of people: ElderlyOrphaned and vulnerable childrenChild-headed householdsChronically ill and or HIV-infected

personsPeople with disabilities

COVERAGE TO DATE

 District  Households  Household members BALAKA 8,272 37,205 CHITIPA 3,722 15,514 LIKOMA 226 1,175 MACHINGA 7,656 41,435 MANGOCHI 12,156 60,901 MCHINJI 10,476 45,570 MZIMBA NORTH 354 1,474 NENO 441 1,770 PHALOMBE 3,815 16,506 SALIMA 3,242 16,678 THYOLO 6,467 24,833

Total 56,827 263,061

IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURE

Institution Role or responsibility 1. Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social welfare (Secretariat)

Overall management and monitoring of implementation

2. District Commissioner Supervision of the programme

3. District Executive Committee General technical direction

4. District Social Support Committee Coordination and monitoring of implementation including processing applications

5. District Social Welfare Officer Heads the SCT Secretariat which is responsible for daily management & implementation

6. District Training team Training of front line officers and community volunteers in beneficiary identification

7. Front line officers Work with CSSC in identifying program beneficiaries

8. Community Social Support Committee (CSSC)

Targeting and follow up of beneficiaries

OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER• To explore the roles of Local

Government Structures in the delivery of the Social Cash Transfer

• To conduct a swot analysis of the design, operations and delivery structures of Social Cash Transfer

• To identify strategies for improving the operations and delivery of Social Cash Transfer for future policy direction

RESEARCH SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY Process Evaluation Qualitative Method

using multi-level and multiple tools Data collection methods:

Document Review: Policy, Program, Monitoring reports, training manuals and guidelines

Consultation meetings using FGDs in 3 districts

Interviews with members of National Secretariat, District Executive members and Community Extension Workers

Authors experience and field observations Data analysis method: Content analysis

KEY FINDINGS1. Success depended on high level

technical supporto The involvement of the Chief Secretary

as Chair (NSC)o High profile multi-sector NTC – Govt,

CSOs and private sectoro Attracted funding from DPs but little

from government

KEY FINDINGS CON’T2. MSCTP district structures have been responsiveo There is coordination at district level in

implementation in training of community volunteers, targeting and payment and monitoring of beneficiaries

o All activities of district structures involved in the programme funded from although members come from different sectors

3. There is variation of success depending on capacity of districts

o Success drivers: managerial skills and interest of DC of DPD, capacity of district secretariat

KEY FINDINGS CON’T4. The quality of the MSCTP rests with the

quality of volunteers elected into the Community Social Support Committees (CSSC)

o Competence and bias of CSSC members determine the outcome of the targeting exerciseo They identify eligible households based on

the knowledge gained after training and their own judgment, which may lead to inclusion and exclusion errors

KEY FINDINGS CON’T

5. The quality of the targeting improves with number of training days and increased involvement of extension workers as ‘validators’

o With increased number of training days from 2 to 3, there has been increased targeting efficiency

o With the involvement of extension workers to validate data the list of potential beneficiaries, some inclusion errors have been identified

KEY FINDINGS CON’T6. The impact of the cash transfer in

limited due to little attention paid to linkages

o There is minimal linkage of beneficiaries to other services due to delayed linkage strategy development

7. Some inclusion and exclusions errors in SP initiatives are partly due to uncoordinated targeting systems

Each SP initiative uses its methodology on the same populationSome poor households participate in all while others are not identified at all

CONCLUSION• Decentralized structures can work for

the poor• Volunteers are vital for the delivery of

cost effective SP Programmes• The disconnect between technical and

political commitment is one key impediment for the MSCTP development in Malawi• Many DPs without government leadership

may result in a disjointed programme

POLICY AND PROGRAMME IMPLICATIONSGiven that it has been demonstrated that

social cash transfers can be delivered by decentralised structures

There is need to standardize the decentralized structures by providing requisite bodies and capacity building for those bodies after district capacity assessment

This implies drastic increase in government allocation of financial resources at district level at secretariat and district levels

POLICY AND PROGRAMME IMPLICATIONS CON’T Given that hitherto volunteers who drive the programme are not remunerated there is need for government and stakeholders to develop some standard incentives that would go some way in compensating for their time

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Produce a single registry of poor households that may require SP depending on the depth of their poverty or breadth of their vulnerability

Combine census and robust proxy means test to produce

Categorise households by type of SP initiative that suits its level of poverty or vulnerability

2. Finance MSCTP activities using basket funding to harmonise funding and reporting procedures

Government has proposed the use of a Social Support Fund

Thanks for your kind attention!!!!!