Social protection transfers women out of poverty

Some people argue that social grants perpetuate poverty and encourage reliance on the state, even suggesting that some women and girls become pregnant in order to access state funds. However for women like Esimy Lenardi, a 58-year old single mother of 10 children in Malawi, such social grants are a life saver.

Lenardi’s husband died during a hunger crisis in the country in 2008. “Almost all the members of my family were suffering from malnutrition,” she recalls. “We had only one meal per day, and every time it was very little, we were sharing using a small cup.”

Lenardi receives $23 (K3,200) per month in social transfers. Over time she managed to not only take care of her children, but also build a brick house by saving a small amount every month.

The number of people living in extreme poverty in Sub-saharan Africa (SSA) on less than a US$1 a day rose from 217 million in 1990 to 290 million in 2000. In many countries, women are hardest hit by poverty, often triggered by gender inequality and lack of political will to address the challenges women face in accessing opportunities.

Social transfers are a type of social assistance provided by public and civic bodies to people living in poverty or in danger of falling into poverty. Such assistance allows recipients to survive, and prepare for and protect themselves against unforeseeable catastrophes.

In the SADC region, the South Africa-based Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Program (RHVP), International Action Against Child Poverty, Economic Policy Research Institute and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) are jointly collaborating to lift people out of poverty by addressing policy issues in social protection.

Social assistance can take the form of cash or other resources, such as agricultural inputs and livestock. Lenardi is one of many women benefiting in Malawi from a pilot project by UNICEF, the National AIDS Commission (NAC), and government Ministries in the central district of Mchinji.

According to Ernest Chikuni, Social Welfare District Officer in Mchinji, many women use the cash received to build houses, send their children to primary school and grow crops such as maize and ground nuts to increase food security at household level.

Chikuni counters the argument that recipients of social grants misuse the funds, or don’t know how to manage their money. “Social cash transfers basically targets ultra poor families, people know how to budget for the cash, they don’t mishandle resources,” says Chikuni.

The Mchinji pilot project offers small social cash transfers in the ranges of $4, $7, $10 and $13 (which translates to K600, K1,000, K1,400 and K1,800 respectively), but for many women this make a huge difference.

Rita Nelson is a disabled single mother of five. Nelson had her first child at age 19. Like many girls in Southern Africa she dropped out of secondary school to marry. Her husband divorced her shortly after she gave birth to her twins, leaving her with 5 children to look after. Nelson has problems walking due to a disabled foot caused by a snake bite that was left untreated.

The social cash transfer scheme enabled her to send her children to school and embark on piggery projects to sustain the family’s protein needs. “I am very grateful to whoever is leading the scheme. I did not even have enough soap to wash my babies with,” she admits.

In addition to improving the incomes of the poorest households, evidence shows that social transfers have other broader impacts on the quality of life in households, thereby contributing to attaining goals on health, education and gender equality.

According to a RHVP briefing paper, limited resources available for schooling in poor families are usually spent preferentially on boys. Social transfers improve the chances of girls receiving education. Healthier girls will be better able to cope with school and to complete their primary and secondary education.

An important next step for Malawi is for the Government to develop a clear policy. A social protection policy draft is being delayed by Government from being passed by cabinet. This is worrisome as there is no direction to regulate the programme. Worse still, development partners may become discouraged.

Social cash transfers are not the only solution in fighting poverty in the region. But they are one weapon in the armoury that policy-makers and organisations can use. For the poorest women in Malawi, like Esimy Lenardi and Rita Nelson, such social assistance makes all the difference, not only to themselves but also their children.

Dingaan Mithi is programme officer for Journalists Association Against AIDS in Malawi. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service