Economic shocks impact social protection—UN
Increasing shocks are mounting pressures on the country’s social protection programmes, whose coverage remains inadequate to alleviate the vulnerabilities of households steeped in poverty, Unicef has said.
In its published 2023/24 Social Protection Budget Brief, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says given the multivariate shocks facing Malawi, there are growing financing needs for the social protection sector with Malawi Government requiring an additional K12 billion for cash transfer expansion.
This is in addition to the K32.5 billion for the expansion of the Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme to respond to the additional social protection needs of affected households caused by livelihoods losses from Tropical Cylcone Freddy.
Already, apart from the limited coverage to 10 percent of the ultra-poor population in each district, adequacy of the current social cash transfer programme benefit levels, last adjusted in 2020, is being eroded by rising inflation, estimated to average 29.5 percent in 2023.
Reads the Unicef analysis: “With increasing shocks, social protection coverage in Malawi remains far too inadequate to alleviate the vulnerabilities of households steeped in poverty.
“Additional efforts are, therefore, needed to enhance the coverage, adequacy and comprehensiveness of existing social protection programmes, especially in the context of the increasing multivariate shocks facing Malawi.”
Unicef data shows that the average social cash transfer monthly transfer value of K9 000 translates to roughly K7 000 in real terms when considering the average annual inflation of 20 percent in 2022/23.
However, Bertha Ronald, a single mother of four, whose house was damaged by Cyclone Freddy, still lodges in her damaged house, seven months on, with no hope for government support.
She said: “I have registered with our village authorities for government social support assistance but to no avail.
“I was later told that I did not qualify despite that I just lost my house and had no means for livelihood.”
Ronald is among the many households that have had to thrive to navigate the many shocks facing the economy from the Covid-19 in 2020, Cyclone Freddy, Tropical Storm Ana and Cyclone Gombe in 2022.
In an interview yesterday, economist Bond Mtembezeka said the level of social protection is not adequate to meet the needs of ultra-poor households.
He said: “Already, maize is going at K800 per kilogramme [kg] and about K9 000 translates to around 11 kg which is by far not adequate for an average household. And we haven’t factored in other basic needs.”
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe in an interview yesteday said talks are already at an advanced stage to scale up social cash transfer both in number of beneficiaries and value.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the allocation to social protection through the national budget increased from K52 billion last year to K130 billion.
