‘Sustainable livelihoods key to ending poverty’
Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Department of Economic Planning director of poverty and social protection Patricia Zimpita has said sustainable livelihood programmes are key to graduating households out of poverty.
Speaking on Wednesday in Mzimba during the launch of the ultrapoor graduation strategy held at Emthuzini Primary School, she said most communities fail to graduate out of social protection programmes because they do not have sustainable livelihood activities to depend on.
She said: “Now, the idea is that in addition to social cash transfers which vulnerable and poor households’ beneficiaries receive, they need economic activities that can push them out of poverty.”
Zimpita said, therefore, the launch of the ultra-poor graduation strategy, which spells out standards and procedures for organisations to follow when they want to graduate people, will help move people out of poverty quickly.
Synod of Livingstonia Development Department executive director Kenneth Sakala said, as one of the implementing partners of the strategy, they encourage people to invest in other avenues of income generation so that they stop depending on cash transfers from government or other non-State actors.
“We will build capacity on how they can venture into various businesses and with the knowledge imparted, they should be able to venture into economic activities that can transform their lives,” he said
