The World Bank ranks Malawi fourth poorest country in the world, with 70 percent of the population living on less than $2.15 a day in 2019.
“Even though this percentage has been almost unchanged since 2010 (68 percent), with the population growth, the number of poor people has increased by 3 million, reaching 13 million in 10 years,” it reports.
However, at least one in every five Malawians lives in extreme poverty.
This compelled the Government of Malawi to roll out monthly cash transfers to uplift households that cannot afford the barest basic needs.
The Social Cash Transfer Programme underway could only reach a tenth of the ultrapoor population by November last year when the Reserve Bank devalued the local currency.
Government has since expanded the social protection payouts to 15 percent of the population to cushion them from price hikes triggered by the 44 percent kwacha devaluation.
This was hailed as a lifeline for households likely to slide into debilitating poverty without external support.
However, some recipients are using the monthly cashouts to buy luxuries and fund risky lifestyles instead of purchasing food and other basics, including their children’s school needs.
The misuse of social cash transfers, especially by some new beneficiaries, risks undermining the programme’s potential impact.
In Blantyre, Lunzu resident Jenifer Mayere, 38, has nothing to show for three cashouts she has received so far.
“I try to do some small business every time I receive the social cash transfers, but in vain,” she says.
Her husband died in March 2023, leaving her struggling to raise their three children.
Mayere says the funds were only useful in the first month when she bought food and a few basics.
“I spend the rest on luxuries such as expensive clothes and mobile phones,” she says. “I know it’s not right, but I have to clothe myself and my children. So, it is tough to strike a balance between buying food and ensuring my children do not lack what their friends have.”
Mayere has since relocated from Ndirande Township because she could not afford rentals.
She now lives in her mother’s single-bedroom house in t Lunzu.
“With time, I hope to learn to save and use the money wisely,” she says. “Many organisations here encourage women to join savings and loans groups. They teach them how to run profitable businesses.”
Mayere is among thousands who started receiving the social cash transfers amid sky-rocketing prices.
Some spend their cash-outs on alcohol, extra-marital sex webs and other luxuries.
Some blame the appetite for luxuries on low awareness on how they can utilise the money to avert hunger and poverty.
Lunzu Area Development Committee chairperson Mike Matola says local leaders in the area encourage beneficiaries of social protection programmes to use their cash-outs wisely.
“Even when distributing food aid, we encourage them not to sale what they get. Unfortunately, some still sell it cheaply and revert to their misery,” he says.
Matola says the increase in the count of social cash transfers’ recipients compelled his committee and community leaders to convene the beneficiaries to discuss the importance of putting the cash to the intended use.
“We needed an honest conversation considering the payouts were bigger than what recipients used to get in the past,” he says.
Appalled by misuse of the social protection funds, the committee, together with local leaders, has been petitioning the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare to replace irresponsible recipients with other ultrapoor households.
The local leaders weigh in as witnesses to ensure fairness in the swap.
The ministry’s spokesperson Pauline Kaude says it is worrisome that some recipients blow social cash transfers on luxuries and risky lifestyles.
She says: “We often tell beneficiaries that they should first buy at least a bag of maize and invest part of the payouts. Some heed the guidance, but it is sad that others are squandering the funds.
“The programme is meant to cushion them from poverty, not to sponsor luxurious lives. Maybe we need to educate the beneficiaries on how they can effectively use money.”
Centre for Social Concern economic programme manager Agnes Nyirongo says it is critical to educate the citizenry how to use money, particularly before they are enrolled into social protection initiatives.
