Kufuna Kumvetsa
Mchinji Cash Transfer
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Evaluation of the Mchinji Cash Transfer
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The purpose of these pages is to describe the External Evaluation of
The Mchinji Social Cash Transfer Pilot in Malawi.
(To learn more about the Malawi Cash Transfer, see the website or view this profile. The Cash Transfer Pilot is a social protection policy of the Government of
Malawi designed to alleviate poverty, reduce hunger and malnutrition, and
improve school enrolment among the poorest 10% of households in Mchinji. The
Cash Transfer scheme was designed to deliver regular and reliable grants to
"ultra poor" households, which are defined as those households that
have minimal assets and income, high dependency ratios, and are labor
constrained (i.e. there is no person aged 19-65 able to work).
Powerpoint presentation of the Mchinji Evaluation Plan
The Evaluation includes several main
objectives. The first objective is to investigate the scheme's impact on
beneficiary households in regards to poverty reduction and measures of health
and human development. Data for this analysis will be generated through
multiple research activities, including a longitudinal survey of recipient,
intervention households and non-recipient, control households. Baseline data is
scheduled to be collected in March 2007, before households receive the cash
transfer according to the government's schedule for rolling out the scheme. The
second follow-up is scheduled for September 2007 and the final round is
scheduled for February 2008. The survey will be designed to obtain information
on household expenditures and household members' behaviors, health status,
well-being, time use and other measures. The data will be used to estimate the
impact of the transfers on the various outcomes (expenditures on food, healthcare,
education; nutritional status in children.) In addition to the quantitative survey, we have planned a variety of qualitative activities including indepth interviews and focus groups with recipients and key stakeholders.
The next objective is to assess the procedures used to identify transfer recipients
in order to quantify inclusion and exclusion error (or the number of households that receive the transfer that
do not meet the program's eligibility criteria and the number of households that meet the criteria but do not
receive the transfer.) This activity was conducted in June 2007. In addition to quantifying
inclusion and exclusion error, measures household poverty in villages where the cash transfer is
operational to determine whether the assumed levels of poverty are correct. For this activity, we created a household listing of more than 20,000 households in all areas within Mchinji where the scheme is operational. Then we selected a random sample of households to survey. The survey was designed to
obtain information on household poverty status, as well as information on whether the household meets the
eligibility criteria for the cash transfer, as indicated by the number of household members, member's
employment status, level of education, and health status.
Finally, an
operational / performance assessment will be conducted to examine the scheme’s
implementation, including strengths and weaknesses, program linkages, transparency, efficiency and reliability, accountability, and the feasibility for scale up.
Together, the results of each of these activities are intended to provide the
Government of Malawi and other stakeholders with a thorough assessment of the
impact of the scheme on households and communities, an understanding of how the targeting methods play out on the ground, and the operational performance of the scheme. These findings will inform future policymaking and the scaling up
of the poverty reduction intervention.
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It has been argued that Social Assistance in the form of cash transfers is a
critical component in fighting poverty and responding to families that have
been overwhelmed by disease, illnesses, conflict, war or other shocks. Regular
and reliable assistance should protect people from falling deeper into poverty.
In fact, Social Assistance in the form of cash grants is offered by developing
countries throughout the world. For example, the governments of Mexico,
Brazil, India,
and South Africa
The governments of Mexico, Brazil and Nicaragua have implemented social welfare
schemes that have been found to improve income security and access to basic
services among poor families.1 In Kenya, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the
National AIDS Control Council developed a cash transfer scheme providing
households with orphans US$0.50 per day. Rapid analysis of a pilot programme in
three districts revealed that households spent this money on food, clothing,
medical expenses, and other minor household purchases. School attendance
increased and children obtained ARV treatment.1
Nevertheless, while there have been evaluations of conditional cash transfer
programs in Latin America, cash transfer schemes and the evaluation of these
schemes is still rare in Africa. Only Zambia
and Kenya have
similar programs, yet neither country has conducted a scientific evaluation of
the program with baseline and follow-up data of intervention and control
households. Therefore, it is unclear what size or value of the cash transfer
has a significant impact on families and what the range of the impacts are.
The Mchinji Social Cash Transfer Pilot was designed with the long-term goal of
improving: "The socio-economic indicators for the most vulnerable...to
ensure that the most vulnerable with limited factors of production are
sufficiently cushioned. This encompasses the expectation for improved health
and nutritional status of under five children, school age children, orphans,
pregnant and lactating mothers as well as destitute families. To address the
challenges and constraints outlined, a goal has been designed to decrease
income inequality."
have social welfare schemes that provide cash to poor households, which are
improving the financial standing of vulnerable households. It is argued that
social welfare assistance is an investment in human development that can reduce
health problems and improve school enrolment.
In the Evaluation we will conduct research activities to assess
the following:
- The scheme’s impact on
households & recipients (e.g. Poverty reduction, health, human
development)
- The Scheme’s Targeting
approach to quantify inclusion and exclusion errors (Ineligible recipients
and Eligible non-recipients)
- The Systems and
operational performance of the implementation of the Scheme (Transparency,
efficiency, linkages to other services)
These findings will inform future policymaking and the scaling up
of the poverty reduction intervention. The Government of Malawi is particularly
interested in robust and unbiased information on the impact of the scheme as it
works to develop effective responses to poverty and the AIDS epidemic. In
addition, governments throughout sub-Saharan Africa are interested
in the results of the evaluation given the growing momentum around social
protection policies and the “Livingstone Call for Action” (2006) where 13
Eastern and Southern African governments pledged to draft costed national
social transfer plans within two to three years.
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