144,415 households to receive cash transfers through Scalable Mechanism Safety Nets

Blantyre, Feb 16, Mana: Government is set to provide top-up cash transfers to 144,415 households which are already on the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) and Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works (CS-EPWP).

The households in Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Karonga, Mwanza, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, and Thyolo districts will receive the cash transfers in the event that they are affected by climate-related shocks this year.

Speaking during a stakeholders briefing on the 2024/2025 Scalability Mechanism Safety nets over the weekend in Blantyre, National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) Social Protection Officer Mateso Kazembe observed that Malawi continues to face various types of climate-related disasters, such as floods, drought, and strong winds.

He said the events were the threats to social and economic well-being of the population and further observed that disaster occurrences make it hard for vulnerable households to recover from poverty

“We know that Malawi has a disaster risk financing strategy to provide a response to climate shocks after the disaster has occurred. There is also need for an operational mechanism to channel resources quickly and on time, especially to poor households once the disasters have struck hence, having a scalable mechanism safety net.

“This safety net targets 17 percent of the district population, with 10 percent being the beneficiaries of Social Cash Transfer Programme, while the rest is for participants of Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works Programme.

“Though the scalability mechanism targets the entire district, in this 2024/2025 season, however, the targeted areas within the district will only be those that are heavily affected by the drought,” Kazembe said.

He said such places will be identified in consultation with the district council officials.

Kazembe further said the targets for the scalable mechanism for Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Karonga, Mwanza, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu and Thyolo are 20,793, 17,289, 12,742, 5,754, 13,583, 12,026, 28,982 and 33,246, respectively.

He said each household is expected to receive a cash transfer of K150,000 for three months to cushion their vulnerabilities.

“These are households with elderly members above 64 years, elderly households keeping orphans, households’ heads with chronic illness, and those vulnerable households with labor capacity,” he explained, adding that the safety net programme will soon be extended to other districts across the country.

In his remarks, Director of Administration for Blantyre District Council, Redgson Mkolombwe, hailed the taskforce championing scalability mechanisms at NLGFC for briefing the council on scalability mechanisms.

He pledged the council’s commitment to work together with the central government in ensuring that the exercise is a success.

The Scalable Mechanism Safety Net is a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project, commonly known as Tidzidalire.

The project, which is supported by the World Bank and Multi-Donor Trust Fund, aims to improve resilience among the poor and vulnerable population and strengthen the national platform for safety nets in Malawi.