By Yamikani Sabola

Mzuzu, October 7, Mana: Project Officer for GiveDirectly, Bahat Ngwira says the organisation intends to roll out unconditional household cash grants to 450 food insecure households in Mzuzu.

Ngwira disclosed this Thursday during a meeting with Mzuzu City Executive Committee members.

She said through the program, called Urban Lean Response Program, each of the households will receive K210,000 delivered in monthly tranches of K70,000, starting from January 2025.

“All the payments will be distributed through mobile money using Airtel as mobile network operator. Airtel was selected on the basis of its market share, reach and experience working on similar projects.

“In order to facilitate mobile payments, all recipients will be provided with an Airtel SIM card through which they will receive their cash grants,” Ngwira said.

She said GiveDirectly will take a universal targeting approach, enrolling every eligible household in all the wards in Mzuzu.

Ngwira added that the organisation is working in close collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs to ensure there are no duplications as well as exclusions of beneficiaries.

Youth Officer responsible for Mzuzu City, Misheck Msokwa asked GiveDirectly to properly mentor the beneficiaries to ensure they don’t use the cash grants for unintended purposes.

“This is a safety net programme intended to help families buy food for household use. However, you find that in some instances, the beneficiaries tend to use such cash grants on some other things not related to food including alcohol,” he said.

In his remarks, Director of Planning and Development for Mzuzu City Council, Philemon Maseko, asked the organization to engage relevant stakeholders including community leaders in the identification of beneficiaries to ensure only deserving households are targeted.

GiveDirectly will implement the programme with funding from Scottish Government Climate Justice Fund.