1. Institute of Economic and Social Research
The Politics of Targeting the Poor: Poverty and Safety Nets in the Zambian PRSP Process By
Neo Simutanyi
Institute of Economic and Social Research
University of Zambia
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2. Introduction Does politics matter in poverty reduction?
Are social safety nets well targeted to the intended beneficiaries or is there a serious effort to make them effective/
Do social safety nets contribute to poverty reduction?
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3. Background to Poverty Reduction in Zambia
Poverty reduction as part of ‘structural adjustment with a human face.’
Attempts made in early 1990s, e.g. Social Action Programme.
Poverty reduction guiding principle of World Bank/IMF lending and donor interventions.
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4. Background to Poverty Reduction (contd)
PRSP June/July, 2002.
PRSP specifically addresses, among other things, the need for cushioning the very poor and vulnerable against the impact of economic reform.
PRSP recognises need for ‘better targeting of the core poor and vulnerable people.’
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5. Background to Poverty Reduction (contd)
PRSP recommends that better targeting of the core poor can be achieved through prioritisation and community participation (PRSP 2002: 16).
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6. What are Safety Nets?
Safety nets are designed to sustain or enhance welfare of poor or vulnerable groups during adjustment.
Ability of safety nets to reach the truly poor and vulnerable may depend to a large extent on the political context and administrative capacity.
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7. What are Safety Nets (contd)?
Safety nets may play a political function of legitimation and patronage.
Targeting of safety nets affected by policy and politics.
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8. Safety Nets in Zambia
Safety nets date back to 1950s. Originally used to cater for war veterans after the second world war.
Types of safety nets:
Compensatory programmes - assets transfers and training for able-bodied out of employment (eg the retraining of retrenchees through Future Search).
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9. Safety Nets in Zambia (contd)
Consumer and income transfers for vulnerable groups.
Other schemes include, food-for-work programmes.
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10. Underlying Assumptions for Safety Nets
Temporary intervention to enable beneficiaries recover from serious economic shocks, such as drought and famine.
Targets the very poor and vulnerable, who are unable to engage in productive work.
Contributes to poverty reduction.
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11. Problems of Conceptualising Poverty and Vulnerability
World Bank defines poverty and vulnerability in three different ways:
chronically poor – those who lack the resources to free themselves from poverty.
New poor – those who have fallen below the poverty line as a result of economic shocks and reforms; and
Vulnerable groups – those who are severely affected by adjustment, but do not necessarily fall below the poverty line.
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12. Problems of Conceptualising Poverty (contd)
Government has defined poverty using three indicators:
Incidence of poverty, measured by the numbers of people in the population living below the poverty line.
Intensity of poverty, reflected in the extent to which the incomes of the poor lie below the poverty line.
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13. Problems of Conceptualising Poverty (contd)
Degree of inequality among the poor, weighting the poorest more than the better off poor.
Thus poor classified into two groups:
Moderately poor
Extremely poor.
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14. Vulnerability in Zambia
It is the people classified as extremely poor who constitute the vulnerable group.
The MCDSS has defined the vulnerable group as:
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15. Vulnerability in Zambia (contd)
The aged, the handicaped or ill- and the unsupported women and children.
Indigent persons waiting repatriation of Zambians returning from abroad or displaced persons.
Other persons who are victims of disasters, such as fire, floods, droughts or robberies (GRZ 1994).
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16. Vulnerability in Zambia (contd)
There measurement and conceptual problems with poverty and vulnerability.
Lack of policy clarity on who constitute the very poor and vulnerable has implications for interventions.
In the government definition of vulnerable group, there are very few people who qualify for support.
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17. Research Findings Coverage
The PWAS programme targets 2 % of the population or approximately 200,000 beneficiaries.
- Studies have shown that the number of vulnerable people is far much larger than estimated by MCDSS. It ranges between 6.7% to about 9 % (8.7 %).
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18. Research Findings (contd)
Coverage (Contd)
Despite having a national target of 200,000 beneficiaries, PWAS only covered 26,221 households by end of 2003 (9,503 female-headed and 16,718 male-headed).
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19. Research Findings Coverage (contd)
Case Study of Senanga reveals that:
The PWAS programme covered very few beneficiaries:
Social Support – Out of 124 potential beneficiaries only 23 received support.
Education Support – out of 10,500 eligible pupils only 1,680 received assistance. At one school, only 20 out of 145 eligible pupils received support.
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20. Research Findings (Contd)
Health Care Cost Scheme – the scheme has very low coverage.
- It is not known and widely publicised.
- Few beneficiaries, both at national and local level. User fee system poorly administered to have any meaningful impact.
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21. Research Findings (contd)
Adequacy of safety Nets
How adequate are safety nets?
Amounts involved are too little to make any meaningful impact.
Beneficiaries too few.
System of rotational support a mockery to poverty reduction.
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22. Research Findings (Contd)
Effectiveness of Safety Nets
System of rotational support. A mockery to reduction of social destitution.
Disbursements of PWAS financial resources slow, inadequate and low.
Too many eligible beneficiaries against too little funds.
Programme over-ambitious and unrealistic.
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23. Conclusions & Recommendatiosn
Safety nets in the PRSP process not aimed at reducing poverty.
They are short-term, unreliable and unstainable.
Recommended that funding to PWAS be increased, especially a political commitment to releasing approved allocations.
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24. Conclusions & Recommendations
There is need for a more integrated and viable policy on social protection, as PWAS is not providing adequate and meaningful social protection to the majority of its potential clients.
Any future system of social protection should be realistic and aim to offer adequate assistance to those it covers.
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