Cashing in - How cash transfers shore up Zambian households affected by HIV
 |
Writer: Esther Schüring Reer Review: Michelle Adato, International Food Policy Research Institute, Michael Samson, Economic Policy Research Institute and Carmen Perez-Samaniego, GIZ Rate this Publication (1 - 5 Stars) ( 19 Votes ) |
To order your free printed copy click the 
icon at the respective publication. You will be transferred to an order form. Fill in your address and confirm to receive the desired number of copies by mail.
Long version - English (32 pp. 1.0 MB)
Short version - English (4 pp. 830 kB)
 |
Toolbox |
Evidence shows that social cash transfers (small, regular payments) are a cost-effective tool for helping needy households, promoting health and education and boosting local economies – at least, in middle- and high-income countries.
Would they work in a country with few resources? Beginning in 2004, Zambia’s Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS), with technical support from German International Cooperation (GIZ), decided to find out, by pilot-testing a variety of social cash transfer (SCT) schemes in different parts of the country. These generated valuable information on impacts as well as the feasibility and costs and benefits of SCTs as a component of the country’s Social Protection Strategy.
Early results, together with findings of independent studies of the different pilot schemes, suggest that Zambia’s social cash transfer schemes are effective in targeting and helping HIV-affected households and that SCTs can be adequately administered despite the government’s low capacity.
