The Impacts of Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer Programme on Community Dynamics

Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme was launched in Mchinji district in 2006. The programme provides regular cash payments to ultra-poor and labour-constrained households. It seeks to reduce poverty and hunger; increase school enrolment and attendance; and improve the health, nutrition and well-being of vulnerable children. Operated by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development, the programme had reached approximately 30,000 households in seven districts by August 2013 and is expected to serve 300,000 households by 2015. SCT households receive a bimonthly allowance of between USD4.60 and USD11.00, with the maximum payments going to households with four or more members. This basic allowance is topped up by an additional bimonthly bonus of USD1.40 for each child enrolled in primary school and USD2.80 for each child in secondary school. The SCT programme is implemented by District Social Welfare Offices and Community Social Support Committees (CSSCs). The evaluation This brief draws on data collected during qualitative fieldwork in March 2014 as part of a broad impact evaluation of SCT by the University of North Carolina, UNICEF, the Center for Social Research and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Salima district in the central region and Phalombe in the south were sampled for the study. Research methods included key informant interviews, household case studies and focus group discussion using tools such as social mapping, livelihood analysis, institutional analysis and household income and expenditure analysis