The Impact of Social Cash Transfers on Informal Safety Nets in Kalomo District, Zambia

Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Social Safety Net Project The Impact of Social Cash Transfers on Informal Safety Nets in Kalomo District, Zambia A Qualitative Study Katharina Wietler Berlin, January 2007

The Impact of Social Cash Transfers on Informal Safety Nets in Kalomo District, Zambia A Qualitative Study Consultant: Berlin Ms. Katharina Wietler January, 2007 Tel.: 0049-30-39887725 Email: katharina.wietler@ishue.net Translators: Mr. Newton Mbandama Mr. Biggie Siambede 1

Table of Contents List of Acronyms... 3 Executive Summary... 4 1. Introduction... 5 1.1 Introduction... 5 1.2 Objectives of the Study... 6 1.3 Methodology... 6 1.4 Terminology... 7 1.5 Study Sites... 8 1.6 The Sample... 8 2. Rural Livelihood Strategies and Informal Safety Nets of Incapacitated Households in Zambia... 10 2.1 Livelihood Strategies... 10 2.2 Formal and Modern-Informal Safety Nets... 11 2.3 Informal Safety Nets... 12 3. Impact of the Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme... 18 3.1 In Rural Areas... 18 3.1.1 Impact of Cash Transfers on Livelihood Strategies... 18 3.1.2 Impact on Informal Safety Nets... 19 3.2 In Urban Areas... 23 3.2.1 Impact of Cash Transfers on Livelihood Strategies... 23 3.2.2 Impact on Informal Safety Nets... 24 4. Conclusion... 26 References... 28 Annex I Interview Guidelines... 30 Annex II Household Compositions... 32 Annex III Selected Interviews... 37 Annex IV Selected Case Studies... 40 2

List of Acronyms ACC AIDS CSO CWAC DSWO DWAC FGD GTZ HIV K KPSCTS MCDSS M + E NDP NGO PSWO PWAS Area Coordination Committee Acquired Immune Deficiency Virus Central Statistical Office Community Welfare Assistance Committee District Social Welfare Officer District Welfare Assistance Committee Focus Group Discussions Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, German Technical Cooperation Human Immune Deficiency Virus. Kwacha (Zambian currency) Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme Ministry of Community Development and Social Services Monitoring and Evaluation National Development Plan Non-Governmental Organisation Provincial Social Welfare Officer Public Welfare Assistance Scheme 3

Executive Summary Beneficiaries of the Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme abandon erosive coping strategies like piecework and begging when receiving monthly cash transfers. At the same time, they develop and use investment strategies like hiring people to plough their fields to compensate the lack of productive power. By employing family or community members, other destitute households also benefit from the cash transfers. At the same time, less assistance in terms of money transfers and voluntary (unpaid) assistance by family or community members, e.g. in farming, seems available for beneficiaries of the scheme. This might be due to the fact that beneficiaries are now considered able to hire someone to plough their fields. In some cases, a monetarization of relationships took place, e.g. when members of the same family were paid for working on a relative s field. However, as the majority of beneficiaries is still considered poor by their community, assistance in the form of food transfers is still available. The social status of beneficiaries has changed in regard of their possibility to deal with personal crises and idiosyncratic risks. They are no longer exclusively dependent on other people to cope with shocks like diseases or the loss of livestock but can draw back on a reliable monthly income. Moreover, beneficiaries who were formerly mostly living on begging can now employ community members for work. In regard of the perception of community members, beneficiaries feel that their social status has not changed significantly and that they still feel excepted by their community. Social cash transfers do not seem to have a considerable impact on migration of family members and household compositions; those are more dependent on individual circumstances and personal incidents like the death of a household member, sickness, divorce or remarriage. The transfers are considered an important support for the destitute; however, they are regarded not enough to lift a household from its poor situation. Whereas the amount of the transfers might not be sufficient to cover all needs of the household, it is at them same time not changing the socio-economic differences within the community too drastically. The transfers are supportive but not to an extent that would cause serious jealousy among the community members and thus represent an important and complementary source of income for the destitute. Jealousy was not openly expressed and generally all beneficiaries are considered eligible by community members. However, the 10% rule of the scheme is perceived inadequate and as a result, some people feel unfairly excluded. They mostly blame the CWAC members who are considered responsible for the selection process. In general, there is lack of information about the (voluntary) work of the CWAC and their role in the targeting and approval process. 4

1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction Zambia today is facing an increase in poverty and social insecurity for many households. Approximately three quarters of the population are living below the national poverty line 1 with an especially high percentage of extremely poor people in rural areas. Like in most other African countries, destitute households in Zambia have always relied on informal safety nets to secure their survival. Formal safety nets provided by the state or development agencies prove insufficient to cover all the needy and reciprocal assistance between family members and the community has always been and still is a major informal survival strategy. In times of HIV/Aids, though, these informal support mechanisms undergo changes: With an infection rate of 25% among the 30-40 years olds 2, the young and able-bodied generation is mostly affected. Household compositions are transforming and the number of incapacitated households that consist of vulnerable members like elderly and orphans with no or too few viable members is increasing. Governments and the international community are responding to the growing need of social security for incapacitated households as part of poverty reduction programmes and development projects. In August 2003, the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) of the Zambian government established the Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme (KPSCTS) in Kalomo district in southern province. The Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) has been commissioned to administer the Scheme and the GTZ financed Social Safety Net Project provides technical assistance and the funding required for serving 1,000 households for an initial period of two years. The main objectives of the scheme are to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and starvation in the 10% most destitute and incapacitated (non-viable) households in the pilot region. The focus lies mainly - but not exclusively - on households that are headed by the elderly and are caring for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) because the breadwinners are chronically sick or have died due to HIV/Aids or due to other reasons to generate information on the feasibility, costs and benefits and all positive and negative impacts of a Social Cash Transfer Scheme as a component of a Social Protection Strategy for Zambia. At present, 1,200 households with a population of 4,800 persons are receiving a monthly cash transfer of K30.000 K40.000 (~ 6 US $) and the whole district will be covered by mid 2007 3. Whereas the performance of the scheme has been thoroughly monitored and several documents and reports are available, some aspects of social cash transfers are still unclear. One is the relationship between formal and informal safety nets and what impact cash transfers as an institutionalized social security system have on indigenous informal safety nets. The aim of this study was to determine current livelihood strategies of incapacitated households in Zambia with a focus on the nature, extent and effectiveness of informal safety nets as part of coping strategies of destitute households. Private social 1 UNCT Zambia/MFNP (2003): Zambian Millenium Development Goals Report, Lusaka, p. 3 2 Ibid., p. 14 3 For further information visit the official website of the KSCTS: www.socialcashtransfers-zambia.org 5

insurance systems are not looked at whereas modern-informal safety nets like support from international aid agencies are partly included. However, the major focus lay on the correlation and the impact of an institutionalized, western approach to social security on indigenous forms of social safety nets. This report draws implications from the finding of a research that was carried out in Zambia from March to June 2006. As the research was of a qualitative nature, the results do not claim to be representative. The first part analyses livelihood strategies of and formal and informal safety nets for destitute households in a rural area that is not yet covered by the scheme. It relies to some extent on secondary data as well as related scientific literature and acts as the comparison group for the data collected from beneficiary households. The second part focuses on livelihood strategies of and formal and informal safety nets for beneficiaries in rural and urban areas. By comparing the findings for beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and identifying differences and similarities, the impact of social cash transfers on livelihood strategies and informal safety nets will be determined. 1.2 Objectives of the Study Detailed objectives of this study were to identify informal safety nets mechanisms as part of current livelihood strategies of incapacitated households in rural Zambia by a) analysing household compositions, neighbourhood relations and causes for migration movements and b) determining nature, extent and effectiveness of assistance, to determine the impact of social cash transfers on rural and urban livelihood strategies of destitute households by a) comparing livelihood strategies of beneficiaries of the KPSCTS with those of non-beneficiary destitute households and b) identifying investment strategies of and possibilities for beneficiaries by using the cash transfers, to define the impact of social cash transfers on informal safety nets of destitute households in rural and urban areas by a) comparing assistance structures that are in place for beneficiaries with those for non-beneficiary destitute households and b) identifying changes in relationships and social status of beneficiaries of cash transfers, to find out if cash transfers have a complementary, weakening or other impact on informal safety nets in Zambia. 1.3 Methodology Data was collected from different sources. In a first step, literature was reviewed and documents concerning the topic were consulted 4. An interview guideline was 4 e.g. Central Statistical Office (2004): Living Conditions and Monitoring Survey 2002/2003, Lusaka 2004 Kakwani, Nanak and Subbarao, Kalanidhi (2005): Aging and Poverty in Africa and the Role of Social Pensions. Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0521. The World Bank. Washington, D.C. Parker B./Mwape F. (2004): Rural Poverty and Vulnerability in Zambia: 2004. A qualitative Study, Lusaka 2004 6

designed and suitable villages and interview partners identified with the help of staff of the scheme. From March to June 2003, a research was carried out in five geographical units of Kalomo District in Southern Province. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used to generate the information that is analyzed and reported in this document. Quantitative data were obtained from records kept by CWAC members in the study sites. Qualitative research methods included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, case studies, and social relations mapping. Qualitative interviews were held with head of destitute households in an area which is not yet covered by the Scheme and with beneficiaries of the Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme in two rural and two urban areas. Furthermore, focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with CWAC and community members. 1.4 Terminology Safety net mechanisms include care for sick or dependent relatives and the provision of material relief, labour, and emotional support to destitute or bereaved families. 5 The social security portfolio of an individual consists of four forms of support systems, which should complement one another, provide sufficient protection against emergencies and are characterised by a different degree of formality. Formal safety nets are here understood as government social security services like social insurance, government social assistance, services and payments provided in connection with specific poverty programs whereas traditional informal safety nets are those that draw support from kinship, neighbours and friends. Between those two extremes, there exist modern-informal safety nets like private voluntary organisations (PVO), both indigenous and western, and private sector insurance services. This study is concentrating on cash transfers as a state-provided formal social security scheme and their impact on indigenous informal safety nets based on reciprocity and solidarity. These informal safety nets are understood as a subset of the range of coping strategies that people adopt in response to episodes of acute food insecurity 6. Coping strategies are temporary responses to declining food entitlements and are normally reserved for periods in unusual stress, which often result in food insecurity. Davies (1996) found that due to higher vulnerability and socio-economic changes, activities which were reserved in the past for periods of food stress are now transforming into normal strategies for poorer households 7. This can also be concluded for Zambia, where certain strategies that were perceived to be coping strategies have thus become the livelihood strategies of destitute and incapacitated households. Both terms will in the following be used synonymously. Furthermore, this study uses terms on destitution and vulnerability from the PWAS client identification matrix 8. Social, economic and other qualifiers determine if a household is considered incapacitated, meaning that no or not enough viable household members are available. Poverty among the incapacitated is structural as it relates to the structure of the households. In statistical terms incapacitated 5 Foster, G. (2000): The capacity of the extended family safety net for orphans in Africa, in: Psychology, Health & Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2000, p. 59 6 Devereux, Stephen (1999): Making Less Last Longer : Informal Safety Nets in Malawi. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, p. 5 7 Davies, Susanna (1996): Adaptable Livelihoods. Coping with Food Insecurity in the Malian Sahel. Institute of Development Studies; University of Sussex, p. 34 8 PWAS/PAG (2004): The Incapacitated Poor in Zambia, Lusaka, p. 27f 7

households have a high dependency ratio, i.e. the relation between the number of dependent household members (not able to perform productive work) and the number of household members able to perform productive work 9. A household is considered incapacitated by certain social qualifiers which include the age of the head of household (being elderly), disability, a chronic sickness (mainly HIV/AIDS), being female or a child. Economically, a household qualifies for the welfare scheme if it is not getting support from relatives and cannot reasonably be expected to do so; if the household does not have productive assets that could be used to earn an income; and if the members of the household cannot work or should not work (because they are too old, or should be at school) 10. A destitute household is defined as a household living in severe and chronic poverty without any or insufficient member(s) fit for productive work 11. 1.5 Study Sites All five study sites are situated in Kalomo district, one of the southernmost districts of southern province. The town Kalomo lies along the great north road about 120 kilometres north of Livingstone and 400 kilometres south of Lusaka. Different administrative units are used to divide the district; this study refers to the Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs) as both administrative and geographic units: they are committees elected by their community and represent the grass root level structures of the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) and the Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme (KPSCTS) 12. As geographical units CWACs are used to define specific areas with a certain number of villages and beneficiaries. Data was collected from a) the rural Chidi CWAC, which is not yet covered by the KPSCTS b) the rural CWACs Masempela and Kanchele, which are included in the KPSCTS c) the semi-urban CWACs Mawaya 2 and Magrimondi, which are covered by the KPSCTS. The rural CWACs are all approximately 70 km away from Kalomo Town and comparably difficult to access with public transport. They have similar geographical and physical features. The main economic activity in the district is agriculture: About 90-95% of the district inhabitants depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Peasant and small scale farming are the most common farming systems with maize as the major crop. 1.6 The Sample In this study, 32 interviews were held with heads of incapacitated households in three rural and two urban CWACs. The identification process of eligible interview households followed recommendations from PWAS and KPSCTS employees and detailed information from CWAC members on the ground. 16 interviews were held with household heads in Chidi CWAC; ten were held with beneficiaries of the KPSCTS in the CWACs Masempela and Kanchele and six with beneficiaries in Kalomo Township, in Mawaya 2 and Magrimondi CWAC. Furthermore, four 9 MCDSS/GTZ (2006): The Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme Kalomo District, Zambia. Summary Report, Lusaka 10 PWAS/PAG (2004): The Incapacitated Poor in Zambia, Lusaka, p. 27f 11 Ibid., p. 28 12 MCDSS/GTZ (2004): Manual of Operations, Lusaka, p. 3 8

interviews were held with better off community members in Chidi and Masemplea/Kanchele CWAC and focus group discussions with community members and CWAC members were conducted. In Chidi CWAC, 12 out of 16 head of households are female with an average age of 67. Whereas three of the four male head of households live together with their wives, most of the women are widows and only one is living with her husband. In regard of the relatively high age of the interview partners, it can be guessed that their widowhood is not related to HIV/AIDS but that their partners died due to age or other reasons. In the rural CWACs that are included in the KPSCTS, out of ten households, nine are female headed and eight of these head of households are widows. In the urban CWACs, four interview partners are female and two male. The high number of female headed households is in line with the results of the national household survey, which also found that more female headed households are destitute and especially vulnerable and exposed to risks 13. Additionally, almost all interview partners are elderly. 13 PWAS (2003): Report on Results of the National Household Survey, Lusaka, p. 23 9

2. Rural Livelihood Strategies and Informal Safety Nets of Incapacitated Households in Zambia Most people in the rural areas in Zambia are semi-subsistence farmers with limited capital who mainly rely on regular crop and livestock production. Households with low crop productivity are supplementing their insufficient income with piecework, a kind of wage labour for work on the fields (see below). Better off farmers manage to sell some of their harvest in nearby towns. Besides maize as the major crop, sunflower, groundnuts, sorghum, millet, cowpeas, sugar beans, castor beans, cotton and Virginia tobacco are cultivated 14. Major risks are droughts and a number of livestock diseases; the majority of peasant farmers face low agricultural productivity and food insecurity towards the end of the dry season when the harvest has been consumed 15. Two outbreaks of the corridor disease in the late nineties and early this century increased the number of vulnerable households as hundreds of animals were wiped away within weeks, and people were left without their traditional productive assets. Although the year 2005/2006 brought a lot of rain and the harvest was reported to be good, even better off households expected a food shortage by the end of the year. 2.1 Livelihood Strategies Poor households everywhere survive by pursuing a mix of livelihood strategies and adaptive behaviours to deal with short term shocks as well as long term social and economic changes 16. In this study, the main sources of livelihood of non viable households in rural areas were small scale farming, gardening and piecework. Ten interviewees in Chidi CWAC reported to cultivate a small piece of land, using their hands and a hoe. Most destitute households do not own cattle and even old women at an age of ninety years work in the fields. Land that is cultivated with hand and hoe is in most cases too small to produce a sufficient harvest, and the lack of fertilizer enforces this problem. The six interview partners who do not cultivate a piece of land by themselves are either assisted by their sons or rely on other strategies like begging. As land is a resource that is still relatively available, the major problem for incapacitated households is the lack of work power. Gardening is done by ten head of households who plant mainly pumpkins, tomatoes and cabbage for their own consumption. In one case, an interviewee sells some of her vegetables in a rural town in September and thus generates an additional income. The major problem that prevents people from gardening is the lack of seeds without financial means to buy some, and unfavourable weather conditions. Throughout Africa, doing piecework is considered one of the major coping strategies of the vulnerable poor. In Chidi CWAC, six head of households did piecework despite their high age and poor health condition. Due to social and economic deterioration of living conditions, piecework as a former coping strategy only for a short period in times of food stress is transforming into a regular livelihood strategy of chronically poor households. Piecework includes working on other people s fields as well as 14 Participatory Assessment Group (2003): District Participatory Assessment. Volume 3: Kalomo District Report, Lusaka, p. 14 15 Ibid, p. 27 16 Devereux, S. (1999): Making Less Last Longer : Informal Safety Nets in Malawi. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, p. 8 10

washing clothes or grading the yard for people in rural centres. A reward is either given in cash or in kind, depending on the availability of the former and the kind of work. The wage for piecework in Zambia ranges from K20.000 to K60.000 (~ $4 to $12 in August 2006), depending on kind and duration of labour. Piecework is considered an erosive strategy, a strategy that depletes a household s asset base and therefore undermines its future viability 17. Its major disadvantage is that it competes with own-farm production of food and the economic returns are generally very low. Chronically poor household very often have to choose between piecework to meet the present food shortage for the sake of the future harvest or to invest into tomorrows harvest and stay hungry. Other livelihood strategies are the brewing of beer, doing handicraft like knitting and making traditional mats and selling it within the community. These strategies are mainly followed by women whereas men seem to prefer carpentry as an income generating activity. It has to be noted that these livelihood activities are not exclusively performed by incapacitated households; on the contrary, it can be assumed that those inventive strategies are mainly followed by households which have not yet given up hope. Begging from family or community members is a common survival strategy of destitute households in rural areas. The majority stated to beg regularly for food, small items like soap or salt, or money. Main sources for support are close relatives like children and siblings but also other relatives and unrelated neighbours. In some cases, the act of begging and receiving something could be understood as a form of mutual assistance between households of the same poverty line (see part 2.3). This strategy does not seem to add any value to the dignity of a household or individual following it 18. Although it was harvest season, all except for three households in Chidi CWAC received food relief from Care International. The food is shared within the family and benefits all members, independent from who is the official recipient. Many households refer to this kind of transfer as their only stable food income and their main source of ingestion. It is notable that receiving food transfers obviously does not prevent people from begging whereas beneficiaries of cash transfers abandon this strategy in most cases (see 3.1.1). Other coping strategies are the complementation of Nshima, the traditional maize pulp, with wild vegetables or fish, and the reduction of food intakes. The latter is especially often the case during rainy season when food becomes rare and people sometimes have one meal or less per day. Some interviewees reported to rely mainly on traditional vegetables and wild fruits during that time. 2.2 Formal and Modern-Informal Safety Nets Like mentioned in the introduction, formal safety nets are here understood as government social security services, whereas modern-informal safety nets are identified as those provided mainly by international and national development agencies. 17 Devereux, Stephen (1999): Making Less Last Longer : Informal Safety Nets in Malawi. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, p. 12 18 MCDSS/GTZ (2005): Baseline Survey Report. Lusaka, p. 41 11

Concerning the former, it will only be looked at the public welfare assistance scheme (PWAS) as the provider of social security whereas other government provisions like health and education services will be neglected. The Zambian PWAS looks back to a long history starting in the 1950s as a programme providing support to war veterans. It gained a national mandate to support needy widows and other deprived people after independence and is nowadays working through grass-root structures (the CWACs) on community level to identify their clients by using a PWAS matrix 19. PWAS came to a halt in the early ninety s as a result of the economic decline of the country and was only re-established in 2000. Today, PWAS structures exist in all rural and urban CWACs but have been often dormant after their foundation in 2001/2002 due to lack of funding. Members of the Community Welfare Assistance Committee in Chidi stated that they never received any support from the District Social Welfare Office (DSWO) in Kalomo Town, reportedly due to lack of transport and funds. Furthermore, a situation was found where official PWAS structures, the Area Coordinating Committees (ACCs) and the CWACs which are both responsible for the targeting and monitoring of beneficiaries, were not involved into the food distribution process of the DSWO. Their responsibilities were rather taken over by the agricultural camp officer who had a mean of transport and was in regular contact with the office in Kalomo. It was reported that he misused some of the food for his own business. PWAS institutions seem so far not capable to guarantee a sufficient support for its clients in the rural areas and lack means but also commitment to prevent corrupt structures and the misuse of food for the poor. Concerning modern-informal safety nets provided by development agencies, the major development organisation in Chidi CWAC is Care International with its projects Care C-Safe, Relief Food and Food for Work. Target groups are the chronically sick and their households (C-Safe), subsistence farmers in times of bad harvest (Relief Food) and chronically poor but viable persons (Food for Work). The assistance for all projects comes in the form of food like Millie meal and/or sorghum and beans and seems to cover most needy households in the area. 13 out of 16 interviewees receive food transfers from Care International and the organisation has a generally good reputation. The only complaint concerned the selection and exclusion process of beneficiaries which was sensed not transparent and sometimes incomprehensible. Other non-governmental development agencies in the area were not mentioned and do not seem to play a major role, if present at all. Although in general, several development agencies aim at supporting and securing the survival of the needy and destitute, most of the programmes seem to concentrate on the urban areas and do not reach the poor in rural regions, where poverty is highest. 2.3 Informal Safety Nets Informal safety nets are here understood as only those coping strategies that involve the drawing on support from other households 20 or individuals. Although during the last century, the main pillars of informal ( traditional ) safety nets, namely reciprocity and solidarity, underwent serious transformations and lost part of their significance, kinship and social ties are nowadays still the main provider of informal support for needy family members. It is understood that geographic and related closeness of 19 PWAS (2003): 20 Devereux, Stephen (1999): Making Less Last Longer : Informal Safety Nets in Malawi. Institut of Development Studies, University of Sussex, p.13 12

people stay in connection with the availability of help. Thus, relatives living next to each other are supposedly more likely to help each other than non-related neighbours or relatives living far away from each other 21. A household is generally considered an individual or a group of people permanently living together on the same plot and using the same kitchen, respectively sharing food by cooking together. This is however a theoretical definition which does not always meet the reality on the ground. People sometimes feel as members of a household even when they are living and working away for most of a year or children are considered household members although they only stay with their grandparents for the school holidays. It is furthermore not applicable for polygamous households where the different wives cook separately but eat together. Additionally, it often happens that households on the same plot share a meal or assist each other with food, especially when they are closely related. Furthermore, household compositions in African societies underlie permanent changes. Main causes for the founding, transformation or dissolution of a household are marriage, divorce, death or sickness. For the last decade, HIV/AIDS has become another major determinant for the structure of households and families. With the impact of the disease, the range of relatives who can offer care and support is narrowing 22 and the elderly become increasingly important for other vulnerable groups like orphans. Out of five households that are taking care of orphans in Chidi CWAC, two consist of elderly staying alone with an orphaned child. In the three other households, the mothers of the children are still alive and have returned to their mother s homestead after the death of their husbands. Even with one parent still living, these households are characterized by a high vulnerability and extremely endangered by dissolution. The returning parent might be also infected with HIV and close to serious sickness, and leave his/her offspring under the protection of an elderly person who is as well likely to die within the next few years. In some cases, what is viewed as a situation in which the elderly provide childcare is actually more like a situation of mutual support with increasingly frail grandparents becoming the care recipients of their grandchildren 23. Such a situation thus does not represent the eradication but indeed a different form of informal safety net, especially when a child is intentionally left with the grandparent to assist him or her in daily work. Sometimes the elderly person is crucially dependent on the help of the grandchild in daily work like cooking, taking care of animals and washing. Grandchildren caring for their grandparents are actually an old phenomenon widely spread in Africa 24. The term used is granny fostering and describes a common way of the fosterage of old people by their underage grandchildren. At the same time, the grandparents offer their grandchildren shelter, food and protection. It can be thus considered a reciprocal support mechanism and a safety net for both of the vulnerable individuals, elderly and grandchild. However, with no viable member available, those chronically poor households have no prospect of personal development as their productive possibilities do not meet the needs of all household 21 Sahlins, Marshall D.: Zur Soziologie des primitiven Tausches. In: Adloff/Mau (Hrsg.) (2005): Vom Geben und Nehmen. Zur Soziologie der Reziprozität. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New Yorck 22 Harland, Charlotte (2004): Overview of the Situation Analysis of Orphans & Vulnerable Children 2004, Lusaka, p. 21 23 Foster, G. (2000): The capacity of the extended family safety net for orphans in Africa, in: Psychology, Health & Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2000, p. 59 24 Alber (2006), Bledsoe und Isingo-Abanihe (1989) 13

members. Furthermore, children who fulfil daily life work for their grandparents have consequently less time to concentrate on school and many have to skip school completely. A mutual benefit is thus not always guaranteed. For all the interviewees, it was considered a normal and natural behaviour to take over the care for a grandchild, even when the household was already in a very poor situation. It was never expressed that the children represented a burden and that the interviewees wanted to give away the responsibility they had for them. Quite often, the elderly seem to be not only the last resort of care for orphans but also for children whose parents are still alive. This can be the case after the divorce and remarriage of one parent when the woman usually returns to the homestead of her parents and takes her children with her. In the case of a remarriage, the children are sometimes left with the grandparents because the new husband either does not accept them or because it is feared that they might be mistreated. With a growing pressure on the extended family, people are increasingly likely to offer care to children only when they are directly related to them 25. A child that is brought up by a distant relative is therefore probably worse treated than the direct offspring of that family, being forced to work hard in the house and pay off the support it gets. It is often found that after a divorce, the fathers do not care for their children at all. This behaviour can be partly related to individual reasons but also to the matrilineal decent system of the Tonga, where lineage relations and succession are organised through the mother. Nowadays, the replacement of the former husband by a male family member is unusual and the divorced mother returns home to her kin. Her situation seems to be more that of a widow than that of a divorcee, having little contact with her former husband and holding the exclusive responsibility for the children. Half of the household heads were living with their grown-up children, and three more shared the same plot with their son respectively adult grandson. Although this situation seems to contradict the definition of an incapacitated household on the first sight, it was found that adult children do not automatically represent an informal safety net for their elderly parents. The most common reason for adult children to stay with their parents is because they have not yet started their own household. In two cases in Chidi CWAC, an adult son was still living with his parent although he was already married and had children. This is an unusual situation as the children are supposed to leave the homestead when getting married. The reasons for the two cases was a distant workplace of the breadwinner, who left his wife with his mother for the time he was away, and the lack of money to found an own household in the other case. In another family, the 22 year old daughter never left the homestead of her parents because of her infection with HIV/AIDS. She is now in the last stage of the disease and cared for by her committed mother and father. With inadequate medical treatment especially in rural areas, the family and here mainly the parents are the main source of care for children infected with HIV. Five children (mainly daughters) returned to their parents plot after the divorce or death of their partner. With their return they add in the best case a viable member to the household but also a number of dependents. After the death of their partner, elderly people might either move to the homestead of one of their children, or a child might move to the parent s place in order to care 25 Ibid., p. 21 14

for him/her. This situation comes closest to what is understood as a traditional safety net for the elderly, even when the old person and his/her child do not share the same household. In a matrilineal system, it is the son who is responsible for caring for his mother because the daughter is expected to join the family of the husband. This might be the reason why it is mostly the son and not the daughter who either lives on the same plot with his mother or in the neighbourhood. Apart from those relations within the same household, all interviewees have close relatives living in the neighbourhood. They are the major source for assistance and are most frequently asked for support in times of crisis. The mapping of neighbouring households shows that the interviewees stay in most cases close to their sons (nine times), followed by their daughters and other relatives like siblings, cousins or Clan members. All interviewees could at least mention three neighbours, mainly relatives, friends, the headman and clan members. In some cases, when an interviewee had few members of the lineage in the neighbourhood, this was mainly because she was a woman who had moved to the homestead of her husband, leaving her lineage in another village. When asked for the number of visits they paid each other, it was found that most of them were embedded in regular contact with their neighbours and saw each other once to seven times a week. Furthermore, most interviewees have relatives living in a distance, e.g. children married in another village or working in Lusaka or another city. However, the contact with these children is not very regular and ranges depending on the distance - from once or twice a month to once every two years. Major reasons for the irregularity of contact are the lack of money for transport. A minimum of contact is nevertheless held, probably also to secure the future opportunity of the city residents to return back to the village. For households without productivity means, informal transfers in the form of handouts are a primary source of income and begging an important strategy to generate it. Most interviewees stated that they beg or have been begging from family members and friends for food and salt, oil or sugar and that they receive something in most cases. Transfers and assistance are mainly given by the son, followed by the daughter, brother and more distant relatives. Only a few interviewees mentioned that they get help from unrelated community members, the headman or friends. The most common informal transfer is food. Nine interviewees mentioned that they ask for food from children and other relatives living close by, and are given maize, Millie meal or sorghum. This kind of assistance is generally reciprocal as no direct exchange of an economic good takes place but social bonds guarantee a reverse benefit in the future 26. It is often quoted: When my son/daughter/relative has something, he/she gives me. When I have something, I give him/her, too. Although the assistance is mainly obtained by an act commonly described as begging, this expression does not seem appropriate for strong personal relationships like that between a mother and her child. Assistance in food can be given through eating together, handing out small items like salt, sugar or grain of maize, or sharing the harvest or food relief within the household and with other family members. A distinction between support which is received through begging and reciprocal assistance which is given voluntarily is difficult and both forms can mostly be treated 26 Sahlins, M. D.: Zur Soziologie des primitiven Tausches. In: Adloff/Mau (Hrsg.) (2005): Vom Geben und Nehmen. Zur Soziologie der Reziprozität. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New Yorck, p. 84 15

synonymously. Food transfers are mainly an emergency support which helps individuals and households through periods of food shortage. Destitute households however are almost constantly facing a productivity deficit and are thus permanently under the pressure of asking family and community members for food. Begging has thus like piecework become a regular livelihood strategy. Assistance is given by family and community members of almost the same poverty level. Due to the mutual character of this assistance, the food transfers are circulating within the community and benefiting one day him and the other day someone else; however, no change in poverty level or graduation of a household will be achieved by that kind of support. Devereux (1999) found out that reciprocal assistance occurs almost exclusively between very poor households (horizontal redistribution) whereas vertical transfers from rich to poor family members are almost non-existent 27. Exceptions are made for family members who migrated to town and succeeded to become relatively wealthy and in some cases support their kin in rural areas. However, the more common horizontal redistribution implies that support for destitute households from family members in rural areas is not only insufficient but also increases the vulnerability of other poor households who have to share their harvest. Transfers in the form of money are not very common in rural areas and among households who do not have a regular income. However, four interviewees mentioned to get monetary support from sons, daughters or grandsons who in most cases had a job and thus earned some cash. Sometimes family members also send money for their children who stay with their grandparents, but again mostly irregularly. In one case, an interviewee had borrowed an amount of K150.000 from a neighbour. He does not have the money to pay him back and thinks about working on the fields of the creditor. In general, this kind of assistance does not seem to hold a large share of the different forms of support. Another form of informal safety net is assistance in farming, and thus ploughing, weeding or harvesting the field. Five interviewees in Chidi CWAC are helped in farming by their sons or grandsons and in one case by a neighbour. All of the helpers live in the neighbourhood or share the same plot with the interviewee. In one case, the elderly has an arrangement with his daughter to help each other mutually with the field work. Another interviewee is assisted by a Clan member who put up a barn for her. On the other hand, the necessity to pay community members for being helped in farming was once mentioned and another interviewee reported to pay people for that labour. A relation of balanced reciprocity, where labour is paid for, is more common between unrelated community members whereas assistance without having to pay for it exists more likely between close family members 28. This kind of assistance seems not as usual as, for example, reciprocal assistance with food. Looking at the fact that all interviewees have male relatives in the neighbourhood, it would be interesting to find out what determines the willingness of family members to help their parent in farming and what causes the refusal. Unfortunately, the data of this survey does not give information of that kind. 27 Devereux, S. (1999): Making Less Last Longer : Informal Safety Nets in Malawi. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, p.13 Devereux, p. 14f 28 Sahlins, M. D.: Zur Soziologie des primitiven Tausches. In: Adloff/Mau (Hrsg.) (2005): Vom Geben und Nehmen. Zur Soziologie der Reziprozität. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New Yorck, p. 84 16

For the very poor, it is difficult to lend cattle from community members unless they are related and have a good relationship with the owner of the cattle. Five interviewees have access to cattle because close family members own some or because they or their children are taking care of cattle and can use it in return. In the rural areas, cattle represent wealth and the possibility to cultivate a piece of land large enough for a sufficient harvest. As a consequence to the decrease in number of cattle due to the corridor disease, livestock is nowadays very carefully looked after and not lend out to strangers. In general, it can be said that different support systems of the extended family in rural areas still exist and that they prevent destitute households so far from dissolution or death of hunger. However, the high poverty level in rural areas limits adequate support in cash and kind, and encourages small scale assistance on the lowest level. This assistance is not sufficient to lift destitute households from their state of absolute poverty or to cause their graduation and development. Assistance in farming or building up a barn seems to be more sustainable but demands more time and commitment and is consequently found less often. Additionally, the lack of cattle and fertilizer results in most cases in a poor harvest, even when help is available. 17

3. Impact of the Kalomo Pilot Social Cash Transfer Scheme The KPSCTS, in the following the scheme, is currently supporting 1,200 households in 39 CWACs in Kalomo district with a cash transfer of K30.000 K40.000 per month. 29 This part compares livelihood strategies of and informal safety nets for beneficiaries of the scheme with the findings of non-beneficiaries presented in part 2. It thereby wants to determine the impact of social cash transfers on survival mechanisms and supporting structures in rural and urban areas. As the number of interviews is relatively small, the results are not representative. 3.1 In Rural Areas 3.1.1 Impact of Cash Transfers on Livelihood Strategies In the rural CWACs Masempela and Kanchele, ten interviews were held with beneficiary households of the KPSCTS. Nine head of households were female and the average age of beneficiaries was 65 years. All interviewees followed livelihood strategies before and while receiving the transfers. Six beneficiaries mentioned to do small scale farming and only two referred to gardening as an income generating activity. This is relatively seen about the same share like in Chidi CWAC. Cash transfers obviously do not prevent some beneficiaries from the hard physical labour on the fields. Piecework as an additional income generating activity was only done by one beneficiary of the scheme in comparison to six (out of sixteen) non-beneficiaries. Four beneficiaries reverted to this strategy before but had stopped after they received the transfers. It can be assumed that the transfers are a substitute for piecework, an energy consuming survival strategy that is especially hard for the elderly. Looking at the fact that piecework prevents people from cultivating their own farms, the abandoning of this practise when receiving cash transfers enables households to spend their energy on cultivating their own fields. Although farming in general means hard labour especially for elderly, a different attitude towards small scale farming in comparison to piecework exists: whereas the latter is seen as labour for someone else and thus abandoned with the existence of another income, farming is considered an activity for one s personal benefit and performed even when receiving cash transfers. In comparison to the results in Chidi CWAC, no beneficiary earns an income by doing handicraft or brewing beer although two have done so before. In both cases, individual reasons seem responsible for stopping this activity so that an impact of the transfers is unlikely. One beneficiary earned an income by doing carpentry until he became sick. This was before he received the transfers and his sickness was probably one criterion to include him in the scheme. The major difference between livelihood strategies is found concerning the number of people who are begging. Whereas eleven people in Chidi CWAC reportedly beg 29 Schubert, Bernd (2005): Scaling Up Extending social cash transfers beyond the pilot area. Lusaka, p. 2 18

regularly, only one beneficiary of the scheme does so. Three other beneficiaries said that they had begged before the transfers started but had stopped after receiving the cash. This confirms the results of other studies 30, that begging of beneficiaries has considerably reduced and relieved community members from giving away considerable parts of their food. It is remarkable though, that in an area where most destitute households are covered with a food relief programme (from Care International) like in Chidi CWAC, begging is still a major livelihood strategy. This is despite the fact that the monetary value of both transfers is almost equivalent, respectively the food relief with the devaluation of the Kwacha even worth more. Nevertheless, beneficiaries receiving cash seem to be less in need to refer to begging and more likely to abandon this activity. Like in Chidi CWAC, some beneficiaries have been living only on wild fruits, wild vegetables and handouts from family members and were in a very critical situation before the transfers started. One beneficiary stated that she would be dead by now if it was not for the transfers 31. Whereas the transfers are in most cases spend on food like Millie meal, maize or vegetables, half of the beneficiaries are able to invest parts of their money in hiring friends or relatives to plough their fields or build up a barn. This is a very interesting development regarding the fact that beneficiaries themselves had relied on doing piecework for other community members before they received the transfers. Their position has thus changed from a dependant on other people s need of work power to one of an employer. Furthermore, half of the beneficiaries spend money on school requirements like books or pens for their dependants and five household heads bought small livestock like goats and chicken. Buying livestock is considered a way of saving as well as multiplying the value of the transfers as the animals might reproduce. Some beneficiaries use the transfers to pay for the transport to the hospital and thus mitigating the risk of chronic sickness or death and the dissolution of the household. In general, most of the money is spent within the community or in nearby shops in the rural centres and does not only benefit the primary beneficiaries but also their relatives, neighbours and community members. In conclusion, the kind of livelihood strategies of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries are alike, except for certain investment strategies that beneficiaries develop when receiving the cash. The strategies beneficiaries abstain from are erosive in nature, like performing piecework, skipping meals or referring to wild fruits and vegetables as the only food intake. Therefore, cash transfers seem to enable beneficiaries to withdraw from survival strategies that undermine the future viability of the household. However, some interviewees stated that they exclusively relied on the transfers with no other source of income. This trend has to be observed thoroughly as it suggests a growing dependency. 3.1.2 Impact on Informal Safety Nets Out of the ten interviewed beneficiary households in Masempela and Kanchele CWAC, four consist of an elderly alone caring for underage children. In five cases, the elderly is living together with an adult family member above the age of 18 plus 30 MCDSS/GTZ (2005): First Monitoring report; Lusaka, p. 7 31 Interview Esther S., Annex IV, p. 45 19