Social protection mechanisms in Southern Africa

Southern African experience and lessons in social safety net mechanisms

By: Devereux S
Published by: Wahenga.net, Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP) , 2006
Via: Eldis

Social protection is a relatively new concept in southern Africa. Regular, predictable and guaranteed transfers to the vulnerable in most countries have yet to be integrated into existing policies safeguarding lives following livelihood shocks such as drought and conflict. This study reviews existing knowledge of social protection practices and lessons in Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Although numerous advancements have been made in the thinking and practice of social protection in this region, some significant challenges emerge from this study:

• Gaps in social protection: many vulnerable people are inadequately protected via existing measures - these gaps can be filled through efforts protecting consumption by promoting production, such as facilitating access to markets and making farm inputs more accessible, and addressing the seasonality of food prices either by direct control or through strategic buying and selling decisions
• Programming challenges: attemps to establish long-term social protection mechanisms in addition to emergency responses require the scaling-up, institutionalisation and co-ordination of existing programmes - political will and efforts to strengthen various markets
• Learning opportunities: the cases examined highlight the need for wider access to farmer inputs, stabilisation of the food price, and unconditional cash transfers - additionally, failures of some social protection schemes in the region are useful in the development of more successful ones.

The report also outlines some examples of successful social protection mechanisms from other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.