Cash transfers ensure food security for impoverished, predominantly women-led households and create new economic prospects

Cash payments to combat hunger – with a special focus on women

^{As of: 02/2025}

In Zambia, particularly vulnerable families receive cash payments through the Zambian social cash transfer system to protect them against poverty and hunger. Most of these families are headed by women. More than one million households are already participating in the government programme. As a result, they can feed themselves and their children better, can send their children to school and can also build up some economic stability. The programme is implemented through the World Bank’s multi-donor trust fund “Girls' Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods” (GEWEL) and financed by various donors.

Project title	Project of the Special Initiative for the Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems (SI AGER): cash transfers to ensure food security and mitigate the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
Commissioned by	Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country/Region	Zambia
Project partners	World Bank Group

Current situation

Zambia has a high rate of poverty coupled with severe undernourishment – approximately half of the population is considered to be extremely poor and has to survive on less than USD 2.15 a day. Around a third are undernourished, and even more are malnourished. This means they do not have the varied and nutritious meals essential for a healthy life. The most recent crises have exacerbated the situation. First, there was the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the poorest families in particular. Then came Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which has caused world market prices to rise due to a lack of grain exports and has reduced its overall availability. Fuel and fertiliser prices have also increased. These consequences are also being felt in Zambia, where the inflation rate is now at around 10%. The higher prices combined with supply bottlenecks have a particularly adverse effect on women, children and the elderly, whose situation has deteriorated in recent years and who therefore need additional support.

Drei Frauen stehen Arm in Arm da. — One of the components of the cash transfer programme enables girls to attend school.

Project approach

To mitigate the consequences of the various crises, especially the war in Ukraine, for the particularly vulnerable sections of the Zambian population and to stabilise the food situation, these people receive cash transfers of approximately EUR 7 (ZMW 200) per month. The transfers are financed through the Multidonor Trustfund GEWEL managed by the World Bank and involving the participation of a number of donors. The Fund aims to strengthen the role of women and girls through the social security network.

The programme has several components – in addition to the cash transfers, one of them supports the livelihoods of women in rural areas and this, in turn, improves their economic situation. Another includes an educational initiative for vulnerable and poor girls who can then go to or stay in school as a result. The project is geared towards women because in Zambia, it has also been proven that households headed by women are more likely to be poor. Although the majority of women in sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture, they have less access to resources and services such as land, training, working capital and equipment than men. Targeted support for women is therefore essential in order to achieve gender equality. At the same time, it emerged that households headed by women make better decisions for the community and family.

Only those registered as poor in the national social security system can be recipients. In fact, 78% are women – 66% of them run a household alone and raise three or more children while 12% are women with disabilities who receive additional funds. The cash transfers aim to enable households to spend more money on a better and more varied diet, including for the children who live there. However, the cash transfers not only finance sufficient food – they can also provide a way out of poverty in the medium term. The support also offers recipient women new (economic) perspectives. For many of them, this is the first time they can have their own money, save and decide what to spend it on. This creates self-determination and enables investment in their own small business or new equipment. It means that the women can generate income – and improve their situation in the long term. The risk of gender-based violence, which persists as women’s autonomy increases, has been addressed through a corresponding complaints mechanism.

The “Keeping Girls in School” component also provides support for educational programmes for girls. This may be in the form of scholarships for boarding school, money for books and school equipment or simply funds for the girls' families so that, for example, girls do not have to help out in the fields instead of attending school. These are grants for educational purposes.

Depending on the context, the disbursements are made in cash through conventional channels or redeemed digitally as a voucher on a mobile phone/converted into cash at a payment office. This opens up many new opportunities for the beneficiaries in their everyday lives, further increasing their independence.

Impact

The support has significantly improved the nutritional situation of the beneficiaries. Many households can now afford two meals a day and can therefore feed their children better at critical stages of their development. Another key benefit for households is that they can eat more varied and healthier foods, and that they can also create a more solid basis for their entire livelihoods.

To date, around 1.3 million households have benefited from transfer payments, reaching more than half of those in Zambia classed as poor and more than two-thirds who are classed as extremely poor. Some of the women who benefited reported that they were able to save some of the money and buy cattle after a while. Others have opened a snack stand or a small grocery shop, or bought an ice cream maker and earned income by selling ice-cream. In addition, more than 170,000 girls in Zambia have received educational grants and have been able to attend or resume secondary school as a result. This has significantly exceeded the actual target of 80,000 girls. More than 1,200 young women with secondary school qualifications have also received a scholarship for university studies.

Although the women involved make very different investments, the effect is almost always the same – the Social Cash Transfer programme helps reduce hunger and the most severe poverty. Even small amounts like EUR 7 per month make a big difference. For the women involved, they provide new prospects and give them greater independence.

The project contributes to the achievement of these following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: