Increase social protection - ZIPAR

ZAMBIA Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) has in its policy brief recommended to Government to maintain and expand social protection programmes to avoid more households falling into poverty during the Covid-19 crisis.

According to its findings, the Covid-19 Emergency Cash Transfer (C-ECT) stabilized incomes of the most vulnerable families and offset some of the negative shock on poverty.

Speaking during the dissemination event on distributional efforts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Zambia held yesterday in Lusaka, ZIPAR executive director Dr. Herrick Mpuku said that the findings were based on continued collaborative efforts between the institute and the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) who have provided both technical and financial support to the project.

Dr Mpuku said the study which focuses on the first nine months of the pandemic, which is last year, found that headcount of poverty worsened by 2.2 percent while the poverty gap increased by two percent.

He said the study also found that inequality as measured by the Gini Coefficient decreased by percent.

“However, this impact was cushioned by government intervention as the study found that without the Covid-response measures, headcount poverty would have increased by 3% while the poverty gap would have been 3.5%,” he said.

The policy brief also indicated that the general tax –benefit system contributed thinly to stabilize incomes and only provided some relief for some of the most well off households.

Minister of Community Development and Social Services Ms Doreen Mwamba in a speech read on her behalf by the Permanent Secretary Ms Pamela Kabamba, said Government had implemented the C-ECT in 22 districts which included those with high rate of the pandemic.