Transcript Prospects for social protection of the most vulnerable in the

Social Protection and the Convergence Agenda:
Prospects for social protection of the most vulnerable in
the face of increasing global volatility
Prof Sheryl Hendriks
Director: African Centre for Food Security,
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
African Union Commission/NEPAD Lead for Food Security
HUNGER IN AFRICA
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Most the food insecure live in Africa
Southern Africa has the lowest rate of poverty
vs East and West Africa but was still 43.5% in
2008 (ReSAKSS, 2009)
21% of children and 31% of adults were
undernourished in 2008 in Southern Africa
Food shortages are a systemic problem
Predictable year-on-year food assistance is required to fill the
consumption gap of populations in Africa.
Many countries are net food importers
POVERTY AND FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA
Country progress towards achieving MDG1
(Badiane and Ulimwengu, 2009)
Countries on track to
achieve only the poverty
goal
Algeria
Cape Verde
Egypt
Gambia
Kenya
Lesotho
Mali
Mauritania
Senegal
Tunisia
Countries on track to achieve
only the nutrition goal
Angola
Benin
Chad
Congo, Rep.
Djibouti
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
Countries on track to
achieve both goals
Cameroon
Ghana
Ethiopia
DELIBERATE FOCUS
It is therefore crucial that an integrated approach to the growth
agenda includes a special focus on those who may not be the
immediate beneficiaries of agricultural growth but whose
immediate state of poverty and hunger require urgent and
immediate attention and assistance.
COUNTRY-LED DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE
Identifying the policies, programmes and investments in agricultural
development to reduce hunger and poverty that ALSO address the complex
issues related to climate change, NRM, market volatility, health and
demographic changes that also simultaneously address multiple
vulnerabilities
Nature
Climate
Technology
Environment
Social capital
Education
Politics
Health & disease
Physical infrastructure
Institutions
Markets
Livelihoods
Agriculture
Storage
Conflict
Shocks to households
•Food
•Income
Household
•Health
•Entitlement resources
•Assets
•Access
Food secure
Symptoms of food insecurity
Household
responses to
shocks
VULNERABILITY
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Acute vulnerability to hunger is
triggered by a range of shocks and
stressors
Extreme weather events, global
climate change, a range of pests, and
communicable human and animal
diseases undermine fragile
livelihoods and pose direct threats to
food security
Social and political strife and conflict
continue to affect food supply in many
African countries
ASSETS DETERMINE HOUSEHOLD
PRODUCTIVITY AND RESILIENCE
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Inability to gain access to food due to poverty
Lack of a steady flow of income
Low income constrains expenditure on health, education, agriculture, and
assets (including productive assets)
The poor have limited access to credit, savings and land
Institutional arrangements (for land tenure, property rights, taxes, and
employment policies) limit the access to information, labour and product
markets and productive and capital resources
Vulnerability is increased by lack of productive assets and unsustainable
livelihoods, increasing vulnerability and ability to cope with uncertainties
such as economic down-turns, health hazards, natural catastrophes, and
civil conflict
Worsened by food price increases that further reduce the purchasing power
of inadequate income.
VULNERABILITY AND VOLATILITY
2008 food crisis - not a typical covariate
shock
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Supply response capacity was intact but
Europe and US had cut back production
An external shock at global level that
required a widespread and immediate
emergency response
Emergency stock not adequate, funds
not available and fuel too expensive to
move food
Demand out-stripped supply and even
countries with money could not buy
Created a structural change in global
prices
Complexity of solutions lies in the
multiple causes
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Improved risk management
Increased supply of affordable food
through increased production and
improved market linkages
Increased economic opportunities for
the vulnerable
Increased quality of diets through
diversification of food among the
target groups.
SOCIAL PROTECTION
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Social protection refers to the public actions taken in response to levels of
vulnerability, risk and deprivation which are deemed socially unacceptable
(ODI, 2001)
Social protection provides:
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Social protection protects
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Improved resilience - help for households to cope with risk and buffers against shocks
Social protection promotes
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Liquidity to poor households
Improved labour productivity
Assets
Food
Resilience
Sustainable livelihoods
Opportunities for investments
Insurances
Transforms institutions and relationships
SOCIAL PROTECTION INSTRUMENTS CAN
INCLUDE :
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Entitlement-based instruments e.g.:
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unconditional cash transfers (welfare payments, child
allowances, pensions)
food transfers (relief supplies, soup kitchens, food parcels),
consumer subsidies on goods purchased by the poor,
asset transfers such as livestock where appropriate,
employment guarantee programmes,
nutrition programmes (fortification),
input provision and
school feeding programmes
targeted subsidies.
AND/OR:
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Incentive-based instruments
 e.g.
conditional transfer programmes such as:
 food-for-education/work/water
programmes
 public works programmes to improve local transport,
markets and social infrastructure, providing needed
employment and skills development
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Insurances
 Social
insurance: contributory scheme managed by
Government, but also informal insurance
 Eg Drought/crop/weather
SOCIAL PROTECTION: OBJECTIVES AND INTERVENTIONS
Lower capacities-----------------------------------------Higher capacities
Faster to scale----------------------------------------------Slower to scale
Lower inputs-----------------------------------------------Higher inputs
Protective
Preventative
Promotional
Transformational
Secure basic Reduce
consumption fluctuations in
consumption
and avert
asset
reduction
Enable people to
save, invest, and
accumulate
through
reduction in risk
and income
variation
Build, diversify, and
enhance use of
assets
• Reduce access
constraints
• Directly provide or
loan assets
• Build linkages with
institutions
Transform
institutions
and
relationships
• Economic
• Political
• Social
• Public works
• Insurance (e.g. health,
•Unconditional
asset)
cash transfers
• Livelihoods support
Conditional cash
• Food Transfers
• Savings and credit
transfers
Conditional food
• Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition
transfers
• Child and adult education/skills
Adato and Basset, 2008.
• Early childhood development
SOCIAL PROTECTION IS NOT GROWTH NEUTRAL
- DESIGN MATTERS
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Cash transfer programs lend themselves to
targeting education and health outcomes to boost
labour productivity but only where there is access
to health and education services of reasonable
quality
Targeted social protection programmes can have
significant impacts on labour productivity,
especially if they include preventative health and
nutrition programmes such as vitamin
supplementation, child growth monitoring etc.
targeted at vulnerable groups or direct access to
secure markets for agriculture programmes.
Gender needs to be considered in design
CRITERIA FOR EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT
PRODUCTIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION
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There is growing evidence that productive social
protection is successful in poverty reduction and
building household resilience through a well
structured integrated public investment strategy.
BUT effective targeting is essential
AND economy of scale is crucial and can be delivered
through existing networks of institutions and services
MUST boost/complement rather than undermine
development, and
CONSIDER the extent to which national budgets can
provide and sustain large-scale programmes a typical
covariate shock
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Food subsidies exceed one per cent of GDP in
Burundi, Egypt and Morocco.
Malawi, Mauritania and South Africa spend
between 2 and 4.5 per cent of GDP on social
transfers (including agricultural subsidies).
Malawi devotes approximately 15 per cent of
government expenditure (about 2.6 per cent of
GDP) to supporting poor farmers alone.
Social protection’s share of national budget is 33%
in South Africa (with health and education = 60%)
A NECESSITY REQUIRING CAREFUL
PLANNING AND TARGETING
Therefore social protection is a vital consideration in
design of integrated strategic growth strategies.