The Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme was established by the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) in 2003 as a pilot initiative in Kalomo District, implemented by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) with support from German Technical Assistance (GTZ, now GIZ). Since its creation, the programme has had three different formats.
Initially, between 2003 and 2010, the SCT operated five separate pilots—each targeting the poorest 10 percent of households in its district—without a unified framework. The SCT evolved through various targeting models before consolidating into a single, harmonized programme with common eligibility criteria. Beneficiaries of the earlier schemes were gradually reassessed and integrated into the unified SCT or phased out if they no longer qualified. Initially, the SCT was launched with a focus on rural communities, but it broadened its scope in 2016 to also cover urban areas, while keeping its targeting and delivery approach unchanged.
Over the past few years, the SCT Programme has grown significantly in necessitating a parallel modernization of its delivery, particularly through the transition to digital payments and the development of an integrated Management Information System (MIS). Currently, the SCT programme is not only Zambia’s largest social protection intervention but also one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. This policy aims at alleviating extreme poverty and curbing its intergenerational persistence by fostering greater food security, improving child survival and health, supporting higher primary school participation, and enhancing the asset base of vulnerable households.
The standard transfer values for the SCT programme have been updated in July 2025. Households enrolled in the programme now receive a base grant of ZMW 800, disbursed bi-monthly (ZMW 400 per month). Households with a member who has a severe disability receive a higher rate of ZMW 1,200, disbursed bi-monthly (ZMW 600 per month). Payments are made via cash, mobile-money transfers, or standard bank transfers, and are collected by the household’s primary recipient or a designated deputy.
To qualify as beneficiaries under the Social Cash Transfer SCT programme, vulnerable individuals and households must meet the following criteria:
- Residency test: The household must have resided continuously in the same locality for at least six months.
- Incapacitation and destitution: The household must meet one of the following socio-economic conditions:
- It is headed by a female with three or more children.
- It is headed by a child aged 18 years or younger.
- It includes a person who is chronically ill and receiving palliative care.
- It includes a person with a severe disability.
- It includes an elderly person aged 65 years or older.
- Welfare Assessment Approval: The household must pass a welfare assessment based on a proxy means test, which uses socio-economic indicators to estimate household welfare and confirm eligibility.
Reflecting its strong commitment to building human capital, the Zambia National Social Protection Policy (NSSP) was approved in 2014 with the aim of replacing fragmented interventions with an integrated system. This vision was operationalized in 2019 through the Integrated Framework of Basic Social Protection Programmes, which established the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) as the foundation for a "layering" or "cash-plus" agenda. The government recently adopted the Revised National Social Protection Policy (2024), a new framework that marks a fundamental shift from the previous functional pillars to a Life Cycle Approach, designed to systematically address risks and vulnerabilities at every stage of life.
While the SCT's regular payments provide a crucial floor for food security and household consumption, the "plus" components add targeted investments in human capital and livelihoods through the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) and Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) components, respectively. More recently, the SCT has been further strengthened by integrating nutrition components, which is currently in its pilot phase.
The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) is currently disbursing Social Cash Transfers (SCTs) to more than 1.3 million vulnerable and low-income households across the country for the May–June 2025 payment cycle. In 2026, the SCT programme is budgeted to expand its coverage to 1.5 million households, reaching an estimated 8.4 million individuals—about 42 percent of the population.
The 2026 allocation for the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme is ZMW 7.6 billion, equivalent to about 0.8 percent of GDP, marking a decrease from over ZMW 8 billion allocated in 2025. The reduction is primarily due to the completion of the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) programme, which was implemented as a drought response measure. In this year, the Zambian government plans to cover a larger share of Social Cash Transfer (SCT) financing, contributing ZMW 6.7 billion, or about 88.1 percent of the total programme budget, while donor funding is expected to amount to ZMW 910 million.
The Social Cash Transfer programme's governance is a multi-level, government-led framework, financed jointly by the Government of Zambia and international Cooperating Partners. The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) holds the primary implementation mandate, receiving funds from the Ministry of Finance and managing their disbursal to districts and Payment Service Providers. Programme oversight at the district level is managed by the District Welfare Assistance Committee (DWAC), an inter-ministerial body. Ground-level operations are executed through a community-based model, which relies on elected Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs) for beneficiary sensitization and validation, traditional leaders for residency verification, and designated Pay Point Managers (PPMs) for the final disbursement of cash to beneficiaries.
The ZISPIS manages a unified national register of beneficiaries for major Social Protection interventions and functions as the central platform of Zambia’s integrated digital system for Social Protection programme management. It includes workflow controls and accountability mechanisms and is integrated in real time with banks and Payment Service Providers. The system facilitates the disbursement and receipt of social support benefits and standardises the management of Social Cash Transfers and other social assistance programmes. ZISPIS’ website: https://zispis.gov.zm.
Qualitative Study of the Social Cash Transfer Programme in Urban Zambia (Storchi, Silvia et al., 2025).
This study was designed to generate critical knowledge on the SCT's performance in previously under-researched urban and peri-urban contexts. It employed the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) methodology, using 96 in-depth interviews to gather narrative causal statements directly from beneficiaries. This approach allowed researchers to map the specific pathways of change and the causal drivers attributed by recipients themselves, particularly in the face of severe economic shocks like the 2023 drought and high inflation.
The findings confirmed the program had a vital protective effect. The narrative causal inferences from recipients were clear and specific: they explained that the cash directly provided the capacity to purchase food, finance school necessities (like shoes and uniforms), access medical services (including transport costs and medication), and capitalize new business enterprises. Furthermore, the analysis of causal pathways revealed an important secondary impact: beneficiaries perceived that the programme, in conjunction with local sensitization efforts by NGOs and churches, is contributing to a reduction in disability-related stigma.
A key quantitative "dose-response" finding strongly reinforced these qualitative narratives: the higher ZMW 800 bi-monthly transfer was demonstrably more effective than the standard K400 amount. Households receiving the higher benefit were roughly twice as likely to report an increase in food consumption (39% vs. 19%) and reported significantly better child health outcomes (39% vs. 24%). This highlights that the adequacy of the transfer is a critical factor in enabling these positive causal pathways.
Can unconditional cash transfers raise long-term living standards? Evidence from Zambia (Handa et al., 2018).
The study examined two distinct government models employed by the SCT programme during its 2010–2014 implementation phase: the Child Grant Program (CGP), which targeted households with children under five, and the Multiple Category Targeted Program (MCP), designed for other vulnerable groups. The methodology leverages experimental data derived from large-scale randomized control trials (RCTs) conducted concurrently with both programs.
The evaluation found that both programmes had strong, far-reaching, and transformative impacts on recipient households after three years. A central finding was the documentation of a significant income multiplier effect, calculated at an average of 1.67. This key result demonstrates that the total economic benefit to households was 67 per cent larger than the annual value of the transfer received. This indicates that the transfers successfully moved beyond the primary goal of consumption protection, as beneficiary households invested the funds to enhance their income-generating capacity. The evaluation also identified distinct productive pathways: households in the MCP primarily increased their agricultural production, whereas those in the CGP drove revenue growth chiefly through non-farm enterprise activities.
Cash transfer programmes for managing climate risk: evidence from a randomized experiment in Zambia (Asfaw et al., 2017).
The research employed a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of the Zambia Child Grant Programme (CGP). The econometric analysis demonstrated that the CGP significantly improved welfare while acting as a crucial tool for climate risk management. The program resulted in a positive and statistically significant increase in household welfare, with a 19 per cent increase in total household expenditure. This was composed of a slightly greater effect on food expenditure (+20 per cent) than on non-food expenditure (+18 per cent).
The key finding was the strong evidence that the cash transfer programme mitigated the detrimental impact of negative rainfall shocks. The coefficient of the interaction term between the weather shock and CGP participation was consistently positive and highly significant, with a magnitude of approximately 0.03 for most outcome variables. This provides quantitative proof that the transfers helped households respond better to climate shocks. The Quantile Regression results further demonstrated that this mitigating effect was greatest for households in the lowest quantiles of the consumption and food security distributions, highlighting the critical role of social cash transfers in building resilience for the most vulnerable.
Learning About Labour Impacts of Cash Transfers in Zambia (Prifti et al., 2017)
The research utilized longitudinal experimental data from a large-scale Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of the Zambia Child Grant Program (CGP). The analysis focused on the intensive margin of labour, measuring the total days per week adult members dedicated to three specific outcomes: off-farm wage labour, own-farm labour, and the use of hired agricultural labour.
The main results robustly counter common policy concerns regarding work disincentives and dependency. The evaluation found no overall reduction in work; rather, it documented a significant and productive reallocation of adult labour. The SCT induced a 28.1% reduction in off-farm agricultural wage labour, indicating households reduced their reliance on precarious, "last resort" employment. This time was directly reallocated to productive household activities, resulting in a 27.1% increase in own-farm labour. Critically, the study found the transfer relaxed household capital and liquidity constraints, demonstrated by a large increase in investment: the ATT for hired agricultural labour was 2.001, signifying that beneficiary households doubled their use of hired labour compared to the control group. This shift confirms the transfer's role as a productive investment, enabling households to expand their own labour-intensive farm enterprises.
Based on studies and reports:
- The existing Social Cash Transfer Programme is one of the largest and most impactful safety nets in Africa, providing critical support to a substantial share of Zambia’s poorest households. With a current reach of over 1.3 million households—covering approximately 39 percent of the total population and an estimated 82 percent of the extreme poor in the country— the programme has achieved impressive scale.
- Base transfer values must be adequate and indexed to inflation; otherwise, their protective effect is lost during economic shocks like high inflation or drought.
- High‐value benefits deliver the largest poverty reductions but reach only a small fraction of those in extreme poverty.
- Lower benefit amounts are often restricted to consumption (food), while higher amounts are required to enable productive investments in health, education, and businesses.
- The discovery of beneficiary overlap and payment disparities highlights the need for robust de-duplication and reconciliation rules within the central MIS (ZISPIS).
- There is a need to enhance the monitoring information system by streamlining the beneficiary registry and expanding data coverage for people with disabilities.
Social Cash Transfer Programme overview here.
SDG 1 - No poverty
- Target 1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 - Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 - Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 - Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 - Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 - By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.2 - Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
- Target 3.1 - By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- Indicator 3.1.1 - Maternal mortality ratio
- Target 3.2 - By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under‑5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
- Indicator 3.2.1 - Under-5 mortality rate
- Indicator 3.2.2 - Neonatal mortality rate
SDG 4 – Quality education
- Target 4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
- Indicator 4.1.1 - Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
- Indicator 4.1.2 - Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
- Target 10.1 - By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 - Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 - Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Integrated programmes for economic inclusion;
Integrated programmes for gender equality and empowerment;
Integrated programmes for human capital development, including health and education and early childhood development;
Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge
SDG 1 – No poverty
- Target 1.1 – By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 – Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 – By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 – Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 – Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 – Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 – Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 – By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.2 – Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
- Target 3.1 – By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- Indicator 3.1.1 – Maternal mortality ratio
- Target 3.2 – By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under‑5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
- Indicator 3.2.1 – Under-5 mortality rate
- Indicator 3.2.2 – Neonatal mortality rate
SDG 4 – Quality education
- Target 4.1 – By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
- Indicator 4.1.1 – Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
- Indicator 4.1.2 – Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
- Target 10.1 – By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 – Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 – Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
The Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme was established by the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) in 2003 as a pilot initiative in Kalomo District, implemented by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) with support from German Technical Assistance (GTZ, now GIZ). Since its creation, the programme has had three different formats.
Initially, between 2003 and 2010, the SCT operated five separate pilots—each targeting the poorest 10 percent of households in its district—without a unified framework. The SCT evolved through various targeting models before consolidating into a single, harmonized programme with common eligibility criteria. Beneficiaries of the earlier schemes were gradually reassessed and integrated into the unified SCT or phased out if they no longer qualified. Initially, the SCT was launched with a focus on rural communities, but it broadened its scope in 2016 to also cover urban areas, while keeping its targeting and delivery approach unchanged.
Over the past few years, the SCT Programme has grown significantly in necessitating a parallel modernization of its delivery, particularly through the transition to digital payments and the development of an integrated Management Information System (MIS). Currently, the SCT programme is not only Zambia’s largest social protection intervention but also one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. This policy aims at alleviating extreme poverty and curbing its intergenerational persistence by fostering greater food security, improving child survival and health, supporting higher primary school participation, and enhancing the asset base of vulnerable households.
The standard transfer values for the SCT programme have been updated in July 2025. Households enrolled in the programme now receive a base grant of ZMW 800, disbursed bi-monthly (ZMW 400 per month). Households with a member who has a severe disability receive a higher rate of ZMW 1,200, disbursed bi-monthly (ZMW 600 per month). Payments are made via cash, mobile-money transfers, or standard bank transfers, and are collected by the household’s primary recipient or a designated deputy.
To qualify as beneficiaries under the Social Cash Transfer SCT programme, vulnerable individuals and households must meet the following criteria:
- Residency test: The household must have resided continuously in the same locality for at least six months.
- Incapacitation and destitution: The household must meet one of the following socio-economic conditions:
- It is headed by a female with three or more children.
- It is headed by a child aged 18 years or younger.
- It includes a person who is chronically ill and receiving palliative care.
- It includes a person with a severe disability.
- It includes an elderly person aged 65 years or older.
- Welfare Assessment Approval: The household must pass a welfare assessment based on a proxy means test, which uses socio-economic indicators to estimate household welfare and confirm eligibility.
Reflecting its strong commitment to building human capital, the Zambia National Social Protection Policy (NSSP) was approved in 2014 with the aim of replacing fragmented interventions with an integrated system. This vision was operationalized in 2019 through the Integrated Framework of Basic Social Protection Programmes, which established the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) as the foundation for a “layering” or “cash-plus” agenda. The government recently adopted the Revised National Social Protection Policy (2024), a new framework that marks a fundamental shift from the previous functional pillars to a Life Cycle Approach, designed to systematically address risks and vulnerabilities at every stage of life.
While the SCT’s regular payments provide a crucial floor for food security and household consumption, the “plus” components add targeted investments in human capital and livelihoods through the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) and Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) components, respectively. More recently, the SCT has been further strengthened by integrating nutrition components, which is currently in its pilot phase.
Based on studies and reports:
- The existing Social Cash Transfer Programme is one of the largest and most impactful safety nets in Africa, providing critical support to a substantial share of Zambia’s poorest households. With a current reach of over 1.3 million households—covering approximately 39 percent of the total population and an estimated 82 percent of the extreme poor in the country— the programme has achieved impressive scale.
- Base transfer values must be adequate and indexed to inflation; otherwise, their protective effect is lost during economic shocks like high inflation or drought.
- High‐value benefits deliver the largest poverty reductions but reach only a small fraction of those in extreme poverty.
- Lower benefit amounts are often restricted to consumption (food), while higher amounts are required to enable productive investments in health, education, and businesses.
- The discovery of beneficiary overlap and payment disparities highlights the need for robust de-duplication and reconciliation rules within the central MIS (ZISPIS).
- There is a need to enhance the monitoring information system by streamlining the beneficiary registry and expanding data coverage for people with disabilities.
Emergency cash transfers in fragile and humanitarian contexts; Integrated programmes for economic inclusion; Integrated programmes for gender equality and empowerment; Integrated programmes for human capital development, including health and education and early childhood development; Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge
In Zambia:
- Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS)
- Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MOFNP)
- Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis & Research (ZIPAR)
International:
The Social Cash Transfer programme’s governance is a multi-level, government-led framework, financed jointly by the Government of Zambia and international Cooperating Partners. The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) holds the primary implementation mandate, receiving funds from the Ministry of Finance and managing their disbursal to districts and Payment Service Providers. Programme oversight at the district level is managed by the District Welfare Assistance Committee (DWAC), an inter-ministerial body. Ground-level operations are executed through a community-based model, which relies on elected Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs) for beneficiary sensitization and validation, traditional leaders for residency verification, and designated Pay Point Managers (PPMs) for the final disbursement of cash to beneficiaries.
The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) is currently disbursing Social Cash Transfers (SCTs) to more than 1.3 million vulnerable and low-income households across the country for the May–June 2025 payment cycle. In 2026, the SCT programme is budgeted to expand its coverage to 1.5 million households, reaching an estimated 8.4 million individuals—about 42 percent of the population.
The 2026 allocation for the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme is ZMW 7.6 billion, equivalent to about 0.8 percent of GDP, marking a decrease from over ZMW 8 billion allocated in 2025. The reduction is primarily due to the completion of the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) programme, which was implemented as a drought response measure. In this year, the Zambian government plans to cover a larger share of Social Cash Transfer (SCT) financing, contributing ZMW 6.7 billion, or about 88.1 percent of the total programme budget, while donor funding is expected to amount to ZMW 910 million.
The ZISPIS manages a unified national register of beneficiaries for major Social Protection interventions and functions as the central platform of Zambia’s integrated digital system for Social Protection programme management. It includes workflow controls and accountability mechanisms and is integrated in real time with banks and Payment Service Providers. The system facilitates the disbursement and receipt of social support benefits and standardises the management of Social Cash Transfers and other social assistance programmes. ZISPIS’ website: https://zispis.gov.zm.
Social Cash Transfer Programme overview here.