Comparison Of Agricultural Input Subsidies And Social Cash Transfers As Policies For Reducing Vulnerability To Hunger In Malawi

Author: Dyton Duncan Maliro

Year: 2011

Category: Dissertations

Abstract

This thesis compares agricultural input subsidies and social cash transfers as alternative policy levers for addressing vulnerability to hunger in Malawi. Input subsidies stimulate yield growth in agriculture, and can improve the food security of food-deficit small farmers both directly and indirectly. Social cash transfers directly support the immediate consumption needs of populations at risk of missing minimum food entitlements. The two policies interact both as livelihood complements and as competitors for fiscal space. Research to date has provided little comparative evidence on such interactions and their effects. The thesis objective is to gain a deeper understanding than hitherto available of these policy options, which in Malawi are characterised by confusion concerning their roles in achieving a sustainable reduction in vulnerability and deprivation. In Malawi both policies were introduced in 2005/06, following five years of recurrent national food crises. The input subsidy programme (ISP) is a national programme targeting over 50 per cent of Malawi’s 3.2 million farm families every year. Social cash transfers, in contrast, are pilot schemes in seven of the 28 districts, and aim to cover the 10 per cent of households identified as ultra poor and labour constrained. The research involved the use of secondary data sources combined with a fieldwork in Mchinji district, which was the first pilot site for social cash transfers in 2006. The research demonstrates the difficulty in Malawi of constructing a policy environment that can enduringly reduce the proneness of the rural population to hunger and deprivation. The ISP appears to have more than doubled maize output according to official figures but caution is indicated regarding the true magnitude of output gains realised. For social cash transfers, evidence suggests positive food security and livelihood impacts but important caveats are identified. Overall, the thesis contributes to the growing awareness that one strategy on its own cannot be relied upon to achieve sustainable vulnerability reduction; a portfolio of instruments that address differing needs is advised, while carefully considering complementarities and tradeoffs between them.

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