Lilongwe District Council has increased the number of beneficiary households for Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) in the 2019/2020 financial year.
Social Support Services Officer for the Council, Victoria Kamanga, disclosed during an orientation meeting on Wednesday that the number has been raised from 22, 000 households to 29, 830 households.
“We have registered 32, 000 household beneficiaries for 2019/2020 fiscal year but we will exclude some beneficiaries who are better off in order to meet our target number which is 29, 830 households,” she pointed out.
Director of Financial Services for the Council, Charles Mhone, said there are 236 clusters under the SCTP across the district and this financial year’s budget for Lilongwe is pegged at K2.9 billion.
“About 130,000 individuals are benefiting from the programme. The beneficiaries normally spend the received money on school requirements, food and assets such as goats and chickens.
“As Council, we also advise these beneficiaries to join Community Savings and Investment Promotion (COMSIP) groups with the aim of saving money which they can use in the long term.
“Thanks to COMSIP groups, many beneficiaries now run individual businesses which have led to their households’ improvement,” he said.
Government introduced SCTP with the aim of alleviating poverty through the provision of money to ultra-poor individuals across the country.
The Programme is funded by various donors including World Bank, German and Malawi Government.
By Lusayo Singogo – Mana
