Govt reportedly begins nutrition-sensitive cash payments in four districts

Government has announced the commencement of payments under the Nutrition-Sensitive Cash Top-Up Pilot within the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) Programme. The pilot will be implemented in Chibombo, Monze, Mumbwa, and Kawambwa districts, targeting areas with high rates of malnutrition and stunting, according the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS). In a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday, Ministry Principal Public Relations Officer, Glenda Nachinga, said the four districts were selected based on their high rates of malnutrition and stunting, as well as lessons and gains from previous programme implementation.

Nachinga said the initiative would benefit approximately 25,000 eligible SCT households with children under the age of two, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women. “Eligible beneficiaries will receive an additional K200 on top of their regular Social Cash Transfer payments,” she stated. The additional K200 will raise the total transfer value to K1,000 for standard households, up from K800, and to K1,400 for households with persons with disabilities, up from K1,200.

Nachinga said eligibility for the nutrition-sensitive cash top-up is limited to households that already met the Social Cash Transfer Programme’s poverty and vulnerability criteria. She clarified that the top-up was not extended to all families with young children. “The Ministry wished to categorically state that the top-up is not a universal benefit, and not all pregnant or breastfeeding women automatically qualify,” Nachinga noted.

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She said the programme also aimed to support vulnerable families to adopt improved nutrition practices to provide a stronger foundation for healthy child growth. “By supporting vulnerable families to adopt improved nutrition practices, the programme aims to provide a stronger foundation for healthy child growth and development,” Nachinga added. “The pilot is being implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, which is delivering complementary nutrition-specific interventions, including the management of moderate and acute malnutrition, nutrition counselling, and nutrition education,” Nachinga stated. She claimed that the objective aligned with the 2026 National Food and Nutrition Security Policy Implementation Plan and the Stunting Reduction Strategy, which seek to reduce the national stunting rate from 32 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030.

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