Government has launched a new financing strategy aimed at ending the social protection system’s long-standing dependence on donors, betting instead on homegrown, predictable funding to keep programmes like the Social Cash Transfer running as foreign aid declines.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralization Joseph Mwanamvekha launched the Sustainable Financing Strategy for Social Protection on Friday at the Bingu International Convention Centre, framing it as a turning point after decades of reliance on external funding.
Mwanamvekha said a policy without financing remains only an aspiration, adding that the harsh reality is that, for too long, social protection in Malawi has been synonymous with donor dependency.
The strategy sets out financing options to sustain flagship programmes, including the Social Cash Transfer Programme, the Public Works Programme and school meals — interventions that reach some of the country’s most vulnerable households.
Beyond mobilising more domestic resources, Mwanamvekha said the strategy is designed to strengthen accountability and protect social protection programmes from fiscal shocks, while keeping government within the bounds of prudent resource management and debt sustainability.
He called on Parliament, civil society organisations and development partners to work together to build a fully funded social protection system aligned with the long-term national development blueprint, Malawi 2063 — a signal that the shift away from donor dependency is meant to be permanent, not a one-off budget adjustment.
World Bank Country Manager Abdu Muwonge, speaking on behalf of Malawi’s development partners, described the strategy as a timely response to a global funding squeeze.
Muwonge said the launch of the strategy offers assurance that, should adverse shocks occur, government will still have the means to continue cushioning the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.
The self-reliance theme extended beyond government financing to the households the programmes serve. Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Mary Navicha urged beneficiaries to treat cash transfers as seed capital rather than a standalone solution, encouraging them to channel part of the assistance into income-generating activities.
“When they get this money, they should also invest in something like livestock, or they should engage themselves in savings and loans groups, so that they will be able to make something on top,” Navicha said.
She noted that social protection payments alone cannot cover all household needs, making it essential for beneficiaries to invest and add value to the support they receive rather than depend on it entirely.
The launch drew senior figures from government and Malawi’s development partner community, including Secretary to Treasury Dr Cliff Chiunda, EU Head of Cooperation George Dura, UNICEF’s Mathew Tasker and other stakeholders.
