BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Over E51 million has been distributed to 18 000 households in cash-based transfers manned by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
This is contained in the NDMA report released recently. The Government of Eswatini, through the NDMA, with support from the Kirsh Foundation, implemented a cash-based transfer (CBT) project from May 2020 to October 2022 to respond to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year alone, a total of E51 320 530 was distributed within eight months, since May, to 18 505 households. Between August and October 2022, a total of E12 774 300 million was distributed.
Beneficiaries of the relief money were those found to be food insecure and affected by long spells of COVID-19 lockdowns that eventually had a bearing on livelihoods and the local economy.
The project was implemented in all 59 constituencies of the country, commencing with a budget of E125 million and reaching a total of 449 065 beneficiaries over three distribution cycles. The second phase of the project was valued at E72 million and reached 18 605 households, benefitting 96 801 people in six phases. Each household received E700 per distribution cycle.
In terms of regions, the CBT benefitted 6 329 households in the Manzini Region, which equated to over 30 000 beneficiaries. The least beneficiaries of the programme were in the Lubombo Region, where slightly above 3 000 households received assistance.
The agency said their assessment indicated that a positive impact of the CBT programme echoed onto the economy and rescued livelihoods. The assessment revealed that 75 per cent of beneficiary households, who received the E700 payouts in five phases, mostly purchased food commodities from their community markets and shops.
As a result, community traders who were also hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and had endured long spells of business lockdowns, obtained a new lease on life due to the programme.
Also to have contributed to the relief aid was the Government of Taiwan and World Vision Taiwan, which sponsored the in-kind food distribution project, which was targeting 15 constituencies and provided up to 1 000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to 10 263 households. They helped 47 256 individuals nationwide.
The project featured a Food for Work (FFW) component targeting the construction and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in communities.
The objectives of the project included providing short-term relief to food insecure households in target locations; promoting attendance and speed-up work in community projects and in the creation of quality assets in target communities.
The project saw, for instance, the rehabilitation of broken down fences for cattle pastures, pit latrines, foot bridges and classrooms in various constituencies.
Under this programme, participating community households were required to build or rehabilitate physical assets in their areas in return for an incentive of 3kg of rice per day per household for 80 hours of work per month. This meant each household, after 20 days, received a total of 60kg rice.
One of the major highlights of the project was the construction of two foot bridges at Mgodloza under Mtsambama constituency.
The bridge would be used by over 700 households when going to clinics and schools. The report highlighted that through the construction of the bridge, it will eliminate cases of drowning that were popular in the water stream passing the area.
