RESEARCH PROPOSAL CONFERENCE VERSION. To be presented at the PEP general meeting, Santa Cruz, Bolivia on May 5-8, 2014

Transcription

1 Safety Net Complementarities: An in-depth analysis of the safety nets provided in Zimbabwe and their possible contribution to the labour market, economic growth and poverty reduction. RESEARCH PROPOSAL CONFERENCE VERSION To be presented at the PEP general meeting, Santa Cruz, Bolivia on May 5-8, 2014 By Mr. Tapfuma R. Jongwe Ms. Chipo Muchabaiwa Ms. Beatrice Musavengana Mr. Everton Mlalazi Ms. Maurine Tanatsa Muparadzi Dr..Jephias Matunhu (PhD) Lead Researcher Zimbabwe

2 INTRODUCTION The main research area of focus is on safety net complementarities put in place in Zimbabwe to promote income growth and poverty reduction among the poor. The research will thus seek to explore three programs Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO) and Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) their target populations, their implementation plans and their effectiveness. In the context of Zimbabwe over the years the government and donor organizations have supported safety nets mainly in the areas of Health and Education and other social services. Often time the general public is not aware of these services and this research seeks to recognize ways of raising awareness of these programs and expected/existing outcomes through feedback from the beneficiaries and the effects these programs have on the general population. This research will also assist policy makers in formulating relevant safety nets as well as coming up with policies and programs that complement available safety nets. This research will also assist with the types of safety nets needed for the Zimbabwean rural and urban contexts to prevent over-dependence on such programs and to promote productive lives for all. The research will use primary data that will be collected during the research period through methods such as questionnaires and indepth Interviews among other research methods. Additionally the research will also utilise currently available secondary data which has already been collected and is used for reference such as information from current or previous safety nets, government publications and journals. BACKGROUND Social protection is one of the ways to reduce and/or alleviate the impacts of poverty and people s vulnerability to it. In many developing countries the employer plays a large role, with the insurance-related aspects of social protection thus provision of social safety nets maybe limited to workers in the formal sector (large firms and the public sector) and excluding many in the urban informal and rural agricultural sectors. Employee related social protection includes schemes such as medical aid, old age pension, compensation in the cases of accidents at work, and education support among others. This strategy creates a dichotomy between those within the protective system and those outside it. In these countries, the levels of per capita income and of inequality that result from the functioning of the market economy always leave some people in poverty and/or vulnerable to emergencies; social protection policies are designed to alleviate these problems (and, where possible, to contribute to pro-poor growth). It then becomes apparent that the urban informal and particularly the rural peasants require social protection mechanisms which come from the Government. The major focus area for this research is whether the social safety nets being provided by Government in Zimbabwe have an income-creating effect or not.

3 Of particular interest are the social protection initiatives that overlap with labour market processes and hence affect labour outcomes. Such overlaps take different forms according to where a given policy is on a spectrum from pure protection (no impact on the person s/family s capacity to earn income) to pure income growth promotion such that the protection provided comes exclusively from the higher income. Some social protection interventions, though, may directly diminish income earned, such that the net benefit due to the programme is less than the transfer involved. A further relevant distinction is that between social protection whose income-creating effect occurs immediately for example, employment-generating public works programmes and those whose income-generating effect comes later, as with conditional cash transfers (CCTs) designed to keep the children of lowincome families in school longer or school lunch programmes whose main impact may be a reduction of malnutrition and a healthier person over his/her lifetime. These distinctions by no means fully capture the causal interactions between social protection programmes and either personal/family income growth or the overall economic performance of an economy. The social protection briefing note series number 4 of March 06 by DFID notes that, Social protection can have a positive impact on growth in developing countries in a number of ways. It can finance investment in health and education, protect assets that help people earn an income, encourage risk taking, promote participation in the labour market, and ease the pain of economic transition. There are inevitably trade-offs. For example, if taxes are raised to pay for spending on social protection, tax payers may have less incentive to work and save. However, social protection, in reducing poverty and inequality, can also lead to greater social unity and a more stable environment for individuals to work, save and invest. Governments must be careful to strike an appropriate balance between economic incentives and greater provision of social protection. Nevertheless, social protection is a potentially important part of a strategy to increase sustainable, poverty-reducing growth. BEAM, AMTO and HSCT To reduce Zimbabwe's deep socioeconomic disparities, the government that came to power at independence in 1980 invested heavily in health and education and, through parastatals, in rural development and the productive sectors. The Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Services (MoLSS) now called the Ministry of Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) chose to be the sole provider of social services which marked the provision of free education up to primary level as well as free health assistance to a certain extent. Although social indicators improved, particularly in health and education, per capita income stagnated. The Ministry of Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) has a number of social protection mechanisms already in place, including Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO), and the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) program, social

4 insurance for the poorest children and their families, and child protection services for children at risk of violence, exploitation and abuse. These social safety nets provide a multi-dimensional approach to targeting child and family vulnerability and aims to reduce disparities and inequalities related to poverty, exclusion and abuse. BEAM: Established in 2001 as a key component of the Enhanced Social Protection Programme (ESPP), the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) is based on a policy and legal framework that is designed to provide quality education to children, including specific policies aimed at supporting orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), as well as a number of international agreements to which the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) is a signatory. BEAM is a demand side response to the cost barriers affecting the ability of OVC to access education due to increasing poverty levels in the country. BEAM is now one of the four pillars of the overarching National Action Plan (NAP), currently in its second phase (NAP II), which is intended to reduce household poverty through cash transfers, improve access to child protection services and improve access to basic education and health services. The Child Protection Fund (CPF) is the multi donor funding mechanism supporting NAP II, and this is where programme allocations for BEAM are now located; the Project Management Unit (PMU) responsible for BEAM is located in the Department of Social Services (DSS) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Services (MoLSS). Until the end of 2008 BEAM was wholly funded by the GoZ. With the advent of hyperinflation, BEAM resources became negligible and failed to reach the intended objective of supporting access to education by the poor and most vulnerable. Revived in the period , BEAM disbursed US$60.2 million directly to schools to cover tuition fees and levies in primary and secondary schools and examination fees in secondary schools; 45% of this amount was provided by donors. Donor funding beyond this time is uncertain, but the GoZ has committed US$16 million for 2012 for secondary school students. Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO): Under the Health Assistance Programme, government pays health fees for very poor households through the Hospital Referral System. Beneficiaries are given medical treatment vouchers are given by the Department of Social Services. The vouchers are used in government hospitals. A major challenge the programme has faced over the years is that the AMTO do not cover treatment at private health institutions. With shortages of drugs at referral hospitals, the purpose of the programme faces a challenge as patients find themselves stuck with prescriptions of drugs they cannot afford to buy. In this regard, the availability of drugs in public health institutions is critical to the provision of safety net to indigent individuals. The Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT): was introduced in 2011 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Services (MoLSS) to strengthen the purchasing power of ultra-poor households who are labour constrained through cash transfer. The programme aims to enable beneficiary households to increase their

5 consumption to a level above the food poverty line, to reduce the number of ultrapoor households and to help beneficiaries avoid risky coping strategies such as child labour and early marriage. The programme is also expected to lead to improved nutritional status and to improved outcomes for children in health and education. The research brief on the Impacts of the HSCT on community dynamics in Zimbabwe noted that, The transfer has increased the creditworthiness of beneficiary households and enabled many of them to reduce casual labour, increasing work in their own fields, which in some households was complemented by increased investments in productive inputs (e.g. fertilizers). It will be interesting to interrogate the impact of the HSCT on peasantry labour, whether; the provision of these unconditional transfers has indeed translated to household heads spending more time in their fields. Social protection interventions seek to reduce the vulnerability of poor people and more so vulnerable children. There are several social safety nets whose purpose is to cushion vulnerable and poor families. Zimbabwe s social safety nets are premised on the Social Welfare Assistance Act of Some of these safety nets worked very well at their inception. However, the socio- economic situation that later prevailed during the late 1990 s onwards, compromised the delivery of assistance to poor families. RESEARCH GOALS, RATIONALE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS While we are aware of other social safety nets in areas of Health, Education, HIV and AIDS such as the Health Transition Fund, The Education Transition Fund and the AIDS levy respectively. For the purposes of this research, we propose to only focus on social safety nets in the Department of Social Services (DSS) which are BEAM, the HSCT and the AMTO. The research comes at a time when Zimbabwe has just concluded its constitution making process, and has a new policy guideline for economic growth and development called the ZIM-ASSET. The constitution clearly outlines the need to provide Zimbabwean people with basic services, and considering the economic challenges that the general populace face it is apparent that the state will continue providing social protection to its people. As such, the social protection mechanisms in place require to be reviewed in line with the tenets and spirit of the new constitution. Also, the ZIM-ASSET is founded on the very basic principles of indigenous empowerment, which put the general person in Zimbabwe at the centre of development. It however remains to be seen whether this is mere lip service, in which case the rich elite will continue to benefit at the expense of the ordinary Zimbabweans. Some of the researchers in this team are people who have been involved in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various social safety nets in Zimbabwe. We draw experience from our contact with these programmes, and at this stage would like to then see if there are any complementarities between these social protection mechanisms and the labour market. For example, the AMTO is a public

6 health assistance scheme for the poor and vulnerable in Zimbabwe. The AMTO is a medical aid scheme that was set up by the Department of Social Services to assist the poor and vulnerable after the inception of ESAP as a result of which the government withdrew free medical assistance to the Zimbabwean population at large. In a review of the AMTO earlier this year, it was noted that it has many loopholes which are mainly exacerbated by inadequate funding for the scheme. Of particular interest are the negative perceptions and general knowledge gaps that exist amongst both beneficiaries and service providers on the AMTO. The AMTO is widely regarded as the solution to the plight of the poor and vulnerable members of the society. While it was noted that the AMTO is an important social protection mechanism, most beneficiaries believe the system is no longer reliable and has a lot of inconsistencies. There is limited knowledge on the existence of the AMTO system as a health assistance scheme for the poor and vulnerable among the vulnerable populations especially in the remotest part of the country. Also, an opportunity for this research is to probe the existence of a policy that supports and provides legal basis for the implementation of the AMTO. Considering the minimal knowledge that some potential beneficiaries of safety nets have and also considering the somewhat negative perceptions that some Governments often have towards safety nets like cash transfers the value of this research as an informant to the policy makers in regard to the views of the people in the grass root communities can thus not be undermined. In the case of Zimbabwe it is a matter of public knowledge that the currently available safety nets are by far not sufficient to reach to all the people who deserve to benefit from such safety nets. For example the BEAM Evaluation Report (2012), indicated that (28%) of primary school pupils are in need of support, but only (16,3%) had accessed it, for secondary schools, (24%) of students required Beam support but only (17,5%) received it. The research will thus try to establish the impact that such safety nets have had against those that require the nets but cannot access them. As such the research can thus be used as a lobbying tool to the policy makers as it will also reveal the reality that is on the ground. RESEARCH QUESTIONS In Zimbabwe, the social protection mechanisms are meant for the vulnerable and poor households, and these are mainly the unemployed people. It is important to note that the income levels of those that are working are very low such that they also require social assistance. This research will be done particularly to assess whether there any complementarities between Zimbabwe s social protection mechanisms and the labour market and economic growth. This is because, the larger population in Zimbabwe is unemployed, with ZIM-STATS and other CSOs citing that Zimbabwe s unemployment is at 80%, it will be prudent to analyse the social protection mechanisms for the poor, vulnerable and unemployed in Zimbabwe. Key questions that will be interrogated during the research include but are not limited to;

7 How effective and efficient are the Social Protection Mechanisms in providing pedestals for economic growth and development for the poor, vulnerable and unemployed in Zimbabwe? How are these social safety nets create or increase income at household level How are these social safety nets creating a sense of dependency by the benefitting households on Government and Non-Governmental Organisations? How is corruption affecting service delivery? EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The research will use a non-experimental design (comparative design) which seeks to have an in-depth understanding of the complementarities between social safety nets and the labour market, and subsequent economic growth. We acknowledge that this research will be a pre-test post-test in that it seeks to assess social safety nets which are already being provided by the Government of Zimbabwe. The methods that will be used will mainly be aimed at describing (using descriptive statistics) current and existing characteristics of the sampled populations such as perceptions, attitudes, achievements, challenges and relationships that have been created in the duration of these programs. It will be critical to compare the situation for populations who have benefitted from these safety nets with that of populations who have not benefitted from the same. We realise that the exclusion of some members of the population in Zimbabwe could be either because they do not fit in the eligibility criteria to benefit or they may have been omitted due to the other exclusionary factors such as distance, bureaucracies and the irregularities in the vetting exercise. We will use complimentary methods for obtaining both primary and secondary data which include; Literature Review: Beyond setting the contextual background to the study, the review will seek to assess the HSCT, BEAM and AMTO programs/schemes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. We will conduct a systematic and structured review of formal and informal documents from the DSS that are related to the social protection mechanisms under review. The review will also provide a strong basis for the development of an appropriate research design, and development of suitable data collection instruments. In order to ensure comprehensiveness, the literature review will be guided by an analytical framework that we will develop. The analytical framework will seek to interrogate major themes such as the relevance of the social safety nets, their functionality, general perceptions by service providers and users, policy makers and other stakeholders. Also, it will be critical to review the labour trends in Zimbabwe and how they relate to the social protection mechanisms. We will engage and use our networks within the ministry of Labour and Social Services for us to access documentation for the various schemes. In addition we will review best practice from a variety of internet sources and other publications that will add depth to our understanding of the issues at hand.

8 Analysis of Secondary Data on Social Safety Nets We will collect quantitative data on the HSCT, BEAM and AMTO programs. We understand that the Department of Social Services has a register of households which are classified as poor and vulnerable, who must benefit from the cash transfer program. In our view, these households should also be beneficiaries of BEAM and AMTO programs; as such we will seek to assess what proportions of those on BEAM and AMTO are on HSCT respectively. We will also seek access to data on employment, health insurance trends and school attendance ratios. We will use the registers NATIONAL distribution of the beneficiaries we will assess and look at disaggregation based on gender, with a focus on the urban and rural variable on the beneficiaries. We will use records from the MoPSLSW on BEAM, AMTO AND HSCT from the Department of Social Services. As we will conduct a comparative study, we will also make use of the registers to also pick our non-beneficiary population based on their record of those legible for inclusion in the safety nets but are not benefiting. We will thus determine the following for both beneficiary and non-beneficiary populations 1. Sample levels; national sample, provincial and district level sample 2. Disaggregation by gender 3. Rural and urban samples Sampling We will select six (one urban beneficiary community, one rural beneficiary community, one urban non-beneficiary community and one rural non-beneficiary community) per each of the social protection programs, making a total of six communities for the entire research. Of these six, three will be selected from the Northern Region ( Harare, Mashonaland, East, West and Central, and Manicaland Provinces) and the other three will be selected from the Southern Region ( Bulawayo, Matebeleland North and South, Midlands and Masvingo Provinces). Of these, we are targeting 3 levels for data collection, district, provincial and national. Probability sampling techniques will be applied. Survey Sample Using data from the DSS, the total number of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries to be visited in each province (by district sample) will be computed using a statistically acceptable weighting procedure. The following key stratification variables will be used during the sampling process: location (urban vs. rural) and (beneficiary vs. Non-beneficiary) numbers in each province and district. The evaluation will utilise a mixed methods approach in which both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected and triangulated. Quantitative data will be obtained as secondary data from the DSS. Qualitative data will be obtained through in depth interviews and focus group discussions. The quantitative and qualitative approaches are fundamentally complementary, and provide opportunities for deductive and

9 inductive approaches to data analysis in order to gain insights into the social environment in which BEAM AMTO and HSCT s have operated. Survey Instruments In depth Interview Guide for Stakeholders: We do acknowledge that key stakeholders are important contributors to the research as they provide a more technical perspective on the social safety nets under review. To guide the process, a generic interview guide, which will be adapted for each of the stakeholders will be developed and used to conduct the interviews. Stakeholders will be drawn from Government Departments such as the DSS, policymakers, relevant NGOs, local community leaders and service users. Key stakeholder organizations and government departments that will be interviewed, will include, but not limited to donors, the DSS, the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. Focus Group Discussion Guide with Beneficiaries: We will conduct FGDs with a few purposively selected beneficiaries of BEAM, HSCT and AMTO to gauge their perceptions and experiences on these social safety nets. We will assess issues such as perception, access, knowledge, turnaround time, credibility and reliability among others. The FGDs will consist of between 6-12 participants. Stakeholder Meeting: On the basis of preliminary review findings, we will facilitate a stakeholder consultative workshop. The workshop will be used to mainly provide feedback on the research findings as well as being a basis for consensus building. The workshop will be conducted in a highly participatory manner using a combination of small group round table discussions and plenary feedback sessions. Data Analysis The evaluation will yield two types of data: quantitative data from the secondary data sources and qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. While these two sources of information will be triangulated at the interpretation stage, appropriate data processing and analysis procedures will be used for each type of data as described below. Codes for responses to all closed questions will be developed first, including questionnaire identification numbers (QINs) for easy tracking. All quantitative data will be captured using CSPro by our team of experienced data capturers. CSPro is a specialized data capturing software package that combines the features of Integrated Microcomputer Processing System (IMPS) and the Integrated System for Survey Analysis (ISSA) in a single windows environment. CSPro enables the user and data-capturing manager to easily monitor and control the data capturing process in situations where multiple data capturers are used.

10 A critical feature of the CSPro is that it allows for double capturing. It processes the data on a case basis and the data are stored in ASCII text files described by data dictionaries. It also contains a powerful common procedure language (CPL) to implement data entry control and edit rules. Once the data dictionaries have been written up and the codes are created, the interface created within CSPro makes data entry process easy and error-proof. Thus, effective quality control mechanisms that we have used successfully in many projects will be implemented throughout the data coding and data cleaning processes. Data cleaning will involve: Running frequencies on each variable and making sure there are no out-ofrange values in the data Running internal consistency checks on the data Prior to analysis, it will be necessary to also reverse-code some of the responses from the questionnaire in order to ensure directionality consistency. The project leader will take direct responsibility for the data cleaning and data analysis phases of the project. A series of reliability analyses will be performed on that data. This will enable us to test the internal consistency of the data using the Cronbach s alpha coefficient. All data will be captured in the data capturing room at IRiZ offices. The CSPro data will be uploaded directly into SPSS for analysis. A range of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques will be used to analyze the data so as to provide answers to the research questions. The data analysis will involve the following: Computation of descriptive statistics (mean, mode, median, variance, standard deviation, graphs, etc.) for each variable, not only to crosscheck data accuracy, but also to check whether or not the data satisfies the requirements for subsequent parametric data analysis techniques that may be used to draw inferences from the data. Data reduction techniques (e.g. computation of composite scores for the subscales in the questionnaire), and identification of sub-scales that emerge from a data set. Running a series of statistical inference procedures that are aimed at understanding associations and relationships among variables and the extent to which these associations relate to and/or differ as a function of the various demographic variables included in the study. Qualitative data will be analysed in one of two ways. Some of the data may be coded and converted to quantitative data. However, most data from open-ended questions, IDIs and FGDs tends to be non-codable. Such data will be subjected to a thematic content analysis procedure in order to identify key themes emerging from the data. Use of content analysis will permit the research team to identify theme

11 cores and nodes that emerge from the data, allowing the researcher to proceed from the particular to the general. If necessary, software packages may be used to facilitate the analysis of qualitative data. The research will use a dual pronged approach that will rely on secondary data sources but at the same time will also try to gather primary data through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions as highlighted in section 3. Considering that the research will focus on available social Safety nets like BEAM, HSCT and AMTO, it is paramount for the research process to carry out a desk study of the government policies that govern the mentioned safety nets. In addition the research will also look into official reports of the said safety nets as such reports can help inform the research process with such data as the beneficiaries of the safety nets, the numbers reached, the finances involved, gaps that need attention as well as the impact of the safety nets among other issues. Besides the reports from the government, the desk research will also gather data in regard to the identified Safety nets from other related and relevant stakeholders. For example Non-Governmental organisations that are supporting the government in regard to the identified safety nets can be of great input to the research thus their reports can also be used. Organisations like the Department for International Development (DFID) are also contributing significantly to the BEAM scheme and their reports can also provide pertinent data that can inform the research process. This approach will enhance the research process in that by gathering both primary and secondary data, the research will be able to gather data on safety nets that have been compiled over the years. This will indeed inform our research process as we gather more information on safety nets in Zimbabwe. While the secondary data sources highlighted above will provide such data as, the geographical trends of safety nets in Zimbabwe, establishing the micro socio-economic impact, that the currently available few functional safety nets have had, establishing the current policies on safety nets and to what extent they are being implemented as well as the perceived impact of such safety nets, it is imperative to note that there is need to also gather new data on safety nets in Zimbabwe. Such data will be gathered through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders like senior government officials, NGO personnel that are directly working in line with the identified social nets as well as community members and some direct beneficiaries of the identified social nets. The research will also gather new data through Focus Group Discussions that will be carried out with some of the beneficiaries of the currently available safety nets. For example a focus group discussion may be contacted with some school pupils that are currently benefiting under the BEAM scheme. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS It is important to note that research ethics will be adhered to strictly and not just during the data mining process but during the whole course of the research process.

12 The research team will sign confidentiality forms. Some of the ethical requirements that will be adhered to during the research will be as follows: Obtaining informed consent from all adult participants and assent for children before participating in the study Voluntary participation in the research and explaining that participants have the right to withdraw from the study without any negative consequences Ensuring the confidentiality of personal level data through a number of mechanisms (assigning participants to control identification numbers, making sure that no interviewers conduct interviews in their home areas etc. Ensuring anonymity of participants by not writing their names or any other personally identifying information on record forms or anywhere else where their details can be accessed by people who are not involved in the project, etc. Secure data handling at all stages, (data will be kept under lock and key and data files will be password protected) Conclusion Considering that the researchers will get into contact with a lot of stakeholders from government officials to community members the research will thus be informed in regard to some alternatives that can be put in place to complement safety nets or to empower communities so as to completely move out of safety nets. Within this vein the research will thus also inform relevant stakeholders on some policy decisions that might need to be taken in order to complement safety nets. As a way of ensuring that the research findings will be taken up into policy making the research process will primarily prioritise the involvement of all key stakeholders in the research process. To date some key government and related stakeholders have already been informed about this research process as highlighted in the table above. The research will thus maintain constant touch with these stakeholders so that they are fully aware of what the research process intends to achieve. The research will also endeavour to be very clear on policy issues that need to be addressed as such clarity helps in lobbying for the research findings to be used by policy makers or other interested parties. The research process will strive to identify relevant audiences for both the research findings as well as the research process itself. This is driven by the belief that policies can only be relevant if they target the right people but above all, if they are being implemented by relevant stakeholders. The research process will also build strong networks with the media and also take advantage of the new age media like social networks and the internet so as to ensure that the findings of the research are in the public domain thus influencing the policy planning process. As a way of maintaining constant contact with all the relevant stakeholders as well as advocating and subsequent implementation of the research findings, funds permitting, the

13 researchers intend to organise a post research conference where all the relevant stakeholders will take part and get an opportunity to unpack the research findings with the intention of ensuring that such findings inform the policy making process in as far as safety nets in Zimbabwe are concerned.

14 Proposed Timeframe Estimated Duration ACTIVITY Month PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES Coordination with local partners in selected sites( Social Welfare DA for permission to conduct study), setting up meeting and appointments 2 weeks Designing key indicator systems Development and pre-test of data collection instruments and manuals for field operations Development of research findings database template, DATA COLLECTION Literature review: Review of Existing Records Focus group discussions 3 weeks In depth interviews 2 weeks Data processing and analysis 1 week Report writing CONCLUDING ACTIVITIES 1 DAY Stakeholder meetings: consultation with stakeholders on findings Presentation of interim findings to PeP 1 WEEK Making of final report 1 DAY National conference