Kate Pruce and Sam Hickey. DSA 2015.

1. The politics of promoting social cash
transfers in Zambia
Kate Pruce and Sam Hickey,
IDPM, University of Manchester
DSA conference
8th September 2015

2. Introduction
1. The shifting political settlement in Zambia
2. Social cash transfers (SCTs) in Zambia
3. Analysis

3. • Shift from ‘dominant party’ system to ‘competitive clientelism’,
reintroduction of multi-party elections in 1991 (Levy, 2012)
• Mainly horizontal distribution of power – inclusive coalition
among elites
• Shift within settlement when Patriotic Front (PF) gained
power in 2011 with populist and pro-poor claims
1. Political settlement

4. 2. SCTs in Zambia

5. “Kalomo mania”
– Donor driven pilot ‘replaced’ existing Public Welfare
Assistance Scheme that responded to HIV and AIDS crisis
“They’re all doctors so they love RCTs”
– Concerted effort to build strong evidence-base by policy
coalition (donors and GRZ) – studies, particularly RCTs, and
study tours crucial here
“Out of the blue”
– Announcement by Minister of Finance of 700% increase
for SCTs in 2014 budget came ‘out of the blue’ to policy
coalition
3 phases of SCTs

6. “You don’t know politics”
Signs of politicisation:
- From bottom up – pressures from communities around
targeting and ideas about deservingness
- Local level – MPs claiming achievement, largesse
- Also top down – inclusion of specific districts/beneficiaries
Technical processes enforced but increasing pressures: “we are
becoming victims of our own success”
Implementation

7. – Transnationalised policy coalition
– Shift of actors and incentives within the political
settlement
– Ideas – cognitive and paradigmatic
3. Analysis

8. Policy coalition
– The formation of a transnationalised policy coalition in
favour of social cash transfers has been a critical aspect of
the story in Zambia: established SP as a policy if not
political agenda
– While there were was an initial ‘war of position’, departure
of GTZ and WB increased coordination and consistency
– This coalition (civil society tendency) has played a key role
in convincing the Finance tendency using a combination of
evidence-based advocacy and lobbying
– Use of a ‘broker’ with high-level political and bureaucratic
connections assisted this process

9. Political settlement
– The more significant scale up required a shift of actors and
incentives within the political settlement
– The decision was based on a combination of factors:
• Mini-crisis within existing system of rent-allocation to
rural areas (agricultural subsidies overspend scandal)
– SCTs established as credible alternative
• Alignment with PF’s pro-poor agenda
• Personal links between policy coalition and ruling
coalition
– However SCTs do not (yet) have power to displace more
deeply embedded interests, policies and rent-allocation
practices

10. Ideas?
– Need for ‘fit’ between normative ideas of ruling coalition
and cognitive evidence base around poverty reduction
– SCTs have made progress in terms of the evidence base,
evidence of persistent poverty despite growth also helped
– However there is little sign of broader commitment
suggesting that SCTs do not tap into deeper paradigmatic
ideas around humanism or modernity, or challenge elite
ideas about dependency and deservingness