1.2 million households have been enumerated and are eligible to receive the Emergency Cash Transfers to cushion against drought-induced food insecurity.

300,000 households have also been targeted under the Wetland Food Security Pack programme to further cushion them against the effects of drought.

Minister of Community Development and Social Services, Ms. Doreen Mwamba disclosed this today, during the 2024 Social Protection Week media breakfast in Lusaka, under the theme, “Sustainable Social Protection for Resilience Building”.

She said all these interventions are in addition to the 1.3 million households who are already on the regular Social Cash Transfer programme and affirmed that these efforts will reduce the sufferings of the people and uplift their welfare amidst the prevailing food insecurities.

The Minister also stated that the government has made significant efforts to scale up social protection interventions such as the Supporting Women’s Livelihood (SWL) which is currently supporting individual women with productive grants to improve their livelihoods.

And Deputy British High Commissioner to Zambia, Mr Sam Waldock, has appreciated Zambia’s remarkable progress in improving social protection service delivery and emphasized the need to promote sustainable social protection amidst present and future climate-induced crises.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Resident representative Mr James Wakiaga, also reaffirmed the United Nations’ support for Zambia’s Social Protection agenda in challenging times such as these when human development is under threat by various socio-economic factors.