Thread by @OrtegaTalks

The International Conference Social Protection for Inclusive Growth in Africa is jointly hosted by @INCLUDEplatform and @EPRC_official: An #SPCAfrica18 THREAD::::👇👇👇👇

"Currently, following Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest net spending on social safety nets"---@WorldBankAfrica #SPCAfrica18

"A major contribution to safety nets still comes from international donors, nationally-funded social protection programmes are increasing." #SPCAfrica18

Approximately 33% of the safety nets spending goes to (unconditional and conditional) cash transfers, followed by 18% on social pensions and 13% on fee waivers (excluding health waivers) #SPCAfrica18

In Africa, Only 29% of those in the lowest income quintile are covered by social protection. #SPCAfrica18

Social protection is, increasingly recognized as a human right. This is evidenced by the plea for universal social protection in the Sustainable Development Goals. #SPCAfrica18

So we ask three big questions:
First, How do social protection programmes contribute to the intermediary outcomes of inclusive growth at the household and Community levels? #SPCAfrica18

Secondly, What interventions have the best cost-benefit ratio, are most efficient in implementation, and complement or substitute for alternative social policies? #SPCAfrica18

Finally, Under which conditions can the cost- effectiveness of social protection programmes be improved? #SPCAfrica18

So what have @INCLUDEplatform and @EPRC_official found out for #SPCAfrica18?

1/10: Social protection programmes yield positive results on the intermediary outcomes of inclusive growth #SPCAfrica18 Only one negative outcome was found: a perceived decrease in income as a result of self-help trauma support in Uganda.

2/10: A large share of the positive impacts of social protection programmes come from indirect effects #SPCAfrica18

In Uganda, the Gender Ministry investigated the impact of the SAGE programme. They found a reduction in the number of households eating fewer than two meals per day of 11%. #SocialProtection #SPCAfrica18

For every percentage decrease in households eating less than two meals a day in Uganda, there was an increased school attendance of 2.79% and an employment rate increase of 1.47%. #SocialProtection #SPCAfrica18

In Lesotho, the benefits of the Child Grants Programme are estimated at 42.11 million Lesotho Loti (LSL), in relation to 22.38 million LSL of programme costs. Out of these 42.11 million LSL, 14.59 million LSL are benefits through local spillovers. #SPCAfrica18

3/10: Assessing cost-effectiveness of a Social Protection Programme requires a distinction to be made between short- and long-term impact. Sometimes the rates of returns are negative in the short-term yet positive in the long-term #SPCAfrica18

4/10: From the @INCLUDEplatform research, positive results do not always reach vulnerable groups. An example is of the beneficiaries of the LEAP programme where despite increased per capita food consumption, there was no improvement for the extreme poor #SPCAfrica18

5/10: Comparing cost-effectiveness of #SocialProtection programmes depends on the objectives set by the programme #SPCAfrica18

6/10: Cost-effectiveness is highly context-specific. #SocialProtection programmes must be tailored using a proper assessment of local contexts #SPCAfrica18

7/10: Graduation programmes (cash transfer programmes that integrate interventions in a staged approach to lift the poor out of poverty) appear to have high potential for vulnerable groups. #SPCAfrica18

Graduation programmes have generated benefits exceeding their total cost in six out of the seven locations investigated. The cost-benefit ratio ranged from
133% in Ghana to 433% in India. #SPCAfrica18

8/10: Institutional arrangements for positive interaction effects between different social protection programmes ought to be installed #SPCAfrica18

9/10: One of the questions in the @INCLUDEplatform research agenda on social protection is about the extent to which social protection programmes yield better results than other social policies #SPCAfrica18

10/10: The interaction between formal social protection and informal institutions should be considered. National social protection schemes may take away the incentive of private and locally-organized forms of protection. #SPCAfrica18