“We started a small business”

The development of social protection programmes is something relatively new in Africa. However, in the last decade almost all African governments have set up some kind of structure to reach out to its most vulnerable population through cash transfer programmes.

In Tanzania, Haji Masiku has reared 100 chickens with the help of the cash received from the Tanzanian Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN).

“My household has been registered with the PSSN for two years. It is my wife who is the household representative. Every second month she receives a fixed sum through the cash transfer programme. The programme has changed our lives. With the money we have been able to start a small business with chickens. I’m responsible for that. We invested in five chickens. Today, after two years, we have 100 birds that we sometimes sell to boost our income. My wife has also taken part in a public works initiative at a PSSN-farm in our village, that work has brought in more money to the household. We are saving money to be able to build us a new house. When we enrolled in the programme, my family was very poor. We have two children in secondary school, and we didn’t have a steady income. Through PSSN we have been able to by school uniforms for our youngsters and they attend school on a regular basis. We can now afford to get all the essential needs for our family.”