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{
    "id": 122299,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/122299/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 145,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the task force recommends that a pilot study be undertaken for seven to eight months to test various aspects of the proposed programme. A comprehensive scheme will then be rolled out covering both urban and rural areas drawing lessons from this pilot study. The key features of the pilot study are as follows: First, the pilot study will extend assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable households that will not have family members who can work. For example, households with small children where parents are disabled will be covered. Eligible households will be selected on the basis of objective mean tests and will be vetted by the community. Second, the pilot study will target urban areas. This is because the Government already has extensive food subsidy programmes for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and other rural areas. Emergency famine relief programmes and school feeding programmes are prime examples. In contrast, the Government does not have a social protection programme serving urban areas. Third, the pilot study will initially cover 100,000 people in Nairobi’s low income informal settlements of Mathare, Korogocho, Mukuru and Kibera. These locations were selected because the infrastructure is essential for effective implementation of the food subsidy already existing in those areas. For example, the development partners with whom we are jointly implementing this pilot project have well established mechanisms in those areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thereafter, the pilot will be extended to Mombasa and Kisumu, covering another 100,000 people. Fourth, it is proposed that the assistance will be provided in cash to be delivered by M-Pesa or smartcard. Once this programme has been tested and it is proven to be working, it will then be extended to other major urban areas of our country. The choice of cash subsidy was based on both local and global evidence which indicates that cash transfers are used almost exclusively for basic items, in particular food. For example, an evaluation of the orphan and vulnerable children programme shows that about 98 per cent of the beneficiaries use cash for household welfare, mostly for food. Furthermore, where food is available, cash transfers are less costly and more efficient, if well targeted. This is because the administrative costs involved in delivering assistance in kind tend to be greater than possible linkages in cash transfers such as the use of cash for non-essential goods."
}