Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

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Citizen Oversight through Social Accountability : The Malawi Social Action Fund and the Comprehensive Community Scorecard Process

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-08) Kajumi, Murphy

The Third Malawi Social Action Fund Project (MASAF 3) was designed in the context of the Malawi Government's Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) of April 2002. The PRS had the following four pillars: (a) sustainable pro-poor economic growth to empower the poor by ensuring access to credit and markets, skills development and employment generation; (b) human capital development to ensure that the poor have the health and education status to lift themselves out of poverty; (c) improving the quality of life for the most vulnerable by providing sustainable safety nets for those who are unable to benefit from the first two pillars; and (d) promotion of good governance, political will and mindset which will ensure that public and civil society institutions and systems protect and benefit the poor.
Malawi - Lessons Learned From Public Works Programs

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-06) Mohan, P.C.

In designing Public Work programs (PWPs), it is important to clarify whether the objectives are developmental or to deal with short-term shocks. PWPs make a significant contribution to sustained poverty reduction only when carefully designed to include a graduation strategy (e.g., economic activities training, savings and life skills training) or where continuity of employment is viable (e.g., financed through routine maintenance budgets). Programs lasting twelve months or more can allow for asset acquisition, training and higher risk economic activity. In this way, beneficiaries can begin to graduate out of PWP employment. Valuable assets have been created under PWPs, contributing to economic growth (environmental protection, access routes etc.). In Malawi, full cost recovery will not be possible for some time. It is therefore essential that PWPs budget for maintenance of such assets. PWPs are a valuable vehicle for developing capacity and empowering local government bodies in Malawi. Adequate provision must be made however, for local government administrative and supervision costs. PWPs are a means of skills transfer in participating communities. As a result, follow-on programs find residual knowledge and organizational capacity in place.
Capacity Strengthening in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy : Lessons from Malawi

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-05) Babu, Suresh ; Rhoe, Valerie

This article is based on a case study of environmental and natural resource (ENR) capacity strengthening efforts in Malawi between 1994-1999. The Bunda College of Agriculture, Malawi and the International Food Policy Research Institute jointly implemented an Agricultural Policy Analysis Training sub-project as a part of the agriculture service project of the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture, funded by the World Bank. The overall objective of the sub-project was to strengthen the capacity of the Malawian policy analysts in the food, agricultural, and natural resource sectors. It reports on the process and the lessons learned from the experiences and insights gained in developing institutional and human capacity through graduate programs and short-term training courses in ENR policy analysis. The lessons from the Malawi exercise show that the elements of a successful capacity strengthening effort include assessing the needs for capacity strengthening, designing, and implementing courses that match the capacity needs, and institutionalizing these courses within local institution for sustainability.
Community Contracting in the Malawi Social Action Fund : Local Stakeholder Perspectives

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-07) de Silva, Samantha ; Kamwendo, Christine

The Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) is a quick-disbursing facility which routes money directly to communities. One of the main emphases of the project is to improve and strengthen the capacity of beneficiary communities to identify, prioritize, supervise, monitor, maintain and operate projects. Community contracting is an intrinsic part of this process. The participatory assessment of local stakeholder perspectives of community contracting included identifying: (i) key characteristics of the community contracting component, (ii) strengths and weaknesses of the approach, and; (iii) specific issues, constraints, and possible solutions.