A striking feature of social protection in Malawi is how many different programmes and policies have been implemented in recent years, yet the evidence that vulnerability is rising rather than falling suggests that these interventions are not adding up.
To support the formulation of Malawi’s Social Protection Strategy in 2006, Department for International Development Malawi commissioned IDS to carry out a review of the international experience with a range of social protection instruments. The desk review was presented and discussed at a workshop in Malawi during December 2005.
The purpose of the desk review was to synthesise current thinking and available evidence on the relative effectiveness of various types of social protection interventions, and to examine the achievements of programmes actually implemented in Malawi. The objective was to contribute to an informed debate on developing an optimal package of social protection measures for vulnerable Malawians.