THE Government of Zimbabwe has merged the Harmonised Social Cash Transfers (HSCT) and the Monthly Maintenance Allowances programmes to form the Zimbabwe Social Cash Transfers Programme, amid calls for transparency on recipients of the aid.
The Government has run several cash transfer initiatives, among them the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme, the Cash for Cereal Programme and the Covid-19 Cushioning Fund, which have faced scrutiny over the opaque distribution of funds.
Zimbabwe’s HSCT gives free cash to the poorest rural families with limited ability to work, helping them buy food, reduce poverty, and avoid harmful choices like child labour.
According to the 2026 National Budget, the Government has now merged the programme with the Monthly Maintenance Allowances Programme as part of efforts to reform social protection.
“The enhanced Programme will ensure that the Government will reach the vulnerable and chronically poor effectively and efficiently,” reads the budget. “In this regard, the 2026 National Budget is allocating ZiG600 million towards the Zimbabwe Social Cash Transfers Programme for registrations, means testing of vulnerable households and the cash transfers.”
The allocation, which translates to US$22 916 332, is lower than the US$40 901 643 allocated under last year’s national budget.
The year 2024 saw the lowest allocation, with US$893,393 allocated towards cash transfers.
State of Cash Transfer Programmes
Some of the cash transfer programmes have been opaque.
For instance, the HSCT programme has been unevenly distributed, with 30 districts covered since its launch in 2011, according to a fact sheet by the Parliament of Zimbabwe dated 10 April 2024.
Currently, the programme has 75,000 beneficiary households registered in 30 districts and aims to reach 97,000 households in 33 districts by the end of 2025.
The selection process is informed by the Rural Livelihoods Assessment (RLA) reports of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac), which evaluates poverty levels across all districts.
It classifies the elderly, orphaned and vulnerable children, the chronically ill, persons with impairments and households with high dependency ratios who are ‘food poor’ and ‘labour-constrained’ among the eligible groups.
The programme uses electronic payments (EcoCash) rather than cash-in-transit.
The HSCT has also been under scrutiny, with the Acting Auditor-General’s Appropriation Accounts, Finance and Revenue Statements, and Fund Accounts, released late last year, noting that the programme manual was last updated in 2012, when beneficiaries still received hard cash.
“The payment method has since changed to electronic transfers, hence the manual is no longer relevant. This was contrary to section 157(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions) 2019, which states that it is the responsibility of Accounting Officers to put in place a cost-effective system of internal controls that addresses the Ministry’s risks.
“The absence of an updated Operational Manual may result in inconsistencies occurring in the implementation of the programme. This may hinder the achievement of its objectives. The Ministry should ensure that the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme manual is updated for effective implementation of the programme,” reads the report.
Urban Cash Transfer Programme
The Government has also been running the Cereal Transfer Programme to cushion urban populations, including older person-headed households, child-headed households, the chronically ill, persons with disabilities and female-headed households with high dependency ratios.
According to the 2025 National Budget statement, at least 1.7 million out of 7.6 million food-insecure individuals were registered for the Urban Cash for Cereals Programme, which provides cash transfers in urban areas. However, only 30,000 people were selected to receive aid. – IOW Data.
