0_1585777249309_local-woman.jpg
I am now overseeing this in Kaduna State and I shall explain, says Saude Amina Atoyebi, who cuts across as an Evolving Human | Christ Follower | Public Servant | Curious Cat | Lifelong Learner | Wife | Mother | @oddsnbitsng

Indeed approval has been given for payments to commence this week.
The reason why the cash transfers aren't so popular in the social media space is because the beneficiaries and not in the category of citizens who own smart phones.

Now, about selection of beneficiaries.
In Kaduna State, beneficiaries were identified by the World Bank poverty rankings of Local Governments. The poorest LGAs identified are Birnin-Gwari, Lere, Sanga, Kauru, Kachia, Sanga, Chikun, Kubau, Kajuru.

These LGAs make up about 40% of the total LGAs in Kaduna state and as you can see, they cut across the 3 senatorial zones. They were chosen as the pilot LGAs. Did this mean that other LGA's won't be reached? No. But the process is to conclude obtaining data in the pilot LGs before moving to the rest.

What's the process?
Beneficiaries are identified via Community Based Targeting. There are government officials at the State and Local Government levels who are trained to coordinate these activities. Summarily they go to communities and villages in these LGAs, engage them and guide them towards identifying the poorest among them via Proxy Means Tests. E.g it could be that most have pit latrines but some don't or some are old and disabled and unable to fend for themselves.

Based on the established criteria (poverty interpretation varies across communities), those who are deemed poor are enumerated. Their hoseholds are visited, information about poverty verified and then they are captured in the Nigerian Social Register after data validation.

The Social Register is the national database of poor and vulnerable households/individuals in the country. @NasscoNigeria has this data but states can mine from it for social protection interventions or even for planning purposes.

There is a National Cash Transfer Office which does the Cash Transfers.
They mine data from the Social Register to enlist beneficiaries of the cash transfer programme and those mined are the ones who receive the N5,000 monthly. So a lot of people think 5k is nothing. It's my data money, e.t.c. Yes, 5k may be chicken change to you but it is a big deal to these people. They have been able to form savings groups and are engaged in different forms of livelihood activities.

I'll share success stories

Follow her work @minibaby