The civil society for poverty reduction –CSPR- has revealed that the hunger situation in the country has continued to worsen with people in some parts of western province surviving on cooked mangoes.

CSPR Programs Manager Chimuka Nachibinga says government efforts to distribute relief maize remains inadequate with many affected areas still faced with worse hunger situations than before.

And on social protection programs, Mr. Nachibinga says cspr welcomes calls by community development and social services minister Kampamba Chewe for president Lungu to allow between 0 to 10 percent of toll fees collected in the country to go towards social protection programs including the social cash transfer.

He notes that judging by revelations that national road fund agency made over K400 million above its target last year and the reduced percentage of social protection allocation in the 2020 national budget from the 2019 national budget, it is justifiable to add other sources of funding to increase the number of beneficiaries of social cash transfer and other social protection services.
The 2020 national budget shows a 0.1 percent reduction of the social protection allocation from 2.5 percent of the total 2019 national budget to 2.4 percent proposed in the 2020 budget.
PHOENIX NEWS