Opm report Template version 5

ICF Social Protection and Climate Change in Mozambique with a focus on the role of the PASP: Feasibility and design consultancy

Final Report

Anna McCord, Rodolfo Beazley, Ana Solorzano and Luis Artur

Preface

This report was written by consultants from Oxford Policy Management (OPM) and presents the results of the feasibility study commissioned by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for an International Climate Fund-funded intervention on social protection and climate change in Mozambique.

We would like to thank all the people who engaged with this research. In particular, we thank Kate Greany and Rachel Waterhouse, from DFID, for their guidance and support, and Chico Almajane, from the National Institute for Social Action (INAS), for his views on the programme, sharing information and facilitating our field trip. We also thank Simon Anderson (International Institute for Environment and Development: IIED) and Andrew Kardan (OPM) for collaborating with our research and commenting on this report.

We are also grateful to the INAS delegation in Chibuto, as well as the district administration, for the time they dedicated to us and for organising the visits to Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) worksites. We are of course also very grateful to all the PASP beneficiaries who shared their views and perceptions with us.

We thank all the informants interviewed for this research. In particular, Anthony Hodges, Luca Pellerano (International Labour Organization), Eric Zapatero (World Bank), Nicolas Babu and Raul Chambote (World Food Programme: WFP), Kerry Selvester (ANSA), Xavier Chavana (Ministry of Finance), Eleasara Antunes (Dutch Embassy), Miguel Mausse (INAS), Elsa Alfai (Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare: MGCAS), Castigo Massinga (INAS) and Koeti Serodio (Irish Aid).

Finally, we also thank Helder Humbane for all his support during this assignment.

Executive summary

Introduction

This report presents the results of a feasibility study commissioned by DFID regarding an International Climate Fund-funded intervention on social protection and climate change in Mozambique. This is one of three studies, the aim of which are to provide a better understanding of how to achieve better climate-sensitive social protection programming in Mozambique.

To this end, this report assesses the Productive Social Action Programme (PASP), a public works programme (PWP) being implemented by the National Institute for Social Action (INAS) in Mozambique. Based on data including key information from informant interviews and a field visit, as well as secondary sources, the report assesses PASP’s impact on climate change resilience, adaptability and disaster risk mitigation (DRM). It identifies key programme features that need to be improved or tested, in order to develop an effective, inclusive and climate-sensitive programme. Finally, the report proposes a number of alternative options for DFID support in the future.

Country context and theory of change for PASP

Poverty and shocks in Mozambique

Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, with large segments of its population facing poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity. Mozambicans are vulnerable to a wide range of economic, climate and man-made shocks, due to their high poverty levels, strong dependence on subsistence agriculture, and lack of economic opportunities and resilient infrastructure.

According to the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), the climate shocks Mozambique faces (cyclones, floods and droughts) will worsen with climate change (INGC 2009). This will add to the challenges facing the country’s development and will impede efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, end hunger, and achieve environmental sustainability.

The Government of Mozambique (GoM) has made significant progress in the areas of social protection and disaster response, including in regard to the establishment of a national social protection floor. However, the social protection system needs significant further development, and its role in climate shock responses needs to be established. It is in this context that we explore the role of PASP in regard to social protection and promoting resilience and disaster mitigation.

The role of PASP in resilience, adaptation and disaster mitigation: Theory of change

In order to assess PASP it is important to understand the theory of change regarding how PWPs generally, and PASP in particular, can affect people’s resilience to shocks, their adaptability, as well as DRM. We define resilience as the capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganising in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation (adapted from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2014).

A theory of change for PWPs in regard to climate change resilience indicates that they can affect resilience through three main vectors: wages, creation of assets, and skills training.

Wages from PWPs can potentially increase the coping and adaptive capacities of beneficiaries and communities, by improving access to food, preventing distress selling of productive assets during the lean season or times of crisis, and by enabling savings, which can act as a buffer in times of need. Wages can also enable beneficiaries to invest capital in resources required for medium-term resilience.

The asset creating component of a PWP can create structures which reduce the adverse impacts of climate shocks (e.g. ponds that extend access to water in drought years, shelters which protect communities from the effects of climate shocks, raised plinths to protect houses and livestock from floods, or embankments to prevent inundation). Assets can also directly enable positive adaptation in livelihoods strategies (e.g. diversification, or shifts to alternative agricultural practices or crops), rendering the local population less susceptible to climate impacts.

Finally, skills can be gained through working on a PWP – either directly through on-the-job training and experience or through associated skills training initiatives. These skills can enhance resilience by increasing adaptive capacity.