Workers in Uganda / Arne Hoel via Flickr ; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Social protection in Uganda

Building the economic case for investments in social protection in Uganda

Lead by Dr Franziska Gassman, Maastricht University

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About the research group

Many governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have established national social protection policies, partly due to evidence that social protection can contribute to inclusive growth and development. In 2010, the Government of Uganda established the Expanding Social Protection Program (ESP) to ensure that social protection becomes an element of national development planning. Consequently, the ESP instigated Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE), but some stakeholders doubt that non-contributory schemes such as SAGE contribute to development of human capital. This study investigates the potential inclusive growth effects of social transfers by comparing the cost-effectiveness of the SAGE, Early Childhood Development Programme, Public Works Programme and the Food Assets Program in Uganda.

Consortium
  • Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
  • Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Uganda
  • School of Social Science, Makerere University, Uganda
Main questions
  • What are the potential effects of SAGE and its costs
  • Would alternative social protection programmes be more cost-effective in achieving human capital
    development and productive asset accumulation compared to SAGE?
  • To what extent do SAGE transfers produce local economy effects?
  • Do social transfers foster the economic and social mobility of poor households?
Country focus
  • Uganda