Zambia currently has five social cash transfer pilot schemes running in Kalomo, Monze, and Kazungula districts in the Southern Province of the country, and Chipata and Katete districts in the Eastern Province of the country. The longest established of these is the Kalomo Pilot Cash Transfer Scheme that has run since 2004 in Kalomo district, initially providing transfers to 1,027 destitute beneficiaries in 143 villages and 5 township sections. The Kalomo scheme has been taken as a model for other pilot cash transfers, each intended to test different aspects of cash transfer delivery and to learn lessons for scaling-up cash transfers in the future.

Social cash transfers in Zambia are implemented by the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) of the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS). Technical assistance for the existing schemes is provided by GTZ (Kalomo and Monze) and CARE International (Kazungula, Chipata and Katete). The focus of this case-study is on two out of the three CARE International supported schemes, Kazungula (rural southern) and Chipata (urban eastern); however, these examples are placed within the broader context of the current set of pilots as a group.