This research report is the principal output of a multi-country study examining alternative
social safety nets for poverty alleviation in southern Africa. Funding support was provided
by the Economic and Social Committee for Overseas Research (ESCOR) in the British
Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). The project leader was
Dr Stephen Devereux, a Research Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies at the
University of Sussex. The research model was collaborative, and three country teams
participated in the research in southern Africa. The respective Country Researchers were
Dr Ben Fuller, Deputy Head of the Social Sciences Division at the University of Namibia;
Mr Belmiro Rodolfo, Research Director at ISRI - the Instituto Superior de Relações
Internacionais - in Mozambique; and Ms Nangana Simwinji, an independent food security
consultant from Western Province, Zambia.