Clarifying the concept of a basic income grant

We highly appreciate that Namibian Sun provides Basic Income Grant (BIG) coverage and informs the nation about what a BIG represents. There is a misconception of what BIG is, so please allow us to correct the misleading suggestion made by the article.

It is important for people to understand that government’s conversion of the Harambee Food Bank into N$500 cash monthly for a small percentage of the population (about 40 000 people) is not BIG, as suggested in the headline.

BIG is a monthly grant for every Namibian where people would not have to go through complicated processes to prove that they are deserving. The BIG should not be confused with means-tested grants that only benefit a few individuals or households.

Here are the four characteristics of a BIG:

1. Periodic: It is paid at regular intervals, not as a once-off grant.

2. Cash payment

3. Individual: It is paid on an individual basis, and not to households.

4. Universal: It is unconditionally paid to all, without means-testing.

It is no surprise that certain recipients of the converted cash grant are dissatisfied, because rising food prices have had a devastating effect on already poor Namibians who will be pushed further into extreme poverty. According to the Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia, N$1 300 per person per month would at least be ideal to ensure that a household of two adults and two children can afford basic nutritious food.

In 2020, when the minister of finance Iipumbu Shiimi introduced the Emergency Income Grant, he said an adult would need about N$250 per week to meet basic needs. This translates to about N$1 100 per month.

The BIG Coalition of Namibia accepted the amount proposed by the minister of N$250 per person per week as a reasonable amount to meet the very basic needs. In consideration of the country’s economic and financial difficulties, the coalition then decided to propose N$500 per person per month as the minimum for a national and universal BIG.

Wasteful and ineffective

Classic welfare programmes that use means-testing to target beneficiaries have been proven to be wasteful and ineffective at reaching intended beneficiaries. If targeting is applied by means of added administrative requirements, the poorest are actually those who are least likely to benefit from the programmes as they are the most disadvantaged in terms of access to administrative services.

Also, setting an amount per household automatically discriminates against larger households.

The intensity of poverty and child poverty in particular illustrates the urgency and magnitude of the problem. Government is thus called upon to strengthen its fight against poverty through the implementation of a universal BIG of N$500 per person per month for all Namibians aged zero to 59.