缅北禁地

Social protection is critical in reducing poverty, exclusion, and inequality while enhancing political stability and social cohesion. It is an essential policy tool to prevent and recover from economic crises, natural disasters, and conflicts. Formal social protection coverage remains low in African countries and underinvested in areas such as child benefits, maternity protection, employment injury protection, and disability benefits. However, the discourse about social protection extension in Africa has been mostly on formal social protection, with limited recognition of traditional, non-formal social protection schemes that are an essential part of everyday life for most of the African population.

Africa is not an empty space when it comes to social protection. Indigenous, grassroots social protection mechanisms founded on African traditional values and based on kinship or self-organized mutual aid have long acted as an important tool for welfare protection and social cohesion. This policy paper examines the unique role of traditional social protection in African countries, and presents examples of traditional, community-based social protection mechanisms from different parts of the continent. This paper aims to highlight the need for an integrated approach to social protection in Africa, one that recognizes the strengths of traditional mechanisms and incorporates them into the national social protection strategy. As African nations are faced with the compounding risks from poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and conflict and instability, this new, integrated social protection system can help support human capital development, increase access to decent work, and promote a sense of shared responsibility towards Africa’s long-term development and prosperity.

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