The politics of who gets what and why: learning from the targeting of social cash transfers in Zambia

Targeting remains a highly contentious aspect of social protection design, despite the growing body of evidence on various targeting mechanisms. While targeting is often framed as identifying the poorest households within limited budgets, such decisions are inherently political and shaped by notions of social justice. This in-depth study of a contested cash transfer model in Zambia finds that local ideas of deservingness led to the rejection of eligible fit-for-work recipients, and changes to the targeting model to prioritise incapacitated households. The analysis draws on interviews with government and policy actors, as well as focus group discussions in communities receiving cash transfers. Applying van Oorschot’s deservingness heuristic to this data reveals that the criterion of control (of circumstance) was prioritised by local level respondents. The paper argues that popular perceptions of deservingness – and the broader social justice implications – need to be taken seriously in the design and analysis of targeting.