Tosika Fameno: Madagascar's cash transfer programme

As part of a collaboration with Unicef and the World Bank, the Malagasy government launched Tosika Fameno. Tosika Fameno is an unconditional cash transfer programme aiming to support 189,400 households affected by the pandemic. The benefit aims to address the needs of citizens in vulnerable situations from the town of Antananarivo, Moramanga, Toamasina and Fianarantsoa, where lockdown measures were put in place.

However, the way beneficiaries were chosen could raise questions when it comes to the risk of exclusion. The government has been relying on a data-based solution using "an economic model that made it possible to estimate the level of poverty in a given area" to identify individuals in need. People outside of the selected areas will not be entitled to access support through this programme, and the model being used could still leave some families within the selected boroughs at risk of exclusion, for instance if they do not appear in census data.

The presentation of an ID is also required in order to access the benefit, a practice that puts people both at risk of exclusion and perpetuates the need for ID.