Examining the impacts of grants on senior citizen beneficiaries in Kiboga District, Uganda

ABSTRACT

This article presents the main findings of a study about the Senior Citizens Grant programme (SCG) piloted in Kiboga District, Uganda. Recognising elderly persons’ vulnerabilities and acknowledging their capabilities is essential to motivate elderly beneficiaries of social grants towards self-sustenance rather than increasing dependency on such grants. Findings indicate that indigenous support systems, such as family members and agriculture directly influenced grant expenditure patterns and thus determined the well-being of grant beneficiaries. Old age vulnerability as the main criterion for eligibility and implementation casts shadows on older persons’ capabilities needed to support their own lives, and hence impacts their well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender and diversity – Elderly
• Labour and livelihoods – Poverty reduction
• Aid – Aid effectiveness
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Catriona Turner for assistance in copyediting and to anonymous reviewers who gave us valuable comments to improve a previous version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ragnhild Lund is Professor of Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She has published extensively on qualitative methodology, gender and development, youth, development-induced displacement, post-crisis recovery, and women’s activism. She has worked in many Asian and African countries.

Rebecca Nalwanga has a Master’s degree in development studies from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and a Bachelor’s degree in development economics from Makerere University. She currently works with the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority and is a founder of the Billion Hearts Foundation located in Uganda.