Africa-Press – Tanzania. FAILURE by some beneficiaries of Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF)’s poverty alleviation programme in Lushoto District Council to access National Identification numbers has hampered the Fund’s electronic payment system from its effective operation, causing delays for recipients to access their cash grants.
TASAF Coordinator in Lushoto District, Mr Josephat Mwayeya, disclosed this recently when some officials from TASAF were inspecting various activities carried out by the national poverty alleviation scheme recently.
“Failure to access the national identification numbers has hindered the TASAF beneficiaries from having the crucial criterion of being registered to the electronic payment system,” said Mr Mwayeya.
An official from TASAF headquarters, Mr Benson Mshana, pointed out that through the programme most
of the beneficiaries have managed to invest into various income-generating activities, ranging from livestock keeping and vegetable farms.
He pointed out that most of the hamlets in villages located in Lushoto District Council are widely scattered due to its geographical setting, causing beneficiaries to travel long distances to secure the cash grants in the designated payment point.
‘The district currently has beneficiaries in 94 villages and one region may possess up to 10 hamlets which are widely scattered from its headquarters and considering there is one payment centre some of the beneficiaries face the challenge of walking long distance,” said Mwayeya.
According to him, due to old age and ailments, some of the beneficiaries failed to access their cash grants on time.
Mr Mwayeya, equally, noted that the government was also spending a lot of money to ensure the beneficiaries received their payments by deploying people in designated points.
An official from TASAF headquarters, Mr Benson Mshana, pointed out that through the programme most of the beneficiaries have managed to invest into various income-generating activities, ranging from livestock keeping and vegetable farms.
Mr Mshana observed that some of the beneficiaries have formed saving groups after securing loans which have enabled their businesses to grow.
“The programme has already covered two components including cash transfers and livelihoods…we are preparing training for them to be able to form saving groups so that they can save and grow the household economies,” he noted.
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