BIG Pilot Project: Lessons for Namibia
and southern Africa
“The majority of our people are so
disempowered that, to them,
living means not dying.”
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe,
January 2011
by
Bishop Dr. Zephania Kameeta and
Rev. Dr. Claudia & Rev. Dr. Dirk Haarmann
Structure of the Presentation
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The BIG Policy Proposal and the Pilot
Social and historical context
BIG - food security and health
BIG a prerequisite for education and
employment creation
V. Affordability
VI. Universality
VII. Conditionality
VIII.Politics and the reality of the Pilot
I. The BIG policy proposal



Monthly cash grant (e.g. N$100) paid to
every Namibian citizen (as a right)
The money of people not in need or in
poverty is recuperated through the tax
system
The BIG is redistributive, the rich will pay
more to finance those in need
I. The Pilot Project

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January 2008 to December 2009 in OtjiveroOmitara
Everybody in the village below 60 years (930
recipients) received N$ 100 (US$ 13) every
month
Comprehensive Research:


Baseline Study in November 2007
Impact studies in June and November 2008
II. Social and Historical context:
Life before BIG
This is the way we suffered and lived, us from
Otjivero/Omitara. We begged everyday for food
because we didn’t have anything at home and
during the evening we got in pieces of a blanket.
Even the shack we were staying in was not
rainproof because when it rained the water just
went through. We had to hide in the corners to
avoid getting wet. We slept on the ground
because there was no bed or a mattress. We
did not even have proper plates.
We made fire and put pots beside it. Only salt and
pots can be seen besides the fire. Whenever
the wind blew, the few corrugated zinc sheets
on the shack were blown away. We just idled
around because of hunger, and as the result we
were forced to eat old and rotten corns of
maize. We were literally begging for food. I
prayed under the tree so that something will
happen one day and I will become a human
again. Our stomachs were empty, no clothes to
put on, no shoes, and no land to live on. In the
II. Social and Historical context:
Life before BIG
There is a problem of
unemployment and we
don’t have money to
travel to Gobabis and
Windhoek to look for
work. I and my three
children depend on my
unemployed parents for
food and
accommodation.
Sometimes I wish I was
dead because I cannot
stand this type of life
anymore. I am
supposed to provide
and protect my children
and parents but I am
failing to do that.
II. Social and Historical context:
”The majority of our people are so disempowered
that, to them, living means not dying.”


The main question for our people is: Is there
life before death?
BIG is a question of being human, lifting
people up from the dust and to give them
back their dignity
II. Social and Historical context:
”The majority of our people are so disempowered
that, to them, living means not dying.”



Disempowerment, so what do you do?
The question is first disempowered by
whom? In Southern Africa that still means by
colonialism, apartheid – an unjust state
A democratic state then needs to cancel that
injustice – that is the role of the state to
rectify structural injustice and replace them
with social justice
III. BIG – Food Security and
Health
0
.1
.2
.3
.4
.5

-4
-2
0
x
Nov 2007
Nov 2008
2
Jun 2008
WHO normal
4
Malnutrition
of children
was reduced
from 42% to
10% in one
year
Health
IV. BIG a prerequisite for
Education and Employment


To offset cash to people against education
and employment is like asking a destitute
person, to choose between water and food!
The BIG is not an alternative to education
and employment but a prerequisite!
Education
Small business development
After the introduction of the BIG I
started my business. I bake
traditional bread every day. I
bake 100 rolls per day and sell
each for N$1 (one dollar). I sell
all the rolls in a day and a profit
of about N$400 (four hundred
dollars) per month. My business
is good and I believe that it will
grow. (...). I run it with the help
of my children.
Because of my thankfulness and
good experience with the BIG I
expressed my thank you in
those big letters as you can see
on my house. (Frieda
Nembwaya)
Local economic growth
Average monthly per capita income in N$
- excluding BIG
Income from:
 self-employment
increased by
300%
N$ 160
N$ 150
Income (wage, selfemployment, farming)
N$ 140
N$ 130
N$ 152
N$ 120
N$ 134
N$ 110
N$ 118
N$ 100
Nov 07
Jul 08
Nov 08
V. Affordability

The cost of a BIG for
all are 5.7% of the
national budget
VI. Universality
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Low administrative costs
No corruption
Targeting through taxation, without poverty
trap
Strengthening social cohesion
VII. Conditionality
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Conditionality is patronizing
Empower people to live responsibly
Trust people, the poor should not be viewed
with more suspicion then the rich
VIII. Politics and the Reality of
the Pilot
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BIG is not a foreign concept, but stems from
a Namibian Cabinet Commission
BIG is a Namibian reality not an abstract
concept
The Ministries are supporting Otjivero and
engage constructively, yet, some in
Government act as if Otjivero does not exisit
Way forward
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BIG Pilot Project has proven
the effectiveness of a
universal basic income to
promote social development
(eradicate hunger and
destitution) and to foster local
economic development
Political struggle and mass
campaign