Estudo do impacto do programa de subsídio de alimentos nos idosos vulneráveis da Cidade de Maputo: uma comparação de níveis de consumo entre participantes e não participantes

Abstract

The food subsidy is a program created by the Mozambican government since 1990 which is currently implemented by the National Institute of Social Action (INAS) and operates nationwide. The program consists of transferring money to the elderly, malnourished pregnant women, malnourished children, the chronically ill, the head mother of the household and the chronically ill who cannot meet their basic needs. The current amount transferred is 32,000.00 per month per household with one person. The present work is the result of a study of the impact of food subsidy programs on the consumption of vulnerable elderly people in Maputo city, comparing consumption levels between 42 beneficiaries and 40 non-beneficiaries. The other work objectives were: To describe in detail the composition and cost of the vulnerable diet in the city of Maputo; Identify and describe the main constraints of the food subsidy program including entry constraints for non-participants; Develop, based on the information obtained, appropriate alternatives to raise the consumption levels of the elderly. Data were obtained by the "24 hour food recall" method and analyzed by SPSS statistical package. The diet of the elderly is not diversiifed and in terms of cost, the typical bundle has an average value of 4.75MT per calorie. The average per capita consumption value is 6667 MT which means that the subsidy paid only covers food expenses of 4.8 days. survival. According to this data, it appears that the subsidy amount does not have a significant impact on the consumption levels of elderly participants compared to non-participants. As a contribution, some recommendations for the main promoters of the food subsidy program are suggested. However, because of financial constraints, the sample size was limited and it is not legitimate to extrapolate these results to other urban centers nationwide. It would be good to repeat the methodology in other places to confirm or verify the results.