• Poverty
• Child poverty
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• Growth and poverty
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• Poverty analysis
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• Rural poverty and livelihoods
• Social protection
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  • Impact of social protection programmes
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• Urban poverty
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Poverty

This paper reports the socio-economic results after the implementation of the Basic Income Grant (BIG) Pilot Project in Otjivero settlement and the Omitara 'town' in the Omitara District in Nambia for one year. Otjivero-Omitara was selected for its manageable size, accessibility, and extreme poverty. The project is designed to address destitution, hunger and malnutrition, and is meant to provide a foundation for economic empowerment.

The key findings of the paper are:

• the introduction of BIG ignited hope, and the community responded by establishing its own 18-member committee to advise residents on how to spend BIG money wisely 
• there was a significant migration towards BIG region, which points to the need to introduce BIG as a universal national grant 
• since the introduction of BIG, household poverty has dropped significantly 
• the introduction of BIG has led to an increase in economic activity, and the grant enabled recipients to increase their earned productive income 
• households' increased buying power contributed to the creation of a local market
• BIG resulted in a huge reduction of child malnutrition
• BIG enabled HIV positive residents to gain access to required medication 
• after introducing BIG, schools’ non-attendance rates due to financial reasons dropped by 42 percent
• BIG contributed to the reduction of household debt, and ownership of livestock increased 
• BIG has contributed to a significant reduction of crime 
• the introduction of a “Basic Income Grant” has reduced the dependency of women on men, giving them a measure of control over their own sexuality 
• the criticism that BIG is leading to increasing alcoholism is not supported by empirical evidence
• it is understood that BIG is affordable in Namibia, and there are various options to finance such a national grant.

In sum, BIG as a national policy would greatly assist Namibia in achieving the Millenium Development Goals to which the country has committed itself.

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