Cash and care help Balucca thrive in Cabo Delgado

Mueda, Cabo Delgado - Two-year-old Balucca Alfani does not stay still for long. In a dusty yard beside the police station in Mueda town, she runs about with other children, wearing a pink dress that matches the pink beads woven into her braided hair.

Her mother, 21-year-old Amina Rachide, watches closely as Balucca plays. Around them, more than 20 women sit with babies and toddlers, waiting for their names to be called. At a white table set up in the yard, staff administering Mozambique’s child grant subsidy programme organize documents, checklists and digital tablets. One by one, families come forward.

For Amina, this is a familiar place. Balucca has just turned two, marking the end of her time in a programme designed to support children through their earliest years.

“The baby started on this programme when she was one month old,” Amina says. “When I received the money each month, it helped me buy food for the house. At first, she was breastfeeding. Later, when Balucca grew bigger and started eating family food, I bought beans and rice for her.”

Amina fled Nangade district in 2020 after violence by non-state armed groups forced many families from their homes. She settled in Mueda with her parents and sister, where Balucca was later born. Balucca’s father is not present in her life.

“When Balucca was born, she was sick and underweight, and our family did not have good conditions to treat her,” Amina says. “It was hard to take care of her because we did not have much.”

Amina completed the paperwork for the Child Grant Programme shortly after Balucca was born. A few weeks later, the payments began. The money helped Amina buy food for the household, while the programme connected Balucca to regular growth monitoring and essential health services.

As part of the programme, Balucca was regularly checked for signs of malnutrition, including through weight, height and upper-arm measurements. She also received essential health services, including vaccinations, vitamins and deworming treatment. These regular checks supported Balucca during one of the most important periods of her growth and development.

Over time, Amina began to see changes in her daughter.

“Then I started seeing her grow stronger,” Amina says, smiling as Balucca runs past. “And look at her now. She is running around. She is healthy and she is happy.”

Amina says the grant also helped her stay in school after her education was disrupted by the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

“This money has helped me stay in school,” she says. “I bought books and other school materials.”

She says she also used part of the monthly payment to start a small business. She bought tomatoes and onions and sold them by the side of the road, using the income to help support herself and her daughter.

Amina says she uses the money carefully: some to buy food for the home, and some to buy vegetables to sell.

Implemented by the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Action through the National Institute of Social Action, with UNICEF support through the UN Joint Programme on Social Protection, the Child Grant Programme provides monthly financial support, nutrition information and case management for families with children aged 0 to 2 years. It helps parents afford nutritious food and essential care during the first 1,000 days of life, and now reaches more than 62,000 children across Mozambique.

Back in the yard, Balucca keeps playing. For Amina, each step her daughter takes is a reminder of how far they have come.

“When she was small, I was very worried,” Amina says. “Now I can see that she is growing well.”

For Amina, that change can be seen in the simplest way.

“She eats, she plays, she runs,” she says. “She is happy.”

UNICEF supports the Government of Mozambique in expanding the Child Grant Programme through the financial contributions of the Governments of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.