Can Social Protection Work in Africa? The Impact of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme

This study evaluates a large social protection program in rural Ethiopia, the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). The effectiveness of the PSNP is of interest because the program was implemented at scale in one of Africa’s poorest countries, which has limited physical and communications infrastructure and scarce administrative resources. Using longitudinal survey data collected in 2006, 2008, and 2010 at the household and locality levels, we employ an extension of the propensity score matching method to continuous treatments to estimate the impact of transfers from the PSNP and a separate program on household food security. Against the formidable background of rising food prices and widespread drought, participation in the Public Works component of the PSNP has modest effects. The PSNP reduced the length of the last hungry season by 1.29 months among households that received transfers for 5 years compared to eligible households that received almost nothing. Five years of participation raises livestock holdings by 0.38 tropical livestock units relative to receipt of payments in only 1 year. There is no evidence that the PSNP crowds out private transfers. The joint impact of access to the PSNP along with a program that helps households to increase agricultural income and build assets is even higher. Having both of these programs reduced the length of the last hungry season by 1.5 months per year and increased livestock holdings by 0.99 tropical livestock units.