Impact of Productive Safety Net Program on Household Food Security in Kenna District, Konso Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Chronic food insecurity is one of the problems that has plagued millions of Ethiopians for centuries. To solve this problem, in 2005 the Ethiopian government, in collaboration with development partners, launched a social protection program called the Productive Safety Net Program.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the impact of the Productive Safety Net program on household food security in the Konso Zone, Kenna District, Southern Ethiopia.

METHODS: Data were collected from a total of 264 selected households using a multistage sampling procedure. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to assess program impact on household food security. A logit model was used to analyze potential covariate variables that influence household participation in the Productive Safety Net program.

 RESULTS: The study found that having livestock, credit, and a large amount of cultivated land had a negative impact on people's willingness to participate in the productive safety net program. Conversely, a shock experience and agricultural extension had a favorable consequence. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) resulted in matching 125 control households with 130 treated households. In other words, matching comparisons based on outcome variables were performed on these households that shared similar pre-intervention characteristics except for participation in the program. According to the PSM results, the program intervention raised the beneficiary families' total income and calorie intake by 14.23% (277.31 Kcal per capita/AE/Day) and 33.85% (1789.42 ETB), respectively, as compared to non-beneficiaries.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This study demonstrated how the program had a considerable impact on household calorie consumption and income. As a result, the focus of the development intervention should be on the enhancement of the program.