Ethiopia - Designing and implementing a rural safety net in a low income setting : lessons learned from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program 2005-2009

Abstract

There is an international concensus that rural safety nets are crucial to poverty-reduction. This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of experience on how to design and implement effective and affordable rural safety nets. It draws on the lessons learned from the design and operation of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) to summarize this experience, and serve as a reference document for the program as it moves forward, and to create a how-to reference for countries that are in the process of designing, or implementing, or considering the adoption of a rural safety net program. The paper describes the context for the PSNP in Ethiopia, the design and operational mechanisms of the program in 2009, provides evidence of the impact and efficiency of the program, and discusses the thematic areas at length. Design issues that occurred in 2004 are explained, and followed by critical reflection on implementation from 2005-2009. The paper concludes by identifying the overarching lessons learned from the experience of the PSNP.