Dr Samantha Yates DFID Ethiopia, Livelihoods and Humanitarian Team Leader

1. Building Resilience: Reflections from PSNP and
the Role of Donors
Dr Samantha Yates
DFID Ethiopia, Livelihoods and Humanitarian Team Leader

2. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
PSNP Overview
• Drought 2002/3, reforms to humanitarian system and New Coalition
for Food Security, 2003
• Shift from ag productivity to stabilisation of hh consumption and assets
as a basis for productivity improvements
• Established in 2005, as an alternative response to recurrent food aid
• Roots in favourable political settlement – EPDRF legitimacy through
rapid social and economic progress
• PSNP4 2015-2020 Goal: “Resilience to shocks enhanced and food
security and nutrition improved for rural households vulnerable to
food insecurity”

3. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
PSNP4 Design – Linkages
Pregnant Public works
Jan-June cycle
5 days/month
Full family targeting
6.7m beneficiaries
Permanent Direct
Support
5 days/month
12 months
Full family targeting
1.2m beneficiaries
Livelihoods component
30% (10%) hhs
Training and 3
‘pathways’
Access to credit/grant
“Primacy of transfers” and “cash first”
For women:
Shorter working day
Light work
responsibilities
Child care
Workload reduced
For women and men:
3 days PW for BCC
Temporary Direct
Support
Pregnant women
Breastfeeding with
children < 1 year
5 days/month, 6
months
Co-responsibilities:
Vaccination
Maternal and child
health

4. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
PSNP 4 Design – Shock Responsiveness

5. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
PSNP4 Practice – Shock Responsiveness
core
Woreda contingency
budget 5%
Federal contingency
budget 15% pre-
financed
2015/16
Federal contingency
budget line 2017/18
- No pre financing
2015/16: 8m core clients; 9.7m received relief food assistance
PSNP federal contingency budget line used but activated late
PSNP scaled vertically (extending 2 additional rounds to existing clients in
need)
2017/18: 8m core clients; 7.9m received relief food assistance
PSNP federal contingency budget line used (WB $50m; DFID $49m; UNICEF
$11.8m; WFP£10m ).
PSNP scaled vertically and horizontally
1st Integrated food cash response plan 2017

6. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
How embedded?
• PSNP is a GoE flagship, embedded in national policies to fight hunger
and poverty
• Delivered through GoE systems (BoA; BoFED; BoLSA; DPPB), largely on
budget
• GoE commitment to fully finance by 2025. Increased finance from
Treasury (now ~11%).
• Increasingly part of relief planning ie Integrated Cash Food Response
Plan

7. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
Donor Roles
Financing
Core and shock responsiveness
Technical assistance
Capacity building; engagement in technical committees; piloting (eg
payment systems; expanded linkages UNICEF; shock responsiveness Somali
region)
Monitoring and evaluation
6 year independent impact and process evaluation; spot-checks; analytical
pieces.
Coordinated policy dialogue
Eg programme redesign options to close finance gap; wage rate increase
options.
Donor Coordination Team and Donor Working Group

8. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
Addendum - PSNP Results
Food security has improved in PSNP districts
The average food gap of hhs in PSNP has fallen by 40% in the highlands and by 45% in the
lowlands (2010-12) from 3 to 1.8 months.
PSNP transfers lifted 1.4m people over the poverty line in 2011 and moved others closer to
the poverty line
Poverty headcount before transfers 32.5%, after transfers 30.9%
Poverty gap before transfers 9.4%, after transfers 8.2%
Built resilience to shocks
Consumption smoothing through transfers; restoring water tables and productivity through
PW
Unexpected impact on educational attainment and progression
In Tigray children in PW hhs performed better than the children of other households in
grade attainment and progression.
PSNP transfers appear to delay early marriage by relaxing cash constraints on household
consumption

9. Social Protection: From Protection to Production
Addendum – Looking Ahead
• Push on core systems:
- Payments and timeliness
- Targeting and graduation
- Management information and monitoring for performance
• Lowland regions:
- Performance
- Design and ‘fit’
• Sustainability:
- GoE financing
- Linkages and institutional roles
• Shock Responsiveness:
- Financing risk; ex ante preparedness rather than ex post response