The 21st Century climate challenge

Box 4.2The Productive Safety Net Programme in Ethiopia4Adapting to the inevitable: national action and international cooperation“Before this programme we could only eat twice. In the hungrytime before the harvest perhaps we would only have one meal. Thechildren suffered. Sometimes I could not keep them in school or payfor medicines when they were ill. Of course life is difficult—but atleast now I have something to get us through the hard times. Nowwe eat better food, I can keep my nine-year-old in school, and I amsaving to buy a calf.”These are the words of Debre Wondimi, a 28-year-old womanwith four children living in Lay Gant woreda (district) of SouthGondar, Ethiopia. Like millions of people across the country, herlife is a struggle to cope with the lethal interaction of droughtand poverty. Today, she is a participant in Ethiopia’s ProductiveSafety Net Programme (PSNP), a bold attempt to tackle the foodAnother distinction between the PSNP and humanitarianfood aid is in its level of ambition. The objectives include not justsmoothing household consumption by bridging production deficits,but also protecting household assets. Cash transfers are seen as avehicle for building assets, increasing investment and stimulatingrural markets, as well as for preventing the distress sales that pushpeople into destitution.How successful has the programme been? Independentevaluations give grounds for optimism on several counts. Thereis strong evidence that the transfers are reaching large numbersof poor people and making a difference to their lives (see table).The following are among the findings of a household survey on theimpacts of PSNP transfers during the programme’s first year:security threats posed by an uncertain climate. That programmecould provide important lessons for countries addressing the riskmanagement challenges posed by climate change.When the rains fail in Ethiopia the well-being and even thelives of people like Debre Wondimi and her children are put at risk.Droughts and famines have recurred throughout the country’shistory. Since 2000 alone, there have been three major droughts,••Three-quarters of households reported consuming more orbetter food than in the previous year; 60 percent also reportedthat they had been able to retain more of their own food to eatrather than selling for other needs;Three in five beneficiaries avoided having to sell assets to buyfood—a common ‘distress’ response—with over 90 percentattributing this directly to the PSNP;including a devastating episode in 2002–2003. These emergenciesare superimposed on high levels of chronic deprivation. Ethiopiaranks 169 out of the 177 countries covered by the HDI. 23 percent ofits population survives on less than US$1 a day, and nearly two in five• Almost one-half of beneficiaries stated that they usedhealthcare facilities more than in the previous year; overone-third of households enrolled more of their children inschool and almost a half kept children in school for longer;(38 percent) of its children are underweight for their age.Food insecurity is thus an integral part of poverty in Ethiopia.Traditionally, the response to food insecurity has been food aid.• Around one-quarter of beneficiaries acquired new assets, with55 percent directly attributing this to the PSNP.The PSNP faces a number of challenges. Around 35 million ofEvery year, donors and government have estimated the amount offood aid needed to cover chronic defi cits, topping up that amountthrough emergency appeals.The PSNP is an attempt to break with this humanitarian model.It is an employment-based social transfer programme. Targetingpeople facing predictable food insecurity as a result of poverty ratherthan temporary shocks, it offers guaranteed employment for 5 days amonth in return for transfers of either food or cash—US$4 per monthEthiopia’s people live below the national poverty line, suggestingmany potential beneficiaries are currently excluded. The ‘graduation’targets—the percentage of recipients ‘passing out’ of the programmeafter 3 years—may also be over-ambitious. It is not clear that thePSNP will equip people with the assets and resources needed toescape deprivation and poverty for good. However, the programme’searly implementation phase does demonstrate the potential of welltargeted interventions to support household coping strategies.for each household member. The aim is to extendcoverage from 5 million people in 2005 to 8 million by2009. Unlike the food aid model, the PSNP is a multiyeararrangement. Financed by government anddonors it will operate for 5 years, shifting the mode ofsupport away from sporadic emergency aid towardsmore predictable resource transfers.Predictability is one of the foundations of the PSNP.The programme was prompted partly by concernsin the Ethiopian Government and donor communitythat emergency appeals were regularly falling short oftheir targets, or providing late and erratic support. Forpoor households, delayed support during a prolongeddrought can have devastating consequences in boththe short and longer term. In 1983–1984 it led to thedeath of thousands of vulnerable people.The human impact of safety netsOutcome of productive safety netprogramme (PSNP)Beneficiaryhouseholds(%)Households directly attributingoutcome to PSNP(% of beneficiary households )FoodsecurityConsumed more or better food than last yearRetained food production for consumption74.862.4Asset Avoided having to sell assets to buy food 62.0protection Avoided having to use savings to buy food 35.6Access to Used healthcare facilities more than last year 46.1services Kept children in school longer than last year 49.7Asset Acquired new household assets23.4creation Acquired new skills or knowledge28.6Source: Devereux et al 2006.93.589.791.389.775.986.555.385.5Source: Devereux et al. 2006; Government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia 2006; Menon 2007b; Sharp, Brown and Teshome 2006; Slater et al. 2006.180 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008