Chapter 16 - Can social protection schemes contribute toward drought resilience? Evidence from rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Ethiopia has introduced a number of policies and strategies toward tackling food insecurity, combating drought emergencies, and assisting vulnerable rural households, maintaining their livelihoods in the face of frequent drought disasters. As part of the long-term rural development program, the country has pursued a country-wide social protection scheme, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), with substantial support from development partners. The aim of the program is to assist chronically food-insecure households bridge their food gaps while providing long-term solutions through the creation of community assets and (to a lesser degree) household assets. A number of studies have documented the achievements of the program over the years. However, very few of these studies had explicit focus on the role of the program in drought resilience. Motivated by some of PSNP's past success stories and the existing knowledge gap with respect to the potential contribution of the program toward drought resilience, this chapter primarily aims to assess Ethiopia's PSNP against some of the key lessons that can be learned from the 2015/16 drought in the country. The study finds that a “stand-alone” approach to drought resilience can hardly succeed in the face of frequent droughts and its associated multifaceted negative impacts. The study proposes, PSNP should continue to improve its internal implementation capacity while enhancing its linkage with other drought resilience programs to bring a stronger and meaningful impact on drought resilience at national, subnational, and community levels.