Following the drought of 2003, the Government of Ethiopia has seen to the birth of a New Coalition of Food Security Program to break the cycle of emergencies that led to initiatives such as Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), which provides cash and/or facilitates food transfers to food insecure households of selected Woredas.
Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) is one of the components of the Government’s Food Security Program which has been translated into action since 2005.
According to Food Security Strategy of Ethiopia, food insecurity is divided into categories: (1) Chronic food insecuritycommonly perceived a result of overwhelming poverty indicated by a lack of assets, (2) Acute food insecurity-is viewed as more of a transitory phenomenon related to man-made and unusual shocks, such as drought.
The former group is characterized by land-less or land-scarce, oxen-less, poor pastoralists, female-headed households, elderly, disabled & sick, low income households, street children, refugees, displaced people, newly established settlers. The latter fall in the category, especially, characterized by resource less poor households vulnerable to shocks— not only drought. Farmers and others in drought-prone areas, pastoralists and others vulnerable to economic shocks are not precluded.
The chronically food insecure population may require long term support in any given year, irrespective of the impact of shocks while the acutely food insecure are assumed to require short term assistance to help them cope up with unusual circumstances that temporarily impact their livelihoods.
The main objective of PSNP is to assure food consumption by providing transfers to the food insecure households in chronically food insecure areas and to prevent asset depletion by stimulating access to services and rehabilitating natural environments.
PSNP has the goal: “Resilience to shocks and livelihoods enhanced, and food security and nutrition improved for rural households vulnerable to food insecurity.”
PSNP provides transfers to households by means of Public Work and Direct Support. Public Work beneficiaries are chronically food insecure households with able-bodied adults that receive a transfer (payment) in the form of labour-intensive community-based participation through the provision of employment for chronically food insecure people who have labour. Consequently, communities involving in diversified public works have conducted several activities such as soil and water conservations, watershed development, small scale irrigation developments, forest development, digging and empowering water wells, building and maintaining social service institutions and other infrastructures (schools and health centers, roads…), as well as land rehabilitation activities to build climate-resilient green economy.
Entailed in Direct Support beneficiaries are chronically food insecure households who cannot provide labor to public works and have no other means of support. The list includes, but is not limited to, orphans, pregnant, people living with disabilities, the elderly, chronically ill individuals and female-headed poor households.
According to the evidence from Food Security Coordination Directorate of MoA, PSNP narrows the food gaps of 7.9 million people thorough transferring food and/or cash. Furthermore, significance works have been registered in building and maintaining infrastructures, social service institutions, irrigation developments, as well as soil and water conservations.
As to PSNP rules and regulations, households that have able-bodied adult labor engage in public works and receive transfer for 6 six consecutive months per year as well as permanent direct support clients receives 12 months of transfer without labor capacity. The cash and food transfers are set at the level required to fill the food gap (household consumption) that are provided transfers of cash, food or a temporal mix of both resources. In fact, the program follows cash first principle that each beneficiary should be paid 15 kg of cereals plus 4 Kg of pulses, or the cash equivalent per a month. The PSNP will provide support up to a maximum of 5 household members that each individual of the household will have 3 kg cereals per a day.
Currently, PSNP covers 8 regions (Afar, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Harari, Oromia, SNNP, Somali and Tigray) that provides cash and/or food transfer for over 7.9 million food insecure households in 350 chronically food insecure woredas.
In a single year, the program allocates 12 to 17 billion birr and the Ethiopian government will allocate 2 billion birr and furnishes equipment as well as facilitates offices and, salary of all workers under this project. In fact, PSNP is implemented by the Ethiopian government backed by the support from the following development partners: Canadian International Development Agency, UK Department for International Development, Irish Aid, European Union, Netherlands International Development Corporation Agency, Swedish International Development Corporation Agency, Denmark International Development Corporation Agency, United States Agency for International Development, World Food Program, UNICEF and World Bank.
On the wake of the corona pandemic outbreak, human health and economy of each country have fallen under a question mark. Of course, Corona virus may negatively impact Ethiopian agriculture especially food security of the communities unless well managed in good time in a concerted national effort. Taking this in to account, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is doing different agricultural activities geared towards COVID-19 prevention methods.
Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), therefore, has designed temporary guideline of PSNP aiming at protecting beneficiaries from COVID-19 pandemic. According to the designed guideline, PSNP will place radar on COVID-19 and click with pertinent stakeholders.The guideline allows facilitating transfers in a short period of time for beneficiaries as much as possible.
Sintayehu Demissie is Food Security Coordination Director at Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). In light of the corona-eclipsed era, payment must not be confined to those who conduct public work rather all PSNP beneficiaries must be paid without the attendance of conducting public works, Sintayehu pointed out.
According to the evidence from Sintayehu, over 7.9 million people, who have chronic food security, have been supported under PSNP. Out of this people, annually, 6.8 million people get engaged in public works for six months, and 1.1 million secure direct support for 12 months).
She also stated that about 3.6 million beneficiaries have graduated from PSNP. So far, they have registered better resources specialy during the last phases.
“The expected transfer must be handled in time to bridge food gaps of those people under PSNP support without considering clients’ participation in public work; Due to the pandemic, paying the transfer for beneficiaries conducting a meeting as usual is forbidden,” she underlined.
“Hand washings, sanitizing, physical distancing (keeping others a meter away) are strictly observed. Sensitization on recommendations of health institutions is well handled. Supplying gloves, masks, and other necessities for staff workers who distribute the aforementioned items is made a point,” the director mentioned.
Due to the current corona pandemic, as holding group discussions and handing out items to beneficiaries in a form of group will expose to the virus, the guideline recommends the use of other alternatives.
PSNP activities conducted by community based awareness of public work in large groups are forbidden to ward off corona transmissions.
Therefore, the guideline recommends alerting given community to apply the recommendations of the mobile messages of the government, one-meter physical distance, decreasing contact and avoiding crowdedness and door-to-door awareness creations of health extension workers and/or humanitarians.
Generally, the guideline allows supplying soaps and sanitizers for beneficiaries at transfer tolls, as well as gloves, masks and other necessities for staff members.
In addition, it heeds helping the community to conduct public work individually and/or in a small numbers and in a safe-manner. If situations prove impossible for conducting public works at corona highest threat areas, the guideline allows handling transfers to beneficiaries in advance before food gap surfaces.
All in all preemptory works are displaying works done so afar in averting food insecurity at the same time fighting challenges like Covid 19 are proving a hit.
The Ethiopian Herald May 10/2020
BY BAHIRU SETEGNE
