The USAID funded PSNP Plus project ‘Linking Poor Rural Households to Microfinance and Markets in Ethiopia’ ended in December 2011. The PSNP Plus was designed as a three-year project in support of the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), which provides food and or cash to chronically food insecure households in exchange for labor on rural infrastructure projects, or direct transfers to households unable to participate in physical labor activities. The overall goal of the PSNP Plus was to build household resilience and household assets through market linkages and access to microfinance this goal being directly linked to the objective of facilitating the graduation of households from the PSNP and out of chronic food insecurity.
Since it was launched in 2008, the project has been linking PSNP households to both formal and informal microfinance. These interventions have included the establishment of Village Savings and Loan Associations, and the provision of credit for agricultural inputs. Complementary to these activities, the program has been linking participating households to market opportunities by supporting the development of livestock, cereal, haricot bean and honey value chains. Ultimately, the combination of the projects microfinance and value chain interventions are expected to contribute towards livelihoods diversification, household resilience, and an increase in household income and assets. These outcomes and impacts are reflected in the PSNP Plus causal model, which in summary proposes that increased access to markets and the enhanced use of microfinance leads to asset accumulation and improvements in PSNP graduation.
In order to test this causal logic, a longitudinal impact study (LIS) was included under one of the projects strategic objectives. The LIS included four in depth case studies, with assessments being carried out in Doba and Sire and Dodota woredas in Oromia, Raya Azebo woreda in Tigray, and Sekota woreda in Amhara region. The study included a baseline midterm and final impact assessment in each study area. The assessments used a variety of research methods and designs to assess the impact of the projects microfinance and value chain interventions.
Final Impact Assessments
Final Impact Assessment of the PSNP Plus in Doba woreda (PDF)
The PSNP Plus project in Doba woreda was implemented by CARE and the impact study focused on assessing the project’s Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA), haricot (white pea bean) and honey value chain interventions. This report presents the results from the final impact assessment of the project in Doba. The assessment used a pre-post test design, however, the use of a control group of non-project participants was rejected for this particular case study. In the absence of a control, project attribution was assessed using standardized participatory scoring exercises to determine the relative contribution of project factors to any assessed impact. The results indicate that the project has had a positive impact on livelihoods, although there has been a decrease in certain types of assets, largely as a result of crop and income losses associated with rain failure in 2009.
Final Impact Assessment of the PSNP Plus in Dodota and Sire (PDF)
The PSNP Plus project in Dodota and Sire was implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with Wonji Catholic Secretariat. This report presents the findings from the final impact assessment of the project in Sire and Dodota. The study focused on assessing the impact of the cereal (wheat) and livestock (small ruminant fattening) value chains implemented under the project, and to a lesser extent the projects Savings and Internal Lending Committee (SILC) activities. The study approach involved a pre-post test design with a control group of non-project participants. Despite delays in implementation and other challenges, the results show some positive short-term impact on livelihoods.
Final Impact Assessment of the PSNP Plus in Raya Azebo (PDF)
The PSNP Plus in Raya Azebo woreda was implemented by The Relief Society of Tigray (REST) and this report presents the findings of the final impact assessment of the project. The study used a pre-post test design with controls to assess the livestock credit and cattle and small ruminant value chains being implemented under the project. The final assessment was carried out from August to September 2011 and the results indicate that the project has had a positive impact on the livelihoods of participating households. Although graduation levels remain low, the project has contributed to an increase in income and assets and improvements in household food security. The project also appears to have been instrumental in helping households protect their livestock assets.
Final Impact Assessment of the PSNP Plus in Sekota (PDF)
The PSNP Plus was implemented by Save the Children UK (SC-UK) in Sekota woreda and this report presents the results from the final impact assessment of the project. The study used a pre-post test design with controls, and focused on assessing the projects livestock (small ruminant fattening) and honey value chains. The final assessment was carried out from August to September 2011. Since the project started, there has been some positive impact on livelihoods, particularly in terms of household income. There have also been increases in certain productive assets and household items, and improvements in food security, however, non-project participants experienced similar improvements with the results showing no significant difference between the intervention and control samples for most of the indicators assessed. In part this has to do with a number of key challenges that the project has faced since 2008 including the 2009 drought, high livestock mortality and delays in project implementation. As a result of these challenges, the full impact of the project had not been realized at the time of the final assessment. Nonetheless, the results show some encouraging improvements in livelihoods for project participants since the drought.
Baseline Reports
This report presents the findings of the first two stages of an assessment of the PSNP Plus project in Doba woreda in West Hararghe. These assessments are part of a broader longitudinal impact study of the PSNP Plus project, which targets poor, rural households in food insecure areas that benefit from the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The goal of PSNP Plus is to move households towards graduation from PSNP through market-driven approaches to diversify their livelihoods, build assets and link to financial services and markets.
Sire Dodota Baseline (PDF)
This report presents the findings of the first two stages of an assessment of the PSNP Plus project in Sire and Dodota woreda’s in Oromia. These assessments are part of a broader longitudinal impact study of the PSNP Plus project, which targets poor, rural households in food insecure areas that benefit from the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The goal of PSNP Plus is to move households towards graduation from PSNP through market-driven approaches to diversify their livelihoods, build assets and link to financial services and markets.
Raya Baseline (PDF)
This report presents the findings of the first two stages of an assessment of the PSNP Plus project in Raya Azebo woreda in Tigray. These assessments are part of a broader longitudinal impact study of the PSNP Plus project, which aims to link poor rural households to microfinance and markets, as a strategy to assist people in accumulating assets, and graduating from the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The PSNP provides poor food insecure households with either food or cash in exchange for work, or direct support to people who are physically unable to work. PSNP participants are expected to graduate from the program within five years, and certain types of financial and productive assets are used as benchmarks for graduation.
Sekota Baseline (PDF)
This report presents the findings of a preliminary assessment of the PSNP Plus project being implemented by Save the Children (UK) in Sekota woreda in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The assessment is part of a Longitudinal Impact Study (LIS) of the USAID funded PSNP Plus project, which aims to link poor rural households to microfinance and markets, as a strategy to assist people in accumulating assets, and graduating from the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The PSNP provides poor food insecure households with either food or cash in exchange for work, or direct support to people who are physically unable to work. PSNP participants are expected to graduate from the program within five years, and certain types of financial and productive assets are used as benchmarks for graduation.
Other Major Reports
Between 2008 and 2011, over two thousand households were provided with informal loans for livestock value addition in an effort to graduate them from the Productive Safety Net Programme in Raya Azebo woreda, Ethiopia. The study findings indicate that most households benefited from this intervention through speculation and individual business acumen despite the lack of adequate and quality feed for the livestock they transacted. Encouraging livestock feed production in the woreda is regarded as the next logical step for attaining better economic returns not only for livestock value adders but also for would-be feed producing farmers.