IMPACT OF PRODUCTIVE SAFETY NET PROGRAM ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND ASSET BUILDING: THE CASE OF GORO GUTU DISTRICT, EAST HARARGHE ZONE OF OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

In Ethiopia, the problem of food security is an enduring critical challenge, which their responses were dominated by annual emergency food aid for a long time. In 2005, to combat the problem of food security and to move away from the previous system of annual emergency appeals, the Ethiopian government in collaboration with development partners launched social protection program called productive safety net program. This study was evaluated the impact of PSNP on household food security and asset building in Goro Gutu District which composed of three agro-ecological zones since no study was conducted in the area. In this study, a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 190 sample households which 90 program beneficiaries and 100 non-program beneficiaries. The primary data was collected using an interview schedule. Various documents were reviewed to collect secondary data. To analyze the data, propensity score matching model was employed. The logit regression result indicated that household program participation were influenced by age of the household head, dependency ratio and use of improved seed positively at 5% significance level, by marital status of the household head and educational level of the household head negatively at 5% significance level and by extension contacts and shock experience positively at 10% significance level. The propensity score matching estimation result found that as compared to non-program beneficiary households the program intervention increased the program beneficiary households’ kilocalorie consumption and household asset by 11.67% and 69.90% respectively. Finally, provision of formal education as one component of the PSNP with integrated family planning programs, timely provision of improved seeds with modern agricultural inputs, provision of climate resilience services that helps the households to cope up with shocks, advising and following the program beneficiary households to invest cash transfer on productive asset were recommended for policy maker and practitioner