Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme: Addressing Food Insecurity with Food and Cash Transfers

This report is the result of a year-long investigation to uncover the key factors that led to the PSNP’s success at targeting the hardest to reach. We combined rigorous research along with fieldwork in Ethiopia where we interviewed many stakeholders. We review the key factors and forces behind the PSNP’s targeting, design, and implementation process to better identify why the program has been such a success and excellent exemplar of reaching the hardest to reach as well as why the program has fallen short in some areas. Led by Professor Avni Shah and four student researchers—Siobhan Bradley, Rachel Bryce, Sydney Piggott, and Jillian Sprenger—research was conducted from September 2017 through August 2018, including primary fieldwork in Addis Ababa in April and May 2018.