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Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program improve child nutrition?

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  • Bethelhem Debela
  • Gerald Shively
  • Stein Holden

Abstract

We studied the link between household membership in Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) and short-run nutrition outcomes among children aged 5 years and younger. We used 2006 and 2010 survey data from Northern Ethiopia to estimate parameters of an exogenous switching regression. This allowed us to measure the differential impacts of household characteristics on the weight-for-height Z-scores of children in member and non-member households. The magnitude and significance of household covariates differed in samples of children from PSNP and non-PSNP households and the supply of female labour seemed to matter for promoting child health in member households. Controlling for a set of observable features of children and households we found that children in member households had weight-for-height Z-scores that were 0.55 points higher than those of children in non-member households. We conclude that the PSNP is providing positive short-term nutritional benefits for children, especially in those households that are able to leverage underemployed female labor. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and International Society for Plant Pathology 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Bethelhem Debela & Gerald Shively & Stein Holden, 2015. "Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program improve child nutrition?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1273-1289, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:1273-1289
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0499-9
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    Cited by:

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    2. Aregawi G. Gebremariam & Elisabetta Lodigiani & Giacomo Pasini, 2017. "The impact of Ethiopian Productive Safety-net Program on children's educational aspirations," Working Papers 2017:26, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    3. Jules Gazeaud & Victor Stephane, 2023. "Productive Workfare? Evidence from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 265-290, January.
    4. Girmay Berhe Araya, 2020. "Impact of Ethiopia's productive safety net program on manure use by rural households: Evidence from Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(5), pages 725-742, September.
    5. Aregawi G Gebremariam & Elisabetta Lodigiani & Giacomo Pasini, 2024. "The Impact of Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program on Children's Educational Aspirations and Attainments," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 33(3), pages 271-296.
    6. Berhane, Guush & Abay, Mehari Hiluf & Woldehanna, Tassew, 2015. "Childhood shocks, safety nets and cognitive skills: Panel data evidence from rural Ethiopia:," ESSP working papers 73, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Bezawit Adugna Bahru & Manfred Zeller, 2022. "Gauging the impact of Ethiopia’s productive safety net programme on agriculture: Application of targeted maximum likelihood estimation approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 257-276, February.
    8. Araya, Girma Behe & Holden , Stein T., 2017. "Is Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program Enhancing Dependency?," CLTS Working Papers 5/17, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 21 Oct 2019.
    9. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Lunduka, Rodney & Shively, Gerald & Jayne, Thom, 2014. "Comparing FISP to Alternative Programs," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 234942, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    10. von Grebmer, Klaus & Bernstein, Jill & Hossain, Naomi & Brown, Tracy & Prasai, Nilam & Yohannes, Yisehac & Patterson, Fraser & Sonntag, Andrea & Zimmerman, Sophia-Maria & Towey, Olive & Foley, Connell, 2017. "2017 Global Hunger Index: The inequalities of hunger," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-89629-271-0.
    11. Richard Freund & Marta Favara & Catherine Porter & Jere Behrman, 2024. "Social Protection and Foundational Cognitive Skills during Adolescence: Evidence from a Large Public Works Program," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 38(2), pages 296-318.
    12. Carruth, Lauren & Freeman, Scott, 2021. "Aid or exploitation?: Food-for-work, cash-for-work, and the production of “beneficiary-workers” in Ethiopia and Haiti," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    13. Gelo, Dambala & Muchapondwa, Edwin & Shimeles, Abebe & Dikgang, Johane, 2020. "Aid, collective action and benefits to smallholders: Evaluating the World Food Program's purchase for progress pilot," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    14. Tagel Gebrehiwot & Carolina Castilla, 2018. "Do safety net transfers improve household diets and reduce undernutrition? Evidence from rural Ethiopia," Working Papers PMMA 2018-03, PEP-PMMA.
    15. M. Savy & S. Fortin & Y. Kameli & S. Renault & C. Couderc & A. Gamli & K. Amouzou & M. L. Perenze & Y. Martin-Prevel, 2020. "Impact of a food voucher program in alleviating household food insecurity in two cities in Senegal during a food price crisis," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 465-478, April.
    16. Getachew Yirga Belete, 2021. "Impacts of Social Protection Programmes on Children’s Resources and Wellbeing: Evidence from Ethiopia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(2), pages 681-712, April.
    17. Elsa Valli, 2017. "Essays on social protection," Economics PhD Theses 1017, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    18. Bahru, B., 2018. "Climatic shocks and child undernutrition in Ethiopia: A longitudinal path analysis," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277297, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anthropometry; Ethiopia; Food security; Nutrition; Safety net; I15; I38;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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