Productive Safety Net Programme, PSNP5

2005

There are soft conditions related to participation in health, nutrition, and childcare interventions for the Temporary Direct Support beneficiaries – e.g., health services and to behaviour change communication sessions.

The core caseload of PSNP beneficiaries is 7.9. million. In addition, PSNP operates a ‘scalable’ safety net scaling up food and cash assistance to an average of 3.8 million people annually. In 2020, the programme reached 8 million people in 382 food-insecure rural districts.

Annual budget of $2.3 billion (2020)

Over the years the program expanded gradually to cover 40 percent of the country’s districts (woredas) (2020). Under PSNSP5 new woredas will be selected using a combination of (a) remote sensing satellite data showing frequency of drought shocks; (b) prevalence of extreme poverty, and (c) recent history of receipt of drought related emergency food assistance. PSNP5 will reach about 408 woredas with regular support, with others supported during shocks as required. stands at 340 and is expected to increase to 411 by 2018.

Under PSNP5, rural households living in extreme poverty will make up the target group of the PSNP (as opposed to households who are food insecure, the previous PSNP´s target group).

The selection of households as PSNP beneficiaries is constrained by established quotas per Woreda and Kebele, and not all households that meet the eligibility criteria are selected. The selection is done through the Community-based Targeting process, whereby households are compared to each other and ranked. The socio-economic status of eligible households, as well as some categorical criteria (e.g. specific vulnerabilities such as people with disabilities, female-headed households, households with members suffering from chronic illness, elderly headed households caring for orphans etc.) will be used to establish their rank (including status of household assets – land holding, quality of land, livestock holding, food stock, labour availability etc. a) Community Member (resident in the community for the last 3 years) b) Extreme poor c) Have become suddenly extreme poor as a result of severe loss of assets (financial, livestock, means of production, assets) especially if linked to the onset of chronic illness such as AIDS) d) No adequate family support e) At the time of targeting not enrolled in other programmes that provides the beneficiaries with transfers (cash or food). This does not include social protection scheme like CBHI or school feeding and f) No adult able bodied labour OR high dependency ration (four or more dependents- a dependent is any other household member who is unable to work) Following, households are assigned to either the Public Works or to the Permanent Direct Support components based on their household characteristics (household without able-bodied adults or with high dependency ratios will be eligible for the Permanent Direct Support component). Pregnant women and mothers of children up to 24 months old are exempted from public works participation, and correspondingly, they are enrolled under the Temporary Direct Support component. General consultation for all Public Works participants which helps determine demand and identify beneficiaries for Livelihood Services. From PSNP 5, quotas for women and youth will be introduced for the Livelihoods Services components The Shock-Responsiveness component refer to the temporary expansion of PSNP (horizontally and vertically) towards vulnerable households affected by drought shocks.

Reassessment of Permanent Direct Support beneficiaries is done every year during the annual update, to determine whether beneficiaries are still alive and residing in the community. If beneficiaries drop out of the programme due to death, migration or if the household’s condition has changed, they will be replaced by other households through a community-based ranking exercise. Recertification of selected households is done using a combination of a community-based approach and verification through Proxy Means Test. Households will be considered for recertification if they have been in the program for at least three years; they have received livelihood support for at least two years; or they have been flagged as being above the PMT threshold following the household registry data collection.

Not applicable

Cash or food, or cash plus food (depending on the woreda). Community-based childcare services for children aged 1 to 5 years old. Case management is provided to families with children at risk, such as those engaged in child labour. Under the Livelihood Services the benefits are skills training, business planning, savings promotion, credit facilitation, and, where appropriate, wage employment linkages. For the poorest PSNP households that have completed the required trainings, the program provides a livelihood grant for investments in on-farm or off-farm income generation activities.

The benefits attributed to each household is calculated by determining the number of clients per household in the following manner: a) The number of clients in the household is determined by the total number of household members; however, the Kebele Food Security Task Force (KFSTF) has the discretion to allocate the number of clients within a household depending on the level of poverty estimated by the KFSTF b) Each client receives the equivalent of 5 days at the existing daily wage rate used in the programme c) Therefore, the total household benefit is obtained by multiplying the number of clients by 5 days Since 2018 the benefit value was adjusted every year using the regional Food Consumer Price Index and the Government has committed to maintain the adequacy of transfers in PSNP5 by using the same approach.

Monthly

In cash or in-kind in payment/distribution points The government began the introduction of e-payments in 2015. The number of woredas implementing e-payments has increased gradually to nearly 150 in 5 regions (about 40 percent of PSNP woredas). In 2019/2020 slightly over 1 million PSNP households (over 50 percent of cash recipients) received their transfers in electronic accounts through e-payments.

PNSP5 aims to promote women’s access to and control over the program resources, i.e., Joint client card and joint bank accounts for husband and wife to ensure equal access of resource to the two spouses.

Members of Public Works beneficiary households (including Temporary Direct Support beneficiaries) are entitled to transfers for six months per year. Permanent Direct Support Households will receive unconditional transfers all year round. Households will be considered for recertification if they have been in the program for at least three years; they have received livelihood support for at least two years; or they have been flagged as being above the PMT threshold following the household registry data collection.

PSNP5 Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) system is an integral part of the PSNP management system, and so is inseparable from the wider strategic framework for PSNP5, as defined in the program log frame. The log frame drives what is to be achieved and defines what success looks like; the results framework is nested within the log frame and elaborates on specific indicators that will be reported upon at all levels; and the MEL system combines those two elements with the processes that are required to achieve the MEL system objectives. Key changes for MEL in PSNP5 include the introduction of the MIS; a more explicit recognition that learning is an important function of M&E, captured in the use of the term MEL; the enhanced use of MEL for adaptive management; and the more explicit understanding of MEL as a system rather than just a collection of distinct tools. The program includes the following components as part of the M&E framework: (a) Regular program monitoring based on administrative data that is channeled up from decentralized levels on a quarterly basis. This includes data on the total beneficiary caseload, timeliness of payments, implementation of PW, and progress indicators on livelihoods pathways. (b) Spot-checks to assess implementation compliance with program rules, carried out quarterly based on a rotating sample of 15 percent of woredas. These spot-checks are financed by Development Partners. (c) Periodic process assessments on key aspects of the program (PW and livelihoods, GRMs); ongoing process assessments (external spot checks) that verify administrative processes; and ad hoc technical assessments, financed often from external TA, which are designed to address analytical gaps to better understand program performance (for example, the Wage Employment Tracer Survey or Timeliness of Payments Study). (d) Impact and Program Performance Evaluations using household surveys, conducted every two years to assess program progress towards achieving the stated outcomes and the contribution of PSNP to higher level goals.

Beyond the General Implementation Manual for PSNP5 and other related operational manuals, the PSNP 5 aligns with the country´s 10-year strategic development plan; the National Social Protection Policy from 2014 and accompanying Strategy (2016) and 2017-2021 Action Plan for the sector. In addition, five complementary policies provide a more specific framework for PSNP5. The Social Protection Policy and the Disaster Risk Management Policy (DRMP) provide the majority of the foundational framework for the PSNP5. These are complemented by the National Food and Nutrition Policy (NFNP) and the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE). The Green Legacy Initiative launched by the Prime Minister’s office in 2019 further complements the CRGE. The Pastoral Development Policy endorsed in 2019 informs PSNP5’s design and implementation in lowland regions. Addressing the challenges of growing youth unemployment has led to the establishment of the Job Creation Commission as per proclamation 1097/2018. The regulation 435/2018 promulgated by the council of ministers mandated the commission with the authority to lead the job creation agenda, coordinate stakeholders, and monitor and evaluate performance. The strategies outlined by the Commission inform the livelihoods (employment pathway) aspect of PSNP5.

The PSNP MIS is an IT system developed to support data management of PSNP programme operations, enable more timely and informed supervision and management decision-making, and to boost monitoring and reporting capability and timeliness. In PSNP 5, the PSNP MIS replaces the PASS/RPASS software that was in place to support programme operations during PSNP 4. The core functions of the PSNP MIS are to: (a) manage beneficiary household data throughout the operational cycle in the implementation of the PSNP components, including Public Works, Permanent Direct Support, Temporary Direct Support, and Livelihoods according to the ‘business processes or operational processes of the programme; (b) allow users to access this programme operations data to generate reports to carry out programme activities in the field, timely management decision making, supervision and monitoring.