Back to Library

Impacts of the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia on livestock and tree holdings of rural households

Published by:
Document
Download
Publication date
08/12/2009
Number of Pages
7
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Articles & Journals
Focus Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Focus Topic:
Gender / Youth / Social Inclusion
Type of Risk:
Policy & institutional
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk coping
Commodity:
Livestock
Forestry
Author
Camilla Anderssona, Alemu Mekonnenb, Jesper Stage
Organization
Journal of Development Economics

This paper evaluates the impacts of the Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on rural households’ holdings of livestock and forest assets/trees. The authors found no indication that participation in PSNP induces households to disinvest in livestock or trees. In fact, households that participated in the program increased the number of trees planted, but there was no increase in their livestock holdings. We found no strong evidence that the PSNP protects livestock in times of shock. Shocks appear to lead households to disinvest in livestock, but not in trees. The results suggest that there is increased forestry activity as a result of PSNP, and that improved credit access encourages households to increase their livestock holdings.

Keywords: