Targeting the Ultra-Poor in EthiopiaPDF version
Governments have often attempted to address the needs of the ultra poor by offering consumption support, which can be costly and offers no sustainable way out of food insecurity. The Ultra Poor Graduation Pilots attempt to apply a model, developed by BRAC in Bangladesh, which recognizes that the ultra poor need the "breathing space" that is provided by temporary consumption support, but that public funds may be better used to build households’ capacities to maintain a sustainable livelihood. The idea is that this initial assistance, lasting two years, will place households securely on the first rung of the development ladder, which they can then climb with the help of appropriate development strategies. The model incorporates a comprehensive package of services: a productive asset (such as chickens or goats), consumption support, livelihood trainings, healthcare, and financial services. Ideally this wide set of support services will help households to weather any shocks they may face along during their climb out of ultra poverty.
This study takes place in the Wukro district of the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Seventy-seven percent of Ethiopians live on less than US$2 per day and 39 percent live on $1.25 per day.1 Eighty-five percent of Ethiopian households are engaged in agriculture.2 Droughts are common in Ethiopia and Tigray was the epicenter of the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine. The famine, which attracted worldwide media coverage, resulted in relief aid for the region from Live Aid and other efforts.
More recently, aid efforts have begun to shift from direct food support and food-for work programs to interventions designed to increase long-term prosperity. These interventions include credit for entrepreneurship, savings associations, and agricultural support, such as irrigation, water storage, and market linkages. The Ultra Poor Graduation Pilot targets the lower tier of those households who are already a part of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), the Government of Ethiopia’s program to address food security issues by offering guaranteed employment for up to fifteen days a month in return for cash or food handouts designed to meet households’ basic nutritional needs.
This project is a part of a set of evaluations, in partnership with CGAP and the Ford Foundation, that intends to determine whether the model, pioneered in Bangladesh, is effective in a range of contexts.
Five hundred treatment households in ten villages in Wukro district initially receive consumption support transferred through PSNP for six months. Once households’ food consumption stabilizes, they receive individual savings accounts at DECSI, a microfinance institution operating in the region, as well as business training. Later on, participants receive a livelihood asset chosen from a preselected list of options: raising small ruminants, cattle fattening, petty trade or beekeeping, to help jump start a new economic activity. Participants are monitored throughout the process – they receive home visits to help boost confidence and build expertise, and are provided with access to social and health services.
Results forthcoming.
1 The World Bank, “Data: Ethiopia,” http://data.worldbank.org/country/ethiopia
2 CIA, “World Factbook: Ethiopia Economy,” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html
