Contribution of Urban Productive Safety Net Program to Households’ Livelihood Improvement and Environmental Protection in Addis Ababa: Case Study of Addis Ketema and Arada Sub Cities
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Date
2018-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Poverty had been considered as a problem of mainly rural areas of Ethiopia. However, it has become a phenomenon in the urban areas, too. This thesis has studied the contribution of Urban Productive Safety Net Program (UPSNP) to improvement of livelihoods of beneficiary households and the environmental protection in Addis Ketema and Arada sub cities of Addis Ababa. Cross-sectional research design and mixed approach are employed to gather data. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observation and household survey are deployed to collect data. 329 household samples are drawn randomly from woredas of the sub cities. Thematic, descriptive statistics and binary logit model are used for analyzing the data. Though it is difficult to address the poor households from poverty and food insecurity within a short period, UPSNP has contributed to the improvement of the income and food condition of the beneficiary households. 60.5% of the beneficiaries are still under poverty having <16.34 ETB per adult equivalent per day. Though the cash transfer is inadequate to meet the income need of households, the program has provided a stable and additional income source for the households who are mostly engaged in jobs with low and varying earnings. Moreover, the cash transfer has become more important for those households that have a few or no income earning members. Likewise, the regression result also indicates that the cash transfer has significant and positive effect on the income-poverty status of the households. The other factors associated were household size, economically inactive members and income from other livelihoods. The cash transfer has also improved the food security of households. It has contributed in increasing the number of meals taken per day and the food access through purchasing. 86% of the respondents are food insecure, mainly (76.9%) being moderately food insecure. The reason of remaining in food insecurity for most beneficiaries could be due to their short (one year) duration in the program. Besides, the beneficiaries‟ low and varying income earnings as well as inflation have negatively affected the households‟ food access and stability. As per the regression result, UPSNP‟s cash transfer has positive and significant relationship with food access. Other variables like sex, marital status, variation of income, household size and income earned from other means of living have significant effect on food access. UPSNP has involved in environmental cleaning, urban greenery, watershed management and urban agriculture activities enhancing the quality, safety and esthetics of the environment. The study recommends the adjustment of the amount of cash transfer for the beneficiaries based on the current living condition as well as improving the working conditions of the public workers.
Key words: UPSNP, Food In/Security/Food Access, Income-Poverty, Environment, Perception