Development Communication in Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP): The Case of Ganta Afeshum, Tigray
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This paper studies the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP)—one of the Food Security Strategies in Ethiopia that provides food and cash transfer to chronically food insecure woredas of the country through direct support and public works—in terms of the dependent attitude it develops in participants of two communities of Ganta Afeshum Woreda at Eastern zone of Tigray. It also examines the communication model and strategies employed to avert this effect. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the places, and purposive sampling technique to select the informants. With regard to data collection, qualitative observation, and focus group and individual in-depth interviews were employed to see how participatory communication model, and multiple and appropriate communication strategies are functioning in the Public Works. The communication model and strategies are taken as the concerns of this paper because they help participants to feel the ownership of the projects, identify problems and act on them. However, the Productive Safety Net Program is not fully exploiting these communication approaches and strategies in its Public Works program. In terms of participation, encouraging moves are seen in the study area though the society’s culture and local authorities’ motives make fully harvesting its fruits hard. In terms of communication strategy, however, the program lacks clearly defined and appropriate communication strategies with which to tackle problems. Consequently, dependency of participants on the income from the Public Works program is found to be the prevailing problem in the area. Thus, the overall result of the study shows that lack of appropriate communication strategies and limited participatory level of the society in the Public Works programs as causing the people not to be committed to the work and not to be able to withdraw from dependent attitude.
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Safety Net Program