Gudeta (PhD), KumelaAbebe, Girma2019-10-012023-11-182019-10-012023-11-182019-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/19270Safety net, in Gera Midir Wereda is not a mere program; it is one aspect of life. Being number one food insecure woreda in North Shoa Zone and probably Amhara Region, Gera Midir Wereda virtually lives on Safety Net Program. It has the highest number of Beneficiaries in all the zone. It has also the highest graduates though not as high as expected given the number of beneficiaries. This paper aims at examining determinants of graduation in the study area, exploring if it is sustainable and has supportive institutional set up. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research were employed. And cross sectional data was collected using a household survey questionnaires. Key informants both in the woreda and kebelles were interviewed. The data thus collected was presented and analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometrics model, in case of the quantitative data and Narrative method in case of the qualitative data. The major findings showed that determinants for graduation from PSNP were age of the household head, educational level of the household head, total size of cultivated land, amount of loan received, access to Household Asset Building Program, access to training and total household size at varying degree of significance. Other variables like access to irrigation, sex of the household head, use of fertilizer, use of improved seed, shocks and land fragmentation did not show significant influence on graduation. From the qualitative data we found out that low level of expenditure on public works like irrigation, natural resource management, high dependency and risk averse behavior prevented the safety net program from evolving to productive level, causing it to remain unsustainable. The institutional set up was found conductive of the program implementation. To improve the program, implementers should focus on increased expenditure on public capital like irrigation and forests, creation of market links, changing attitude by trainings as well as skill and confidence building trainings that enable households to use more credit and more irrigation. These in turn enables them to change their life and move off the productive safety net program.enThesis