Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia

Twenty years after the establishment of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), a major social protection system, the country’s government, donors, and other stakeholders are implementing multidimensional graduation model programs that are designed to complement the PSNP’s monthly food and cash transfers. Graduation models include multiple interventions such as large asset or lump-sum transfers, training, savings promotion, and other forms of nutrition, health, or psychosocial support. These models aim to move beyond cash or food transfers to ensure minimum consumption levels and address the multiple challenges that can trap poor households in poverty. 

This event will present findings from a randomized controlled trial of Strengthening PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR), a graduation model program embedded within the PSNP that is led by World Vision, in collaboration with CARE and ORDA, and with support from the Ethiopian government and USAID. Speakers will present evidence about the impact of this intervention across multiple domains, including health, nutrition, livelihoods, and women’s empowerment, and examine its implications for the design of graduation model interventions across low- and middle-income countries. This policy seminar builds on the SPIR II Learning Event conducted in Addis Ababa in 2023.

Welcoming Remarks

• Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, Senior Research Fellow/Program Leader- Ethiopia, IFPRI

SPIR: Overview of the Randomized Trial Design

• Daniel Gilligan, Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI

Can a Light-Touch Graduation Model Enhance Livelihood Outcomes and Resilience?

• Jessica Leight, Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI

Including Scalable Nutrition Interventions in a Graduation Model Program

• Harold Alderman, Senior Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI

Effectiveness of a Men’s Engagement Intervention to Change Attitudes and Behaviors

• Melissa Hidrobo, Senior Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI

Treating Depression Among the Extreme Poor

• Michael Mulford, Chief of Party, SPIR II, World Vision

Expert Panel

• Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics and Finance, Frederic Esser Nemmers Chair; Co-Director, Global Poverty Research Lab, Northwestern University; Chief Economist, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Margaux Vinez, Senior Economist; Africa, Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank

Moderators

• Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, Senior Research Fellow/Program Leader- Ethiopia, IFPRI

• Daniel Gilligan, Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI