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Safety Nets and Livelihoods Thematic Group

Together, CANGO’s membership intervenes in most regions of Ethiopia, giving it a wide access to information and support infrastructure throughout the country. Numerous member organisations have a strong programming focus on food security (incl. CARE, Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB), Christian Children’s Fund (CCFC), CHF Partners, Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR), Food for the Hungry (FHI), Save the Children Canada and World Vision). Other CANGO members have specialised expertise in the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA).

Within CANGO, the Thematic Group on Safety Nets and Livelihoods (SN&L) provides a necessary forum within which members can communicate their experiences, in programming and in research. The SN&L members are dedicated to sharing best practices and new developments within the Ethiopian context.

Mr Andrew Barnes, Country Director for Food for the Hungry – Ethiopia, is the elected “Thematic Lead” for the SN&L Thematic Group. The members of this Thematic Group meet every quarter. The following organisations are members of this group:

• Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB)
• Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR)
• CARE - Ethiopia
• CHF – Partners in Rural Development
• Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC)
• Food for the Hungry International – Ethiopia (FHI/E)
• Oxfam Canada
• Save the Children Canada
• World Vision – Ethiopia (WV/E)

Food Security, Safety Nets and Livelihoods in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has been plagued with food insecurity for decades, particularly in the drought-prone rural areas. Despite massive resources invested each year into humanitarian aid and food security programs, the problem persists in the face of decades of development assistance. In the effort to ensure food security, the GoE established the National Coalition for Food Security Program with its donor partners that incorporates lessons learned in famine prevention and provides strategies to combat poverty and food insecurity while laying foundations for sustainable development. The strategies emerged out of a shared recognition that annual emergency appeal to deal with hunger and food insecurity may not be the most effective way of dealing with predictable hunger.

NGOs, including most members of the Canadian NGO Network in Ethiopia (CANGO), have been working at a community level with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to implement the country’s poverty reduction strategy: the New Coalition for Food Security. But with the launch of the GoE’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in 2005, it has become apparent that new and innovative coordinating and implementation mechanisms are needed, coordinating with the PSNP, if chronically food insecure households are to be elevated to the threshold necessary to enjoy self-resilient and sustainable livelihoods.

Currently, the GoE relies on two forms of assistance which are considered absolutely critical to saving lives. The first is the Emergency Appeal which provides a cushion to the ‘acute’ food insecure and varies depending on the nature and spread of the emergency. The second is the PSNP, part of the larger federal Food Security Program (FSP), which targets the ‘chronic’ food insecure. The goal of the PSNP is to address the basic food needs of chronically food insecure households (HHs) through multi-year predicable resources, “in a way that prevents asset depletion at the HH level and creates assets at the community level” . The program transfers cash or food in exchange for labour on public works projects, as well as a direct support component for those unable to work.

The effectiveness of grassroots level implementation of livelihoods programming in chronically food insecure communities is integrally linked with the success of PSNP, OFSP and other FS interventions in delivering their benefits. Mechanisms and processes for an efficient and effective "Three C’s" modality (Cooperation Coordination Collaboration) are crucial to maximize results on the path to livelihood security.

Revised Ethiopia Safety Net PIM, July 2006
[PDF file, Size: 308 KB]

Why Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA)?
Whichever way it is considered, the large numbers of PSNP beneficiaries in Ethiopia have all experienced some form of livelihood failure, both in terms of their current state and the processes which have brought them to that state. The tools offered by the SLA provide an appropriate conceptual framework for the analysis of the productive assets available to and livelihood strategies pursued by individuals and households, as well as the contextual environment within which decisions are made. SLA allows the SN&L Thematic Group to look beyond the goal of food security at the root causes of vulnerability and the role of social capital in defining livelihood security. The diversity of livelihoods practiced in Ethiopia presents particular challenges for policy-makers and development actors. The members of the SN&L Thematic Group are dedicated to the promotion of livelihood-specific policy and programme approaches, with the support of SLA.

Safety Nets Livelihoods Charter Final (Adopted Nov. 16, 2007)
[PDF file, Size: 72 KB]