The Role of Safety Net in Ensuring Food Security: The Case of East Harerghe Zone

TLDR: In this article, the authors examined the contribution of the Safety Net Project in three districts of East Hararghe zone towards household food security and concluded that the project did not reliably bring about changes in the livelihoods of the target households.

Abstract: Food insecurity affects large area and a large number of people in Ethiopia. Consequently, government and donor agencies have been collaboratively working to curb the problem. A case in point is the Safety Net project in Eastern Hararghe Zone. Nevertheless, corroboration is lacking to reveal the success of the project in ensuring household food requirements. The intent of this research, therefore, is to examine the contribution of Safety Net Project in three districts of East Hararghe zone towards household food security. The research is a descriptive and exploratory case study where both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. Analysis of the data based on standard food security model showed that the contribution of the project to increased mean household food availability is 67.4%. The data also showed that for a one percent increase in relief food, household food availability increases by 76 percent. However, 72.1% of the households could not meet the daily minimum recommended allowance of 2100 calorie per capita. By the same token, the asset creation role of the project was very minimal in that 67 % of the respondents revealed they were compelled to sell their assets. Therefore, it could be concluded that the project did not reliably bring about changes in the livelihoods of the target households. This calls for the formulation and implementation of well thought-out and sound project objectives, incorporation of indigenous knowledge at the various stage of the project, emphasizing on asset building strategies, critically reconsidering timeliness in delivering food and tackling delays and procrastinations, use of agricultural technologies such as irrigation, and conducting timely research by rendering significant latitude to the perception of the beneficiaries among others.