ADDITIONAL FINANCING FOR STRENGTHEN ETHIOPIA’S ADAPTIVE SAFETY NET PROJECT

active

The proposed project would be an Investment Project Financing with an estimated one third of the Bank credit allocated to Performance Based Indicators (PBC). The proposed project will support the fifth phase of the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). This phase of support will build on experiences and lessons learned from early phases of implementation and will seek to make key enhancements to the program under three components. Component 1: Adaptive Productive Safety Net. This component focuses on the delivery of safety net operations for core program clients. It includes: the delivery of core transfers; the implementation of the public works sub-projects by which most beneficiaries earn their safety net benefits; services for children between 1 and 5 years old; and, complementary livelihood services to enable PSNP beneficiaries to enhance and diversify their incomes. The component aims to address environmental degradation, mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, and support poor households’ adaptation to climate change. Component 2: Improve Shock Responsiveness of the Rural Safety Net. This component will support the expansion of PSNP to additional drought-prone woredas, invest in underlying systems to deliver timely and adequate assistance to households affected by drought shocks, and finance vertical and horizontal expansion of transfers in case of emergency (drought). The Component will enhance PSNP capacity to function as an integrated shock responsive social safety net, building on the Government of Ethiopia’s decision to consolidate the operational management of humanitarian food assistance and PSNP under the Food Security Coordination Directorate in the Ministry of Agriculture. This component also includes an Early Response Financing (ERF) Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) which will facilitate an early response to emerging food insecurity crises, to be financed through the Crisis Response Window (CRW). Component 3: Systems, Capacity Development, and Program Management Support. Activities in this component aim to consolidate several important initiatives to build systems under previous phases of the PSNP. This will enhance service delivery in the areas of payments, information for operations, and program dynamism and responsiveness to beneficiaries, including taking advantage of technology to improve the program’s efficiency and governance. This component will also provide institutional support to GoE to improve overall program management. It will finance the program management budgets at the federal and subnational levels. Financing will be provided for planning, implementation, and technical oversight of program activities such as implementation of safeguards requirements and financial, commodity, and procurement management. Support will also be provided for systems assessments, audits, pilots, and impact evaluations.