BENEFICIARIES’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS PRODUCTIVE SAFETY NET PROGRAM IN SELECTED RURAL KEBELES OF EBINAT WOREDA, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) is the biggest social protection schema in Sub-Saharan Africa as Ethiopia has remained the largest recipient of food aid. This paper examined the attitude of beneficiary households towards PSNP in selected kebeles of Ebinat woreda by using mixed research methods. In-depth interview, focus group discussions and questionnaire survey were used to collect the data while Likert Rating Scale and thematic analysis were employed to analyze and interpret the data. The result shows that the majorities of respondents have a strong feeling of dependency about the program itself and are keenly aware of how PSNP is important to them. However, they have a negative attitude towards the services they are gaining from PSNP and its implementation process. Specifically, the amount of cash, working time, school access to children, livestock accumulation and availability of food were found to be the lowest. Although the beneficiary households are extremely dependent on PSNP’s aid, the majority of them still complain about its services. Therefore, awareness has to be created to break their strong dependency and attachment towards aid by empowering them to search for sustainable and alternative livelihood strategies.