Widespread poverty and vulnerability in pastoralist areas highlight the need to extend the provision of social protection to these populations. In the paper “Implementing social protection in pastoralist areas: low local distribution structures moderate PSNP outcomes in Ethiopia” (2011, 56pp), Rachel Sabates-Wheeler et al show that a programme design predicated on experiences in agrarian areas – Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) – does not readily transfer to pastoral areas because of the nature of distributional channels in these localities. They focus on three: practices of sharing within mutual support networks, the important role of informal authority structures in targeting and appealing decisions, and gendered dimensions of livelihoods and decision-making. They show how these have substantial implications for the design, delivery and outcomes of standard social-protection programmes that aim to build the assets of chronically food-insecure households.
A revised version of this paper was published in 2013 in World Development 50:1-12.
Posted on 18 March 2018 in Pastoralism & Services, Pastoralism, Gender & Youth, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition