Linking food aid and food security in Ethiopia

This research program aims to contribute to ongoing reforms in food aid and food security policies through studying the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) and surrounding food security policies in Ethiopia. Since 1984, annually more than 5 million people have received food aid in this country, creating a situation of chronic food insecurity. The new Food Security Policy has the double aim to protect people against hunger and asset depletion, and lift them out of poverty. It is a joint initiative of the Government of Ethiopia and the international community. The programme will identify and analyze the crucial sectoral, horizontal and vertical linkages between policies implementation and livelihood strategies of vulnerable populations targeted by food security programmes. It is composed of three subprojects. The first project will investigate the linkages between people?s perceptions and practices to cope with drought and food insecurity on the one hand and food security interventions (emergency aid and PSNP) on the other. The second project targets the institutional linkages and gaps that promote or impede the sectoral, horizontal and vertical integration of food security programmes. The third will focus on the linkages between food security programmes in Ethiopia and international approaches to food aid and food security. The programme combines the approach of Disaster Studies, focusing on situations of crisis and vulnerable populations with a focus on long-term processes of institutional change from a Governance and Development perspective. Increasingly it is recognized that the manifold ways in which people respond to crisis display a large degree of continuity and that institutions are molded by crisis. The researchers will make use of qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study of secondary sources and ethnographic field work in both village and institutional settings. The project will produce 3 PhD theses, a number of articles and an edited volume. The researchers will also engage in workshops, dialogue and dissemination meetings and produce separate publications to popularize the results of the research. A contribution will be made to improve the performance of institutional actors, by providing insights on the working of policy and on the patterns of interaction between them. Dissemination and validation of the results will be guaranteed through collaboration with various stakeholders in the PSNP and policy dialogue. Furthermore, a contribution will be made to capacity building through the new department of Sustainable Development and Disaster Management of Bahir Dar University.