Ethiopia’s Food Security Programme (FSP) has aimed to alleviate hunger and poverty through several programmes since 2005. A new Future Agricultures report (pdf) identifies the main enablers and constrainers of resilience and graduation from food and cash support provided through the FSP.

Graduation describes a household’s move from dependence on external assistance, to a condition where they no longer need this support. The constraining and enabling factors described in the report are related to the programme itself, to beneficiaries, locations, markets and environmental factors. The report analyses these in turn, and draws a set of conclusions and implications for policy and for organisations who aim to support food security in Ethiopia. The research covers eight communities from four woredas in Tigray and Oromia regions, providing contrasting results.

The report was commissioned by CARE to help understand the wider context and constraints in which food insecure households manage and cope. Since December 2009, CARE and FARM Africa (FA) have been collaborating in the implementation of a Food Security – Increased Incomes, Assets and Protection from Grain Price Rises (FS-IAP) project – funded under the Food Facility programme of the European Union.

Download: Assessing Enablers and Constrainers of Graduation: Evidence from Ethiopia’s Food Security Programme (pdf, 518kb)

Photo: Tigrayan farmer, from Evgeni Zotov’s photostream on Flickr