Fighting famine is basic to endingpoverty and saving lives. Emergency aid, which arrives afterthe food has run out, isn't enough. Households most inneed of emergency aid often don't have enough foodduring other times of the year, posing a broader challengefor devising programs that can cut hunger and build foodsecurity. Social protection programs, including grants,social assistance and public works programs are one way totransform people's lives and protect them both beforeand when disaster strikes. What works and under whatcircumstances is what policymakers and development expertswant to know, especially those focused on famine breakoutsin Africa and Asia. In 2003, the Ethiopian governmentpartnered with donors and Non-Government Organizations(NGOs) to create a working coalition to improve foodsecurity for the poor. The result was the Productive SafetyNet Program (PSNP), which went into effect in 2005. Thisprogram, the largest of its kind in Africa, initiallytargeted 7.6 million people (8 percent of Ethiopia'spopulation) who suffered chronic food shortages and lived inareas prone to drought. Through a public works component anddirect grants for those who can't work, the programaims to help households meet their food needs, keepingpeople fed and reducing the need to sell off productiveassets. Ethiopian policymakers and international donors havelong struggled with the challenge of reducing poverty amidweather shocks that disrupt harvests and threaten householdswith starvation. After years of emergency aid programsdesigned to provide short-term relief, both Ethiopia anddonors wanted to create a program that could help peoplesecure and build their lives, rather than just react todisaster. The result is Ethiopia's PSNP, which usespublic works employment, social transfers and anagricultural asset-building program, to stabilize andstrengthen poor households.
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