POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING.

Abstract

The government of Ethiopia has been running the Rural Productive Safety Net Program (RPSNP) since 2005. RPSNP is one means of reducing rural poverty. Thus, this study aims to examine the contribution of RPSNP in enhancing female-headed households’ food security and asset building in Goncha Siso Ense woreda, Amhara region. The researcher used mixed concurrent research approach to analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. It also used a cross-sectional research design. Both primary and secondary data were employed. Descriptive statistics and the econometric model were applied for analyzing quantitative data. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze factors that affect households' food security. Paired T-test was used to assess the contribution of RPSNP to the asset accumulation of the household.The findings of the study show that the main selection criterion of beneficiary of the productive safety net program was the amount of farmland available and livestock owned in the household 41.8%, 30.6% respectively. The results indicate that the main type of support from a program was monetary support in the form of cash. The majority of (67.4%) households were improved their current food security status after RPSNP intervention as compared to before RPSNP intervention. In the same way, after joining RPSNP, the livestock holdings, housing quality, farm equipment, and house equipment of these households increased. However, the main challenges of RPSNP implementation were found to be the lack of community participation in public work activities, delay in payment, and distance of payment from Kebele. The binary logistic regression models also showed that household size, farmland size, agricultural input, income, age, livestock, family labor, and agricultural shock significantly affected household food security. Finally, the study recommends that each female headed household should be encouraged to participate in non farm activities, and agricultural extension workers should introduce land-intensive agricultural production technologies.