Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of productive safety net program on
asset accumulation. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data were
collected through structured questionnaire from 162 participant and 201 non participant
sample households of four kebeles. using cross-sectional data, the study examines the impact of
productive safety net program on three outcomes such as tropical livestock unit, productive asset
and non-productive asset. Since there is no baseline survey in the study area the study used
propensity score matching to match participant with non-participant households. Based on the
econometrics estimation results participation in the productive safety net programs was
significantly influenced by household characteristics, such as sex of household head, age of
household head, family size, education level, number of adult labor force and household distance
from market. The researcher found that productive safety net program has significant negative
impact on both tropical livestock unit and non-livestock asset. The negative value indicates that
households receiving program benefits have lower value of assets than control groups. The study
also found that the beneficiary households were used the transfer mainly for consumption
purpose. Thus, program designers at higher levels, implementers at lower levels and funding
agents should re-evaluate the program to bring the positive impact on the participants asset and
to achieve the program objectives.