Date: Tuesday, 3 December 2024, at 12:15 pm
Venue: Seminar Room Bruguier Pacini, DEM
Speaker and Title:
Habtamu Alamineh (University of Siena)
Seniors’ Food Insecurity During COVID-19 in Ethiopia: Beyond Social Protection
Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of social protection transfers on food insecurity among elderly households in Ethiopia during the pandemic periods. The study focuses on households with heads aged 60 and above, using data from the Ethiopia High-Frequency Phone Survey. Early free food assistance is associated with an increase in food insecurity, indicating the initial interventions were ineffective, whereas sustained assistance over time significantly reduces food insecurity. Participation in food or cash-for-work programs is linked to a decrease in food insecurity, while direct cash transfers often fail to alleviate it and may even worsen the situation. The impact analysis, employing the propensity score matching approach, reveals that households receiving free food assistance (the treated group) experience a marginal reduction in food insecurity, with an average marginal effect of -0.4% (0.013). However, this effect is statistically insignificant, as evidenced by the large standard error, suggesting that free food assistance does not meaningfully improve food security for the treated group relative to the control group. The finding highlights the need for policy measures to address food insecurity among elderly households by prioritizing productive social protection programs, such as food or cash-for-work assistance, while also empowering elders to boost their own resources, including non-farm businesses, savings, and investments.
Download area