Baseline Survey Report of the Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience Phase II (SPIR II) Resilience Food Security Activity in Ethiopia

The second phase of the Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR) Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) aims to enhance livelihoods, increase resilience to shocks, and improve food security and nutrition for rural households vulnerable to food insecurity in Ethiopia. The RFSA is situated within Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) program, one of the largest safety net programs in Africa. Funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), SPIR II is implemented by World Vision International (lead), CARE, and ORDA in the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia.

The Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) SPIR II impact evaluation employs an experimental design with multiple treatment arms comparing combinations of livelihood and nutrition graduation model programming provided to PSNP beneficiaries relative to a control group receiving only PSNP transfers. The baseline survey for this impact evaluation was conducted in August–September 2022. This baseline report will provide an overview of the evaluation design, the survey conducted, and the key findings. These findings allow us to characterize the sample and verify the balance on observable characteristics across experimental arms.