Policy highlights:

• Government strategies to promote social protection and those that promote agriculture in Ethiopia are closely intertwined. However, in their practical implementation negative interactions between the two sets of interactions have occurred. For instance, public works projects were implemented during the months leading up to the next harvest – at the peak of the hungry season, but also at the peak of the farming season. To promote sustainable agricultural growth and poverty reduction efforts should be made to achieve more synergy.
• Convergence between social protection and agriculture finds its fullest realisation in approaches to food security, as it embodies notions of both agricultural growth and attention to improved risk management.
• Examples of measures that offer meaningful synergies include: 1) weather-indexed crop insurance; 2) integrated drought risk management plan, combining investments in irrigation with financial assistance in case of crisis; 3) Voluntary Resettlement Programs (VRPs), facilitating relocation of farming families to promote agricultural production and reducing vulnerability; and 4) Household Extension Packages (HEPs), that provide assets and inputs packages for agricultural and non-agricultural activities