From Aid to Assets? The Effects of Food-for-Work on School Participation in Rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Although the impacts of the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia have been widely studied, the effects on children’s welfare and school participation are relatively new areas of interest. Applying the framework of the agricultural household model and incorporating the related issue of household labor endowment, two rounds of a panel from the region of Tigray will be used for analysis. The Food-for-Work elements of the Program will be of special focus. Comparing output obtained through Difference-in-Difference and Random Effects estimation, the results indicate a positive effect of Food-for-Work on school participation, and partly support hypotheses regarding gender and age disaggregated labor endowment. Per capita endowment of adult equivalent labor units does not appear to be significant by either estimation method.