New Report on Savings and Rural Livelihoods  »

KIM WILSON |  FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2011 AT 9:38AM

Today, the Feinstein Center at Tufts University released this report on savings groups, livelihoods and value chains in Ethiopia. While the report looks promising, the methodology needs scrutiny. In a nutshell: the baseline and first impact assessment were done concurrently.

“The PSNP Plus project started in the last quarter of 2008 and aims to link PSNP participants to both formal microfinance and (in the interim or absence of this) to informal microfinance by establishing Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC). The project also attempts to link PSNP households to markets through the development of different types of commodity value chains. InRaya Azebo the PSNP Plus project activities started in early 2009, and the project is supporting a cereal (teff) value chain and two livestock value chains (cattle fattening and sheep fattening). This study focuses on the two livestock value chains.”

If you can make your way through the acronyms, there may be some golden nuggets for those interested in livestock, savings groups, and crop value chains. Find the report by searching for “Linking Poor Rural Households to Microfinance and Markets in Ethiopia,” (John Burns and Soloman Bogale).