Household Welfare in Ethiopia: Essays on Social Protection, Food Security, and Clean Energy

This dissertation brings together three empirical studies that investigate Ethiopia’s pressing issues—food security, social protection, and clean cooking—and examines them in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper begins with the problem of food insecurity and concludes by highlighting electrification as a sustainable solution. Chapter 1, titled “Social Protection Responses: Shocks and Food Security of Elderly Households in Ethiopia’’, pursues three main objectives: first, to identify the determinants of elderly households’ participation in social protection programs; second, to examine the causal impacts of these programs on food security outcomes among elderly-headed households; and third, to analyze the relationship between covariate and idiosyncratic shocks and food security among the elderly. The paper draws on three waves of balanced household panel data from the ESS: 2011/12, 2013/14, and 2015/16. Methodologically, the study employs IV estimation, PSM, logit, and random effects models, as well as subsample analyses that account for temporal and regional variation. The results show that the impacts and associations of social protection programs with food security are inconsistent across models. The policy implications underscore the need for inclusive, gender-sensitive, and shock-responsive social protection systems in Ethiopia that effectively address both covariate and idiosyncratic shocks, taking into account the differing needs of rural and urban households. Chapter 2, titled “Beyond Social Protection: Elders’ Food Insecurity in Ethiopia During COVID-19”, examines the dynamics of food insecurity among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter has two main objectives: (1) to investigate the roles of social transfers, protective security, and economic participation in shaping food insecurity; and (2) to evaluate the causal impact of free food assistance on mitigating food insecurity during the pandemic. The study uses six rounds of Ethiopia’s High-Frequency Phone Survey conducted between April and October 2020. It applies linear mixed-effects models, PSM, logit regressions, item-based assessments, and subsample analyses. The findings indicate that social transfers—such as free food, food-for-work, and direct cash transfers—have no significant effect on food insecurity. In contrast, economic participation—through income from property, investments, and savings, wage employment, and engagement in farming or non-farming activities—substantially reduces the risk of food insecurity. Chapter 3, titled “Clean Energy Access, Social Protection, and Welfare Outcomes: Insights from Ethiopian Households”, expands the discussion by linking clean energy access with social protection and welfare outcomes. This chapter explores three main objectives: (1) to assess the impact of electric cooking adoption on household food insecurity, business working hours, and participation in paid work; (2) to evaluate the effects of social protection programs, including PSNP and free food aid, on food insecurity, business operating hours, and participation in paid work; and (3) to investigate the heterogeneous effects of electric cooking and social protection programs by household location, gender, and age. The paper uses two waves of the ESS (2018/19 and 2021/22) and employs fixed-effects models, PSM, IV estimation, and subsample analyses. The findings indicate that participation in both PSNP and food aid programs causally increases food insecurity overall. However, PSNP is associated with a greater reduction in food insecurity among younger adults than older adults. This effect is partly driven by PSNP’s causal reduction of paid work, a mechanism not observed for food aid programs.