Production choices and nutrition related implications in Ethiopia: Baseline report on the Improved Nutrition through Integrated Basic Social Services with Social Cash Transfer (IN SCT) Pilot Programme

The Improved Nutrition through Integrated Basic Social Services with Social Cash Transfer (IN-SCT) is a three-year pilot programme implemented by the Government of Ethiopia, with funding from UNICEF and Irish Aid. The programme started in the end of 2015 and currently covers two districts (woredas) in each of the following regions: Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP). The IN-SCT is an integral part of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in the latter’s fourth phase (2015-2018). The IN-SCT programme aims to enhance access to social services by fostering coresponsibilities for two groups of PNSP clients: Permanent Direct Support clients, receiving 12 months of transfers per year; and Temporary Direct Support clients, Public Works clients who are temporarily transitioning to the Direct Support components, based on certain circumstances, such as being pregnant or lactating or being a caretaker of a malnourished child, and are receiving six months of cash transfers with soft conditionalities. The IN-SCT programme expands the PSNP4 by offering an integrated package of multi-sectoral nutrition services. In SNNP, the programme supports the nutrition-sensitive interventions under PSNP and also undertakes activities to improve the quality of health services offered. In Oromia, a less intensive version of the IN-SCT programme is being implemented.