The reach of rural services in Ethiopia: an asset and gender-based public expenditure benefit incidence analysis

Agricultural extension and food security transfers have constituted the bulk of public spending in agriculture in Ethiopia. This article assesses who exactly is benefiting from this public spending, by undertaking a benefit incidence analysis of these programmes in agricultural areas. A mixed picture of these programmes emerges: extension provision generally has an incidence benefitting low health households. However, comparison between average and marginal benefit incidence suggests that additional expansion of the programme would be less pro-poor than the programme is as a whole. The benefit incidence of food/cash for works programmes is, interestingly, more progressive than free food/cash transfers, possibly reflecting varying effectiveness of different targeting mechanisms underlying these two. The gender incidence of extension is strongly skewed, reflecting a bias towards men.  [authors abstract]