ABSTRACT
Ethiopia's economy has grown at an average of 11 per cent per annum for the past decade, reducing income poverty (below US$1.25 a day) from 44 per cent of the population in 1999 to about 29.6 per cent in 2011. This chapter provides the findings of a study that asked these questions in Ethiopia. It describes various forms of informal social protection organisations (ISPOs), their scope and coverage, their governance arrangements, and how the government could support these organisations to complement and expand state services. The study was carried out in 2012–2013 in four areas, mapping all Non-state actors (NSAs) and an in-depth focus on 31 ISPOs and 274 beneficiaries. In Ethiopia, the main institutions for collective action at the community level are Iddir, Iqqub, Mahiber/Senbete, and self-help groups. In 2005, Ethiopia's Ministry of Capacity Building (MCB) estimated that 39 million people participate in Iddir, 21 million in Iqqub, and another 9 million in a variety of self-help organisations.
