This brief examines the lessons that can be learnt from Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP). The PSNP was implemented by the Government of Ethiopia in January 2005, with technical and financial support from a joint donor group that includes the Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank. The first phase of PSNP implementation ran until December 2006, during which period the necessary institutional structures, implementation capacity, financing modalities and financial management systems were put in place. Also during 2006, a comprehensive appraisal was undertaken on several aspects related to the implementation and impacts of the PSNP. This appraisal included reports on PSNP targeting, institutional and programme linkages, and livelihood impacts. The purpose of these three linked reports was to provide an assessment of the first phase of PSNP implementation from which recommendations towards the second phase, launched in 2007, could be made. By examining Ethiopia’s PSNP through these three reports, lessons can be drawn on running a scaled-up national safety net programme in other parts of Africa.