Ethiopian Development Studies Association
A Multidisciplinary Conference on
the Challenges & Opportunities for
Sustainable Development in Ethiopia
& the Greater Horn of Africa
November 12-14, 2009
Adama University, Adama, Ethiopia
Aba Geda Hall, Adama City, Oromia State, Ethiopia
SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF C0NTRIBUTED PAPERS
(October 28, 2009)
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Climate change impacts and responses in the Southern lowlands of Ethiopia
Alebachew Adem & Aklilu Amsalu, Forum for Social Sciences & Department of Geography,
Addis Ababa University
ABSTRACT: Climate change is rapidly emerging as one of the most serious threats that
humanity may ever face. Although no country is immune from climate change, poor countries
which contributed least to the problem are the most vulnerable and least adaptive to its
impacts. In Ethiopia, global climate change poses particular risks to poor farmers and
pastoralists who have an immediate daily dependence on climate sensitive livelihoods and
natural resources. The limited economic, institutional and logistical capacity to mitigate and
adapt to climate change exacerbates the vulnerability of millions of farmers and herders to
climate change-induced hazards. The impacts range from recurrent drought and loss of
biodiversity, rangelands and soil nutrients, to catastrophic floods and declining livestock and
food production. Some of the challenges of this environmental change such as local and
regional food insecurity and hunger are still high on the agenda of Ethiopia’s development
goals. Despite the vulnerability of Ethiopia to the impacts of global climate change and weather
extremes, and the recognition of this by the Ethiopian government, research-generated
knowledge on regional and local impacts of climate change, locally available adaptation and
mitigation measures and other community responses are seriously inadequate. Although an
enormous amount of resource, time, and energy have gone into reactive disaster response
measures, poverty reducing and agricultural production boosting strategies, poverty, food
insecurity, and catastrophic environmental hazards such as droughts, floods, diseases and pests
remained the major threats to the overwhelming majority of the country’s populations and
regions. Very little attention has still been given to empirically analyze the root causes of the
complex and multifaceted developmental challenges of the country posed by the threat of
climate change. In the absence of such empirical research generated knowledge, however,
attempts to improve the quality of poor households and bring about development through
attaining food self-sufficiency would be unrealistic especially in the hazard-prone areas of the
country. This paper is tries to identify major climate change induced hazards, impacts and local
level responses in the southern lowlands of Ethiopia and provide inputs for “climate proof”
development interventions and policy formulation.
Linking Urban Planning with Ecologically Sensitive areas in Kamwenge town,
Uganda: Lessons for the Greater Horn of Africa
Juliet Akola, Tendayi Gondo. Dafuleya Gift, Zibagwe Scelo, Ethiopian Civil Service College, Addis
Ababa
ABSTRACT: The unrestricted growth and development of many cities around the world has
habitually posed a threat to ecologically sensitive areas in many countries. Effective
management of such fragile areas in urban centers has to begin with sound environmental
plans. The paper discusses the latent function of urban planning in managing the urban
environment of Kamwenge town in western Uganda. An exploratory case study approach was
employed in which questionnaires and interviews with key informants were used to generate
empirical data. Results reveal that Kamwenge’s ecologically sensitive areas including wetlands,
forests and hilltops are under threat.
There is an unprecedented encroachment of human activities into ecologically sensitive areas,
owing to lack of development control enforcement. The result has been a complex amalgam of
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human induced environmental challenges such as pollution, deforestation and wetland
destruction. Achieving sustainability in fragile ecosystems has been hampered by such
limitations as limited financial resources by the town council, including a weak institutional
capacity to manage and protect such environments. Where land use plans exist, proper
implementation has often been difficult. There also exist a number of urban planning tools,
which however have not been synchronized into the management of environmentally sensitive
areas. The current institutional setup for the management of fragile areas points to the
dichotomy that exists between environmental management agencies and urban planning. We
have proposed an integrated approach towards solving encroachment related complexities so
as to attain sustainable management of fragile environments for the greater horn of Africa.
Exploring the Challenges and Prospects of Transforming Higher Education
Institutions in Ethiopia
Elizabeth Ayalew, Addis Ababa University and Sisay Asefa Western Michigan University
ABSTRACT: The African Public University has declined from its glory days of its inception in
1950s and 1960s for various reasons. The changes observed in the international Higher
Education landscape along with many other social and economic factors in general have
contributed to this decline in status. This calls for reform in local Higher Education Institutions
to overcome the challenges and improve academic quality. One of the alternatives of such a
potential transformation in Higher Education that this paper proposes is through academic
linkages and constructive engagements with international academic communities. It
recommends that such an engagement be driven by the intellectual Diaspora in the
international arena. With the general objective of stimulating reflection on several major issues
related to changes and the subsequent challenges in HE, this paper examines the developments
that the Ethiopian Higher Education system has undergone in light of the global demands that
continue to impose changes on the system. It discusses internationalization of Higher Education
as a means of coping with these changes and suggests particular actions that can be employed
to engage the Diaspora and promote internationalization within Higher Education Institutions in
Ethiopia.
Preference To Forms Of Land Conservation Investments: The Role Of Poverty,
Land Tenure Security, And Market Incentives: An Example From The Highlands
of Amhara Region, Ethiopia
Genanew Bekele,Genanew Bekele & Fredrich Schneider, University of Dubai & University of
Linz, Austria
ABSTRACT: Building its framework from the random utility model, this article used the
multinomial logistic model to examine the factors leading to differences in the farmhousehold’s preference among the various forms of land conservation investment measures.
Using the recent (third round,(2004/2005) rural household survey (of 4,795 household-plot
level observations) on the farm-household behavior regarding sustainable land conservation
use in the Ethiopian highlands of East Gojam and South Wello zones of the Amhara region, this
article demonstrates the inappropriateness of pooling the different forms of land conservation
investments in preference studies. The empirical result suggests that poverty seams to drive
farm-households towards short-term land conservation measures (such as grass covers,
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contour farming and forestation) that are less expensive (in terms of time, labor and money)
and less skill entailing than long-term land conservation measures (such as rock or soil
terracing, ditch digging and ’kitir’ works). While land tenure security has mixed effect on farmhousehold’s preference, their access to market in general seems not to matter for the
household’s decision as to which form of land conservation investment to prefer. Moreover,
farm-households also consider the characteristics of the plot when deciding which land
conservation investment to prefer for its particular plot, and their preference various across
villages. All in all, this article exhibited that farm-household’s preference as to which form of
land conservation investment to undertake on its particular plot is a complex choice decision.
And the major
Changes in land conservation investments will require attention to many factors as no single
factor is controlling enough to be used single-handedly as a major policy leverage instrument.
Food Aid and Adult Nutrition in Rural Ethiopia
Nzinga H. Broussard Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, Claremont McKenna College,
Claremont, California, USA
ABSTRACT: Understanding the role that safety nets play in adult nutrition is an important
contribution to understanding the dynamics of poverty in developing countries. In this paper, I
use panel data from rural Ethiopia on individual nutritional status to test whether there is an
effect of public transfers on nutritional levels for adults. I run individual fixed effects regressions
of nutritional status, measured by adult body mass index, on aid receipts. Results show that
among adult household members, male adult members are the primary beneficiaries of food
aid. Results also show that it is the male recipients who tend to invest aid receipts in adult
household members. For low-asset households, male and female recipients tend to invest aid
receipts in male household members. These results are consistent with a theory in which
additional resources are allocated to members of the household whose market returns are
higher or engage in activities that expend higher levels of energy.
Ethiopia and the Greater Horn of Africa: Human Security Strategic Trajectories
for Achieving Middle Income Status in 2020
BT Costantinos, Faculty of Business and Economics, Addis Ababa University
ABSTRACT: Issues: From Darfur to the jungles of the River Zaire, from the Eritrean plateau to
South Sudan, from trouble Somalia to the genocidal communities of Rwanda and Burundi, from
the violent cities and borders of Kenya to Northern Uganda; new faces and forces of
vulnerability and poverty haunt the Greater Horn of Africa sub-region. Conflicts, corruption,
disasters, poverty, and pandemics now threaten the sub-region with a calamity unforeseen
even during the Great African Famine of the 1980s, so much so that the G8 has made this a
basket case for international action. The world is united in its belief that famine is preventable
in the 21" century. Famine, food insecurity, and malnutrition, where more than 20 million
people remain threatened, have many complex causes, and defeating them will require a global
partnership with the private sector. The research primarily depended on empirical research and
secondary findings.
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Conclusion: After the G20 meeting in the UK, the IMF response to the current crisis and recent
food/fuel shocks been has not been effective, because the IMF has not reacted in a timely
manner with its heavy bureaucratic juggernaut in addressing in an effective and timely manner
the challenges facing LICs in program design, review and available finance financing. In a similar
manner, the WB’s response to the current crisis and food/fuel shocks has been ineffective, due
to the lack of direction on how to deal with the crises more flexibly as their existing instruments
are designed to react and not to respond in a flexible and timely manner provided appropriate
in its support to LICs, let alone protecting the most vulnerable. Breaking the Cycle of Famine in
the Greater Horn of Africa requires a viable human security and human development
framework. Human security, a post-Cold War concept, is a multi-disciplinary understanding of
security involving a number of research fields, which equates security with people’s wellness;
ensuring freedom from want, freedom from fear and addressing national and the global
concerns of human security through a new paradigm of SHD, capturing the potential peace
dividend, a new form of development co-operation and a restructured system of global
institutions; with the scope of global security expanded to include threats in economic, food,
health, environmental, personal and community securities. This entails supporting peace and
security strategies, education and training, land use planning and land reform, rural
infrastructure development and working in a coordinated fashion to develop agricultural
markets. It also entails facilitation of regional economic integration, improving emergency
assessment and response systems, raising agricultural productivity in food insecure countries
and promoting rural development, boosting agricultural productivity and rural development
through the private sector focusing on institutional capacity.
Leveraging Diasporas’ Remittances through Microfinance Institutions for
Effective Ethiopian Development Finance
Gift Dafuleya, Ethiopian Civil Service College, Addis Ababa
ABSTRACT: Remittances received from the Ethiopian Diaspora have been on an upward trend
for the past decade and have shown resilience towards the current financial crises that has
slowed down the global economy. Reviewing empirical literature show the importance of
remittances in enabling investment in education, health and entrepreneurship, causing
currency appreciation, counter cycling economic depressions and reducing poverty. The
remittance figures, however, exclude informal remittances, which reduce reliability of Balance
of Payment statistics, indirectly lessen the impact of monetary policies and directly influence
exchange rates in the underground market. Official data shows that the impact of remittance
flows on the Ethiopian economy is statistically insignificant. However, given that over the last
four years remittances have been increasing at a pace different from the previous, leveraging of
both formal and informal remittances need to be an important financial development goal. I
show that Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) are better placed to bring about this development
because of their proximity to remittance-receiving families, ability to easily integrate both the
formal and the informal sectors and deal with small transaction where personal relations
matter. Policy should operate both by removing restriction on financial products that can be
available for MFIs and by availing access of MFIs to the clearing and settlement system to
improve competition and reduce remittance costs.
Keywords: Diaspora, remittances, microfinance institutions, development finance
5
Analysis of Behavior of Private Investment in Response to Fiscal Policy Changes
in SSA
Fikru Debele, Department of Economics Arba Minch University, Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: Despite the belief that fiscal policy measures can influence both economic growth
and private investment attempts like the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) and Poverty
Reduction Strategic Papers (PRSP) have not brought that much promising results in Sub‐
Saharan Africa(SSA). If so, Can policy makers help enhance the performance of private
investment in the region through fiscal policy changes? In an attempt to answer this question,
annual panel data for the period 1986‐ 2003 for twenty-three countries in the region was
employed.
The data set depicted the persistence of heterogeneity among the countries. The fixed effects
model was applied based on specification tests. The regression output indicated that private
investment is positively responsive to previous period fiscal policy measures, per capita GDP
and its growth rate. However, current period fiscal policy measures, domestic credit to the
private sector, real exchange rate, inflation, and the size of government control in the exchange
rate market appeared insignificant in affecting private investment in the region. Debt servicing
significantly and negatively encouraged private investment, while debt stock was not found
doing so. The conclusion is that previous period policy measures are more influential in
promoting private investment in SSA. Besides, high debt servicing reduces resource availability
for domestic investment immediately than huge external debt stock, whose repayment may be
cancelled, at least based on conditions, as observed in HIPCs case.
Actual and potential role of stories and storytelling among marginalized
occupational minorities in Southern Ethiopia
Federica De Sisto, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland.
ABSTRACT: Throughout Ethiopia there are minority groups of craft workers and hunters that are
excluded from the mainstream society. Pottery is fundamental for carrying water and making
food, hoes and iron plough shares are essential for agriculture; cotton cloth is indispensable for
clothing; leather products are used for transporting grain or storing. And yet, the specialized
workers who produce these items have such a low status that many of them are still considered
to be “not human” by their surrounding majorities. The phenomenon of marginalised
occupational minorities is so widespread in the country that Levine described it as a “panEthiopian cultural trait”. This paper aims at exploring the role of culture in perpetrating the
discrimination against occupational minorities and its potential to lessen it in the societies in
which they live.
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7Non-Governmental
7
Organizations (NGOs): Economic and Social Impact of
Environmental Policies in Ethiopia
Robert Dibie, Indiana University-Kokomo, Indiana, USA
ABSTRACT: This paper examines and analyses the economic and social impact of environmental
policies in Ethiopia. The paper explores the current dynamics of urbanization and its effect on
citizens’ daily life. It also examines the complexity of the environmental management processes
and the implementation of conventional and nonconventional policies in Ethiopia. It argues that
increased diversity and partnership with environmental stakeholders could contribute to positive
economic and social impact of environmental policies in Ethiopia. It evaluated how
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) programs have helped to prevent environmental
degradation in the rural areas of Ethiopia. The analysis of environmental policies and population
growth control programs in Ethiopia reveals that they have not been effective. The concluding
section of the paper recommends some policies that could help alleviate poverty, environmental
protection awareness as well as engage citizens in appropriate contribution to solving the nation’s
sustainable development problems. It contends that the choice of community base approach and
related options could help to positively improve the social impact of environmental policy in
Ethiopia.
The potential of biodiversity for the sustainable development of Ethiopia
Kassahun Embaye. Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: The variety and variability of organisms in a given area and the web of complex
interactions within them and their surroundings is biodiversity. The assemblage of various
organisms in a given land feature and their interactions within them and their environment
form a distinct biological system called ecosystem. Each of the organisms within an ecosystem
and each of the various ecosystems have enumerable potentials for socio-economic growth and
development. Ethiopia is one of the twelve food crop diversity rich countries in the world.
About ten percent of the Ethiopian biodiversity is estimated to be endemic, found only in
Ethiopia. However, only a very small portion of this richness of organisms and ecosystems are
known at various levels. A dismal proportion of these known types are partially but never fully
characterized to gene level. Thus a tiny portion of the potential of these species is so far
ascertained. Only an exceedingly small proportion of these ascertained potentials are being
realized for socio-economic growth and development, mostly at subsistence level. Thus the
prospect for Ethiopia’s socio-economic growth and development through effective and efficient
use of this latent resource is enormous. To sustain is to maintain in perpetuity in its present
state of dynamism or steady state. Thus, sustainability literally gives the impression of
everlasting. However nothing on this dynamic earth is truly everlasting. Development (socioeconomic) means progression, advancement, improvement, betterment and these are not
naturally unending. It is practically impossible to take them further and beyond their maximum
potential, which is determined by various factors and their interactions, without jeopardizing
sustainability.
Sustainability limit of natural resources is actually one of the primary factors that determine the
optimum sustainable socio-economic development potential, as the resource available for
sustainable use without disturbing the delicate balances within the natural resources and their
environment has to be limited below the threshold level of any particular ecosystem. However,
7
the range of uses of biodiversity and ecosystems could expand almost indefinitely with the
ever-growing knowledge of the genetic materials and their potential use through unending
advancement of science and technology. Perpetual increase in human knowledge and skill in
biodiversity conservation at all levels and scales also improves the content and sustainability of
biological systems. In this context biodiversity and sustainable development are mutually
linked. The actual and potential contribution of biodiversity to the socio-economic
development of Ethiopia and its environment is described. The need to sustain the biological
resource base itself in order to enable it to effectively propel sustainable development is
emphasized. Biodiversity conservation, sustainable utilization and access and benefit sharing
efforts being made by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation are highlighted as essential
prerequisites for sustainable development. Achievement and maintenance of perpetual
harmony between economic prosperity and biodiversity resource base wellbeing is
recommended as a precondition for the sustainable development of Ethiopia.
Space Technology for Development
Birhanu Fufa, Chen Zhao-Bo, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
ABSTRACT: New and emerging technologies, like space technology, are rapidly expanding, and
will greatly enhance the productive capabilities and wealth of those countries and entities that
are making judicious and appropriate investments in them. These technologies will govern
future human interactions worldwide and dominate global economic activities in the 21 st
century. Space technology has brought unprecedented benefits to humankind, although more
for developed than developing countries. This paper outlines the role of space technology for
developing countries, the challenges for implementation and the fundamental steps to be
followed to ensure that this technology will be a catalyst for the expected development.
Gender Audit of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia
Mendida Gemechisa, Adama University
ABSTRACT: The main objective of the Gender audit at MoFED was to promote organizational
learning at the individual, work unit and office level. The results of the audit are believed to
enable MoFED to effectively implement gender mainstreaming in polices, programs and
structure of the Organization. The study aimed at identifying MoFED’s plans at program and
organizational levels and actions in relation to its Gender responsiveness. In order to
accomplish this goal, out of the total number of 726 (386 female) MoFED staffs, 95 (14 female)
MoFED staffs were taken as a sample population representing all staffs from all levels. In
addition, relevant documents were assessed. Interview questions were also employed to gather
information that was not obtained through the questionnaire. And results from the
questionnaire, document review and interview questions were triangulated to make analysis
and to forward recommendations. Further, at the end of the first draft of the research a
workshop was given to some of the staffs in which they gave reflections, which modified
recommendations. Results show that Gender responsiveness of MoFED’s structure and
Decision-making process lacks support by Gender policy, which staffs confuse with. This shows
that MoFED needs to produce Gender policy. which allows the organization to design
Monitoring and Evaluation system to achieve policy objectives. However, there have not been
gender-mainstreaming guidelines, which arise from the national policy. Gender responsiveness
of MoFED organizational culture shows that male and female staffs perceive gender issues
8
differently. Generally, job stereotypes are found to spread widely.
However, results show Gender equity fits in to the image of MoFED. The women Affairs
Department has been working on building desired organizational culture that is women
friendly. The human resource management policy and practice show that more men are
qualified than women, with better qualification as most of the women staffs do have inferior
educational qualifications for various reasons. Results also show that Gender sensitiveness of
MoFED program/projects is evident. MoFED's technical support for Gender mainstreaming is
found to influence staff’s perception towards Gender issues positively since a few years now.
The Impact of Contested Governance on the Development of South Sudan
Elke Grawert, Institute for Intercultural and International Studies, University of Bremen,
Germany
ABSTRACT: Starting from a discussion of the development programmes for South Sudan of the
regional Government of South Sudan (GOSS) and the international aid agencies, this paper
looks into the roles of the two parties in the governance of the services and developmentrelated sectors in South Sudan. A historical review reveals the changes in the relationship
between aid agencies and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement / Army (SPLM/A) in the
liberated areas, on the one hand, and between the agencies and the GOSS after the civil war,
on the other. Two sectors, the policy of repatriation of internally displaced persons and
refugees and the water policy, are taken as examples to show that governance of development
in South Sudan is contested between the GOSS and UN agencies as well as between the
regional and state governments. The analysis leads to doubts about the sustainability of
development in South Sudan. Some general conclusions about the roles of government
components and international agencies in the development of post-conflict societies will be
drawn.
Reconciling vocational education and training (VET) with micro-enterprising in
Ethiopian cities: A ‘CUT’ perspective on the impacts, challenges and
transformative possibilities
Tendayi Gondo Scelo Zibagwe, Gift Dafuleya, Raymond Makhanda, Ethiopian Civil Service
College, Addis Ababa.
ABSTRACT: Micro and Small Enterprise (MSEs) development has in recent years gained
attention in development discourse as a priority area crucial for stimulating growth both in the
developed and the developing world. In Ethiopia, the micro and small enterprises sector in
general remained neglected for a long period until a shift was made to a market led economic
system (Post 1991). As enshrined in the PASDEP and the TVET strategy document, SMEs have
been defined as one of the key economic engines for eradicating chronic poverty. Central to the
promotion of SMEs, has been the development and the expansion of vocational education and
training centers throughout Ethiopia. The central question however, is to what extent has this
move made a difference in both SME development and poverty alleviation. This paper attempts
to appraise the extent to which vocational education and training efforts has promoted SME
development. It draws on empirical evidence gathered on a sample of nine Ethiopian cities. In
this analysis, a Comparative Studies Framework was employed to compare and contrast
emerging issues. The analysis of issues was achieved through the ‘Capacity, Usage and
9
Transformation’ CUT framework. The analysis utilized the concept of meta analysis to combine
the results of several studies that sought to address a set of related hypothesis. Emphasis was
put on effect size analysis. KS test results indicate that the relative proportion of players in the
industry that have received vocational education and training is significantly low. The
relationship between TVET and micro-enterprising in a sample of cities can be dismissed as a
case of constrained capacity, usage and transformation. Empirical data also underscores the
important role played by vocational education and training in SME development and the
wellbeing of the operators. In spite of this, we argue that SME development and poverty
alleviation requires approaches that go beyond the mere expansion and development of
vocational education and training institutions. An appropriate institutional fabric is required for
this purpose. In the final analysis the paper argues that SME expansion and development in the
Ethiopian context only works provided a large number of players are involved and that an
appropriate supportive institutional framework exists.
Linking vocational education and training (VET) with youth employment in Bahir
dar city, Ethiopia: Issues, realities and challenges
Tendayi Gondo1, Augustine Tirivangana, Bonface Bwanyire, Wudu Muluneh Yimer, Civil Service
College
ABSTRACT: Despite the economic, social and cultural transformations of the recent past that
have diminished the status of work in relation to other activities and aspects of life, being
employed has continued to be a decisive factor, both as a dominant cultural norm and as an
individual aspiration for the vast majority of young people of the developing world.
In urban Ethiopia, empirical data indicate that urban unemployment and other employment
issues are among the critical problems that characterize the current youth development
discourse. Among other strategic policy measures, vocational education and training have
become two of the major pillars adopted by the Ethiopian authorities to try and improve the
youth employment situation. There is however, limited evidence on the impact of such policy
measures on youth employment. This paper assesses issues, realities and challenges
characterizing vocational education, training and youth employment. Empirical data presented
relate to Bahir dar city. The study utilized the survey method where an objectively defined
sample size 170 youths drawn from three randomly selected Kebeles was utilized. In addition,
key officials drawn from relevant departments were interviewed. SPSS was used to analyze
quantitative data while content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results indicate
that a high unemployment ratio among the youth. The study also reveals a positive correlation
between vocational education, training and youth employment. The youth employment ratio
was found to increase with the level of education. While vocational education and training
offers an entry point into the job market for the youth, returns were however found not to be
commensurate with qualifications. The youth unemployment situation was also found to vary
according to marital status, gender and educational level. Among other reasons, lack of
vocational education and training explained this anomaly. We argue that the link between
vocational education, training and youth employment creation is not spontaneous; it needs to
be created and nurtured throughout. There is a need to create new institutional arrangements
that will facilitate not only a forward link between vocational education and training but also
feedback from the youth practitioners themselves.
Key words Vocational education, training, employment ratio, youth development, integration,
realities
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Beyond Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET): An evaluation of
the nature and performance of woodwork and metal clustering in Mekelle city,
Ethiopia
Tendayi Gondo, Ethiopian Civil Service College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: Clustering has been identified as one of the policy strategies that plays a pivotal
role in organizing for effective implementation of micro-industries. Despite the obvious gains
associated with such a strategy, there is little evidence that can be used to underpin the
implementation of approaches that seek to upscale clustering. This paper evaluates the nature
and performance of metal and woodwork clustering in Mekelle city and its implication for micro
and small-scale enterprises development. Empirical data presented here relates to 42 randomly
selected woodwork and metal industries in Mekelle UNIDO agent. A causal research design was
adopted that sought to test a number of hypotheses. Quantitative variables were analyzed
using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) while qualitative data was subjected to
content analysis. The study found out that enterprises that took advantage of clustering
significantly improved their sales and fixed asset. Clustering permitted the establishment of
social networks that facilitated a smooth exchange of vital information and the creation of
collaborative platforms where challenges faced and their solutions were discussed. Despite this,
the clustering strategy was stifled by a number of bottlenecks. First, the performance of the
players in the industry was thwarted by their low levels of skill, lack of working places
(premises), a critical shortage of raw materials and the shortage of financial resources.
Secondly, the prevailing institutional climate was found not conducive for the creation and
promotion of forward and backward linkages between TVET institutions and the players in the
industry. We propose an institutional re-engineering process that is aimed at creating an
institutional fabric that encourages a viable link between TVET knowledge and practice. In this
light we posit that efforts that are targeted at creating a strong relationship between microenterprise operators and suppliers of inputs, vocational colleges and other supportive
institutions are indispensable in curbing shortage of raw materials supply and the skills
problem.
Reconciling vocational education and training (VET) with micro-enterprising in
Ethiopian cities: An analysis of impacts, challenges and transformative
possibilities
Tendayi Gondo1 Killian Munzwa and Augustine Tirivangana,
ABSTRACT: Micro and Small Enterprise (MSEs) development has in recent years gained
attention in development discourse as a priority area crucial for stimulating growth both in the
developed and the developing world. In Ethiopia, the micro and small enterprises sector in
general remained neglected for a long period until a shift was made to a market led economic
system (Post 1991). As enshrined in the PASDEP and the TVET strategy document, MSEs have
been defined as one of the key economic engines for eradicating chronic poverty. Central to the
promotion of MSEs, has been the development and the expansion of vocational education and
training centers throughout Ethiopia. The central question however, is to what extent has this
move made a difference in both SME development and poverty alleviation.
11
This paper attempts to appraise the extent to which vocational education and training efforts
has promoted SME development. It draws on empirical evidence gathered on a sample of
twelve Ethiopian cities. In this analysis, a Comparative Studies Framework was employed to
compare and contrast emerging issues. This approach utilized the concept of meta analysis to
combine the results of several studies that sought to address a set of related hypothesis.
Emphasis was put on effect size analysis. KSQ test results indicate that the relative proportion
of players in the industry that have received vocational education and training is significantly
low. Empirical data also underscores the important role played by vocational education and
training in SME development and the wellbeing of the operators. In spite of this, we argue that
SME development and poverty alleviation requires approaches that go beyond the mere
expansion and development of vocational education and training institutions. An appropriate
institutional fabric is required for this purpose. In the final analysis the paper argues that SME
expansion and development in the Ethiopian context only works provided a large number of
players are involved and that an appropriate supportive institutional framework exists.
Private Sector Development & Employment: The dynamism of micro and small
enterprises in the integrated housing development program: reflections on
employment creation and urban poverty alleviation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Trynos Gumbo, Ethiopian Civil Service College, Addis Ababa:
ABSTRACT: Poverty, unemployment and shelter deficits are the worst challenges prevalent in
countries of the developing world. Rapid urbanization has immensely contributed to
unprecedented demand for jobs, housing and social services in cities of such countries. This
research is premised on the implementation of the IHDP and its role in job creation as well as
poverty reduction in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. A survey of MSEs was conducted
in selected sub-cities of the primate city to gather first hand information about the various
activities of the enterprises engaged with the housing program. The findings indicate immense
contributions of MSEs towards employment creation and poverty reduction in the capital city.
Although the number of people engaged in micro and small enterprises increased as a result of
new enterprises that were developed and through the promotion of existing enterprises of the
urban poor, the results also show capital shortages, inadequate working space, undiversified
market and lack of skills as the major constraints to effectiveness of MSEs in the city. The paper
concludes by proposing a variety of strategies key stakeholders can employ to further promote
and facilitate the continued growth and effectiveness of MSEs in poverty reduction and
employment creation. To this end, the paper calls for concrete and coordinated institutional
support to the enterprises.
Challenges and Opportunities for Water and Environmental Management in
Addis Ababa. Ethiopia
Sango Ishumael, Ethiopian Civil Service College, Addis Ababa
ABSTACT: Among the key expectations of the Rio Declaration, is environmental sustainability,
that is based on the recognition that the well being of human society and prospects for further
development are closely interconnected with the well being of the natural ecosystems, among
which water resources are primary.
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The effective and sustainable utilization and management of water resources in particular is an
essential pre - requisite for sustaining all forms of life, improving livelihoods of communities,
and fostering overall socio – economic development. Whilst water is a renewable resource, it is
however vulnerable to local, national and regional pressures generated by the ever-increasing
intensity and variety of competing human activities and interests. The resultant water
resources degradation is among the key factors generating the growing ecological, socioeconomic and political stresses in many regions of the world including East Africa. The
metropolis of Addis Ababa has got a fair share of the problem of water resources depletion and
pollution. As cities of the world such as Addis Ababa undertake the well intended growth and
development processes, there is a tendency in many cases of utilizing the available water
resources in a way that compromises the availability and quality of the water in the respective
region. It is this particular concern that has inspired this paper to explore the challenges and
opportunities for water and environmental management in Addis Ababa.
The paper will examine the state of selected rivers and streams that traverse the city. Identify
land uses and other practices that undermine water availability and quality in the city. Examine
the institutional challenges faced in the water related environmental management initiatives.
The paper is going to be based on a mix of data collection methods, paying considerable
attention to secondary data collection from published government documents, published and
unpublished research items among other literature. Selected governmental and nongovernmental officials will be interviewed to solicit relevant data. Households and other
affected and interested stakeholders will be sampled and field observations would be
conducted also to compliment the data collected. The findings of the paper show evidence of
considerable pollution on the city streams particularly the Akaki River that traverses densely
peopled residential, commercial and industrial areas of the city. The banks of these heavily
polluted streams are home to thousands of people who depend largely on the aquatic system
for livelihood. This translates into environmental health risks to human and animal life. It is
noted that such challenges and their causes are complex in nature and as such, a
multidimensional approach is therefore required in providing solutions. Good governance
should be the pre – requisite to provide for conflict resolution and management, which brings
together at the table the conflicting environmental, economic and social interests for
sustainability.
Developing the Route to Maternal Survival in Rural Ethiopia
Ruth Jackson, School of International and Political Studies, Deakin University, Australia
ABSTRACT: After 50 years of international health policies and strategies aimed at reducing
maternal mortality and disability in developing countries, the current imperative is that high
rates of maternal death and disability should be reduced through the transfer of modern health
service interventions. Based on ethnographic research in Kafa Zone in southwest Ethiopia, this
paper considers how the biomedical model implies that the “pathway to maternal survival” is a
direct, linear route. High levels of maternal mortality and disability confirms the relevance of
the “universal barriers”—recognition of the danger signs, cost, distance and transport—to the
use of skilled care. The paper provides some of the setting specific details of many local
contextual factors that influence care seeking. These include birth location and decision making
as most women give birth at home and any decision to transfer to a health facility if something
goes wrong are not made by the birthing woman but by her husband and other close relatives
and neighbors.
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The paper argues that if culture shapes social reality and personal experience as ‘health beliefs
and behavior, illness beliefs and behavior and health care activities are governed by the same
set of socially sanctioned activities’ (Obermeyer 2001) there is a need to understand the
limitations and variability of each setting.
Fertilizer Consumption and Agricultural Productivity in Ethiopia1
Endale, Kefyalew, Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University
ABSTRACT: This study investigated the effects of chemical fertilizer on cereal production in
Ethiopia and also the determinants of its adoption. The major data sources are Central
statistical authority (CSA) and the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey (ERHS). Spearman’s
correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation among chemical fertilizer and value of
cereal production and relatively large correlation with combined use of Dap and Urea. The
positive difference of cereal value production among fertilizer users and non-users is another
indicator of fertilizer’s contribution. A multifactor translog production function is also specified
and estimated by Fixed Effect model. Dap and Urea are significant and from the multiplicative
variables, Dap and Urea interaction, square of Dap, and their interaction with farm credit are
also significant. The fertilizer adoption model, on the other hand, is conducted by panel probit
model. The result showed that loan is an important variable for fertilizer adoption.
Land, oxen, rain on time (dummy) are also positive determinants of fertilizer adoption while
better land qualities are likely to reduce the probability of adoption. This study recommends
cereal specific fertilizer subsidies at least in the short run to deal with the deterioration of
cereal prices in relative to fertilizer. Extension follow-up, improved credit access and livestock
management are also helpful to increase benefits from fertilizer as well as its adoption.
Constrained ‘Conduct and the Conduct of Conduct’:-A case of Urban Solid Waste
Governance Systems in Ethiopia
Raymond Makhanda, Scelo Zibagwe and Tendayi Gondo
ABSTRACT: The democratic advancements and structural adjustments in African countries have
propelled the growth of decentralized governance systems, which are more pronounced in
Ethiopia. These have gave birth to new actors in urban ecosystems management, particularly
solid waste management (SWM) of which a significant proportion operates in an informal
manner. Though embraced in the conceptualization of Earth Systems Governance as
constituting the Institutional Environment (IE), informal component agency in the SWM
collection sub-system is ignored and not built upon in the institutional arrangements (IAs) of
urban waste management. Empirical evidence of govern mentality of waste management
practice operating outside the ‘transaction sector’ was gathered through a number of
independent studies in various Ethiopian regional cities and towns. The pulling together of
analyses was achieved through meta-analysis to explore IE-IA incongruity and the
appropriateness of IAs. We argue that failure to incorporate informal waste collection systems
hinders science-driven vision of waste management, as generation volumes and growth trends
are masked.
1
This study is sponsored by Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
POB-2479, www.edri-et.org
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This also weakens govern mentality and progress/transition towards sustainable urban futures.
Information asymmetry on domestic solid waste generation in urban Ethiopia limits both
governmentality and episteme of governance as collection practice significantly evolves
organically in largely man-made urban ecosystems.
The missing links explained in this paper further constrains design of architectures that work
particularly in enforcing scientific or technical minimum standards, worsened by feedback from
formal regulated actors operating within command-control paradigm. Cumulatively, the nonincorporated conduct of informal actors and the inconsistent formal compliance behavior that
lacks motivation for self-regulation results in a dysfunctional urban waste management system.
Furthermore, increased informalization in the earlier stages of the SWM systems, cascade
through the entire process also limits technology transfers on aspects such as resource re-use,
and the entirely envisioned symbiotic linkages. In designing appropriate IAs for adaptive and
efficient SWM practice, predictability on waste generation trends has to inform earth
governance capacities in the third world. We conclude that the significant informal spectacle in
solid waste collection and governance systems are strongly determined by level of
formalization of the country’s solid waste collection sub-system, which is at best indicated by
the low level of IE-IA interface.
Ethno symbolism and the Dismemberment of the State in the Horn of Africa: The
Ethiopian Case of Ethnic Federalism
Assefa Mehretu, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
ABSTRACT: The paper has three major objectives. The first is to do a critical review of the
current largely antagonistic narratives of ethnic instrumentalism in Ethiopia and the Horn of
Africa that have ultimately led to the balkanization of the state and caused serious political
instability and fratricidal conflicts with traumatic and costly consequences. The second is to do
a critical review of the policy of the current Ethiopian government to implement ethnoterritorial formations under the rubric of killils (Amharic for territorial enclosures), and
demonstrate how this may seriously vitiate national integration along compatible cultural and
socioeconomic dimensions. The third is to examine an alternative theoretical framework from
social geography and demonstrate the potential for creating compatible narratives for nonexclusive communal (cultural) and neoliberal (socioeconomic) order that would unleash
Ethiopia’s energy and those of its neighbors from the crippling impasse of divisive ethnic
instrumentalism (Leoussi and Grosby 2007: 16-17).
Problems and prospects of gender equity in higher learning institutions of
Ethiopia: technology and natural science fields in focus
Bedada Mergo, Adama University
ABSTRACT: This paper aims at assessing the problems and prospects of gender equity in higher
learning institutions of Ethiopia, particularly in technology and natural science fields. There is a
need for conducting research on issues of gender equality in the higher learning institutions of
Ethiopia in line with the government policy of maintaining gender balance in university
enrolment on the one hand and emphasizing technology and natural science fields, which
female students normally do not choose as fields of study in most cases on the other. A
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descriptive survey research method was employed in the study. The subjects of the study
consisted of 160 university female students, instructors, and gender office officers taken as
samples using simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods. Besides, gender
policy documents and guidelines were used as sources of data. To gather the data,
questionnaire, interview, and document analysis were employed. The data were analyzed by
blending quantitative and qualitative approaches. As such, the data collected through the closeended items of the questionnaire and certain items of the interviews were analyzed
quantitatively by applying chi-square and percentage respectively. On the other hand, the data
gathered via open-ended items of the questionnaire and some items of the interview were
analyzed using qualitative approaches. The findings of the study showed that the prominent
factors which make the students show little interest in hard sciences are poor self-concept,
inadequate preliminary knowledge and skills in the fields, persistent effects of socio-cultural
gender stereotypes, inadequacy of sustainable gender-based strategies at the Ethiopian higher
learning institutions, existence of negligible number of female instructors in hard sciences
which may serve female students as role models, and lack of favorable learning environment in
the current Ethiopian higher education institutions. To assist female students join and succeed
in hard sciences like their male counterparts, suggestions like giving female students adequate
orientation long time before they choose their fields of study. Improving the backgrounds and
capacity of female students particularly in natural sciences beginning from the lower grades,
changing the traditional gender stereotypes that only favor males, formulating sound strategies
through participatory approach, arranging training programs on issues of gender so as to raise
the awareness of the instructors, department heads, faculty deans, polishing the curricula in
use with the aim of integrating issues of gender equity into them, and the like are pinpointed in
the paper.
Explaining Disadoption of Agricultural Technologies: The Case of Improved
Maize Seed in Central Western Ethiopia
Tura Matura Hadassah University, Hadassah, Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: The literature on agricultural technology has very little to say concerning the
disadoption of agricultural technology packages, a situation when farmers discontinue the use
of already adopted technology. However, adoption of improved technology by itself is not
sufficient for enhancing yield and reducing food insecurity unless the technologies are used
continuously. This study tries to investigate the extent and factors explaining discontinuance of
the use of improved hybrid maize seed based on data obtained from 120 farming household in
central western Ethiopia. Despite the fact that adoption has substantially increased due to SG
2000 project and government’s own extension program the degree of disadoption as measured
by the proportion of farmers disadopted found to be significant accounting for a quarter of
adopters. The econometric result of bivariate probit model shows that initial adoption depends
on institutional factor, measured by access to extension. Disadoption of improved maize
varieties is largely influenced by access to productive assets, institution and policy variables.
Credit and labor availability and livestock ownership are found be significantly determining
disadoption decision. Hence, it is recommended that, in addition to increasing the resource
endowment of the farmers it requires to improve the working of credit and labor markets.
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A case study on Private Sector Development and Employment
Meskerem Shiferaw, Netherlands Development Organization.
ABSTRACT: SNV-the Netherlands Development organization and engineering capacity building
program (ecbp) of GTZ; the German Development Organization have identified that there was
weak capacity of consultancy firms/Business Development Service (BDS) Providers in Ethiopia.
To fill this gap they have agreed to design a program that strengthens the capacities of the BDS
Providers by hiring young graduates from universities in Ethiopia in phases. This paper discusses
the first phase, which is completed in September 2008. The main results achieved through the
internship program were, capacitated BDS providers with increasing income because of
additional capacity from the interns and employment generation for the interns. Financial
assistance has been secured from Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the
Business Organization and their Access to Market (BOAM) program of SNV-Ethiopia and ecbp.
The Relevance of Graduate Research to Sustainable Commercialization of
Smallholder Agriculture: IPMS Experience with Ethiopian Universities
Tesfaye Lemma Tefera, Azage Tegegne and Dirk Hoekstra Tesfaye Lemma IPMS/ILRI, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: Innovation, that is, the productive use of knowledge for economic and social
development purpose is crucial to improve productivity and market success of Ethiopian
smallholder agriculture, and thereby achieving the goal of reducing poverty.
In this regard, tertiary agricultural education has a critical role of strengthening innovative
capability of agricultural research, training and extension systems. Further, as a research actor
in its own right tertiary education has a direct and profound influence on the productivity and
commercialization of the agricultural sector. Research by graduate students is an important
component of the overall research undertakings at colleges and university faculties of
agriculture and allied disciplines represents the larger share of time-bound research activities of
the institutes, and thus its development relevance deserves careful attention.
Whilst public investment and structural reform are necessary, they are not sufficient. Parallel
reforms are required to strengthen response capability of colleges and faculties, which should
include strategies and mechanisms to align organizational mandate and priorities with
stakeholders demand and to forge dynamic networks and partnership. Whilst the need for this
kind of reform is no longer debatable, the challenge is when it comes to ‘how’- unfortunately
no panacea. Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian farmers’ project, as
part of its public sector innovation capacity development effort, has been working with
universities with graduate programs in agriculture and related disciplines. The focus was on
enhancing the relevance of graduate research to fostering market-orientation of the
smallholder production systems and the emergence of inclusive commodity value chain with a
holistic view of innovation and systems perspective. The project intervenes at different levels
(actor, relationship and system), uses various mechanisms, and plays the roles of linkage
facilitation and intermediation. The paper highlights the achievements and challenges
experienced in the process; it draws lessons; and, finally, it makes certain recommendations on
stimulating demand-orientation and strengthening response capability of graduate programs.
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Farm Households’ Food Insecurity, Determinants and Coping Strategies: The
Case of Fadis District, Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia
Zegeye Tirfe & Hussien Hamda Komicha Tesfaye Lemma & Co-authors, IPMS/ILRI, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
ABSTRACT: In response to increasing food insecurity and poverty in the world, there is a
renewed global focus on food security and poverty alleviation issues, as stipulated in
Millennium Development Goals. This study attempts to identify the intensity of farm
households’ food insecurity, factors influencing it and farm households’ coping strategies. The
study was based on a household survey, conducted in 2008, of 182 sample farm households
selected from Fadis District in Eastern Oromia, using a two-stage stratified random sampling
procedure. Besides descriptive statistics, the study employs tobit regression model. The result
shows that about 80% of the sample households were food insecure, with their energy intake
on average was about 30% below subsistence energy requirement, which is a shortfall of about
647 kcal per adult equivalent per day. Based on computed surplus index, the food secure
households, on average, exceeded the recommended calorie intake by 27%, which amounts to
a surplus of 608 kcal per adult equivalent per day. At an aggregate level, the food insecurity
intensity for the entire sample households was about 18% energy intake below subsistence
energy level, which is an average deficit of 392 kcal per adult equivalent per day. During severe
food shortage periods, households use different coping strategies. The most frequently used
coping strategies of the food-insecure households were distress sale of livestock so as to
purchase food grain and resorting to relief assistance. The estimated tobit model shows that
farm households’ food insecurity in the study area was influenced by agro-ecology, livestock
holding, farm income, family size, size of total land cultivated, soil fertility, size of irrigated land,
off-farm and non-farm incomes.
The results of the study imply that there is a need for development of small-scale irrigation
schemes, rehabilitation of highly degraded environment, promotion of family planning and
integrated health service to lessen the burden of population pressure on food security, and
creation of non-farm and off-farm employment opportunities in the study areas.
Quality and Relevant Higher Education for Sustainable Development in Ethiopia:
Contemplation towards Reinforcement
Yohannes Woldetensae Freelance Consultant & Senior Expert, Addis Ababa
ABSTRACT: It is generally acknowledged that education plays a crucial role in promoting
economic development and contributes to poverty reduction. Education at all levels and in all
its forms constitutes a vital tool for addressing problems relevant to sustainable development.
The Ethiopian Government Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
considers capacity building in the education sector as one of the central pillars in its guiding
strategic framework. The Government is strengthening the expansion of higher education with
the general objective to produce skilled human power with the necessary quality and quantity
to meet the national socio economic development requirements. Quality as well as relevant
higher education is essential for establishing viable research and innovative capabilities that
enables to utilize available resources efficiently for sustainable development. As economic
development is generally correlated with the quality of higher education, the concern for
quality and the need to assure it is critical to reinforce the contribution of higher education to
national development endeavors. Indeed, quality and relevant higher education has the
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potential to enhance socio-economic growth. Hence, strong emphasis on quality and relevance
is essential for more effectiveness. This paper attempts to contemplate approaches that could
help to reinforce the contribution of Ethiopian higher education to the country’s efforts
towards sustainable development. The paper suggests the following eight pragmatic strategies
as input for policy options and considerations. 1Shifting Focus from Expansion to Quality Higher
Education, Developing Internal Quality Assurance Mechanisms within Higher Education
Institutions, Adapting Outcomes-Approach to Learning, Increasing Focus to Labour Market
Requirements and Employability of Graduates, Advancing University Research and Linkage with
the Industry, Reinforcing Postgraduate Programs focusing on Relevance and Quality, Enhancing
Contribution of Higher Education towards Millennium Development Goals, Mobilizing the
Ethiopian Diaspora for more Involvement
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