In this chapter we present our assessments of the current socioeconomic and biophysical vulnerability of the Ethiopian agricultural sector, mainly focusing on key indicators of socioeconomic vulnerability and selected food enterprises. General circulation model (GCM) projections to 2050 are used to uncover what the future holds for the agricultural sector...

The preparation of this report was initiated because of the increased need for information about the characteristics of rice production and its producers in Ethiopia for the design of effective research and development interventions. The emerging importance of rice in the country is well recognized following the approval of the...

African governments, international agencies and NGOs are calling for policies which pay more attention to young people and agriculture.  This policy brief draws on research findings by Future Agricultures and asks: What are the expectations and aspirations of young rural men and women? What are the constraints and opportunities facing...

This working paper synthesizes and analyzes the characteristics of the indigenous sheep production and breeding strategies and practices of four sheep farming communities located in pastoral (Amibara), sub-alpine sheep-barley (Menz), perennial crop-livestock (Bonga), and cereal-livestock (Horro) production systems. The paper also provides a model framework for characterizing the indigenous sheep...

En appui au bureau d’études Bourbon Madagascar, le Gret a participé à l’évaluation de la convention programme de l’ONG Inter Aide dans quatre pays (Madagascar, Ethiopie, Malawi et Sierra Leone) sur le renforcement de l’autonomie et des capacités productives des agricultures familiales en zones rurales isolées d’Afrique Subsaharienne. Le Gret...

Large-scale foreign land acquisitions - land grabs - are major and real concerns for African populations.   The consequences of land deals are highly significant for local populations and the environment. Some see economic opportunities for local communities through employment and income generated from leasing or selling land. Others see land...

The Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) Study is a project led by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the New Partnership of Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency and supported by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). COHA is a...

This paper uses a rich dataset from a survey undertaken by the Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in 2009 in eight woredas in seven regions of Ethiopia with a sample of 1,117 households and 73 agricultural cooperatives. Using descriptive statistics and econometric analysis...

A warm welcome to Dimitra newsletter 23, which outlines the project’s most recent activities and achievements, especially the development and growing impact of the Dimitra listeners’ clubs. These successes are producing growing recognition for the Dimitra approach and a strong increase in the number of partnerships. This issue also presents...

Over the last fifty years food production per person in Africa has grown disappointingly slowly at little more than 10%. The population of Africa is growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 2.5% and is expected to almost double by 2050 to close to two billion people. Chronic hunger...

Although there are well-established concerns about climate change effects in northern Ethiopia, there is little quantitative information concerning how serious these effects are to small holder farming. Moreover, studies on farm level adaptations that farmers make to minimise the potential impacts of climate change are lacking. Both quantitative and qualitative...

  The Agricultural sector has the greatest potential for improving rural livelihood and eradicating the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). By the end of the GTP period, the government seeks to double yields of smallholder farmers largely by scaling-up best practices, producing high value crops, expanding irrigation development and promoting natural...

The aim of the study is to assess the food security, adapting/mitigation opportunities to climate change and policy situation and draw policy recommendations. The study was conducted in some selected districts of Tigray Region, Ethiopia based on some exemplary interventions such as communities, ISD, BPA and PROLINNOVA-Ethiopia. Agriculture in tropical...

Once the scene of devastating droughts in 1984, a few visionaries in Ethiopia have used Agroecological Natural Technology Solutions and Permaculture Design principles to begin bringing areas of arid land back to productivity and ecological balance.

The paper looks at the problems faced by rural African women. It focuses on their role in food production, impediments they face in land tenure, issues they confront in connection to climate change, the global economic system and violent conflicts.

This paper uses Ethiopian data to explore credit rationing in semi-formal credit markets and its effects on farmers' resource allocation and crop productivity. Credit rationing -- both voluntarily and involuntarily -- is found to be widespread in the sampled rural villages, largely because of risk-related factors. Political and social networks...

Munira Shemsudin, Gender & HIV/AIDS Programme Officer for Self Help Africa in Ethiopia, talks about the power of investing in women farmers.

This issue of Caravan looks to the field to present approaches and examples that have been developed through our research with partners in many dryland countries, and can be deployed to benefit smallholder farmers in many more locations. These technologies bring resistance to drought, temperature extremes, or diseases that damage and...

The CRP on Dryland Systems is all about integration: between different research disciplines, between biophysical and socio-economic factors, between crop farming and pastoralism, between research and development. The program aims to develop new technologies, new livelihood opportunities, stronger local institutions, enabling policies to support technology adoption, and ultimately higher incomes...

This issue of Caravan describes the new program, and some of the research innovations it will build on. The issue begins with two ‘opinion pieces’ by scientists from partner organizations in the CRP. They share lessons learnt from past successes (and failures), and ideas that could be applied to dryland systems...