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International Conference on African Development Archives

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The 6th International Conference On The State Of Africa: Challenges And Opportunities For Sustainable Development And Peace In Africa In The 21st Century, Sisay Asefa Jun 2011

The 6th International Conference On The State Of Africa: Challenges And Opportunities For Sustainable Development And Peace In Africa In The 21st Century, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

No abstract provided.


A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges & Opportunities For Sustainable Development In Ethiopia & The Greater Horn Of Africa Nov 2009

A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges & Opportunities For Sustainable Development In Ethiopia & The Greater Horn Of Africa

International Conference on African Development Archives

No abstract provided.


Ethnosymbolism And The Dismemberment Of The State In The Horn Of Africa: The Ethiopian Case Of Ethnic Federalism, Assefa Mehretu Nov 2009

Ethnosymbolism And The Dismemberment Of The State In The Horn Of Africa: The Ethiopian Case Of Ethnic Federalism, Assefa Mehretu

International Conference on African Development Archives

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 in the region. The second is to do a critical review of the policy of the current Ethiopian government to implement ethno-territorial formations under the rubric of killils (Amharic for territorial enclosures), and to demonstrate how this may seriously vitiate national integration along compatible cultural and economic …


Maternal Education And Child Nutrition: Evidence From The 2000 And 2005 Ethiopian Demographic And Health Surveys, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel Aug 2007

Maternal Education And Child Nutrition: Evidence From The 2000 And 2005 Ethiopian Demographic And Health Surveys, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel

International Conference on African Development Archives

I used the 2000 and 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys to analyze the effect of maternal education and its pathways on chronic and acute malnutrition in Ethiopia. The pathways examined in this study are socioeconomic status, maternal health-seeking behavior, maternal knowledge of health and family planning and reproductive behavior. I find that maternal education works through all except health-seeking behavior. I also find that maternal education and its pathways are more relevant and robust in explaining chronic than acute malnutrition. Socioeconomic status is the most important factor linking maternal education and child nutritional status. Although girls’ education is a …


A Problem Of Social Capital And Cultural Norms?, Salaam Yitbarek Aug 2007

A Problem Of Social Capital And Cultural Norms?, Salaam Yitbarek

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper asserts that in Ethiopian society, there exist certain cultural norms or ‘dysfunctional behaviours’ that inhibit effective communication, lead to intra-group conflict, and make conflict resolution difficult. This has resulted in a diminished capacity for cooperation and a dearth of social capital and civil society, which does not bode well for development and democracy. It is imperative that research is expanded in the neglected area of cultural norms and social capital in Ethiopian society, and that intervention strategies are designed to increase social capital by addressing cultural norms directly through social marketing, awareness raising, and other mechanisms.


Party Politics, Political Polarization And The Future Of Ethiopian Democracy, Merera Gudina Aug 2007

Party Politics, Political Polarization And The Future Of Ethiopian Democracy, Merera Gudina

International Conference on African Development Archives

A closer glance at the source of what appears to be a curse of history can be explained largely by the political polarization and fragmentation between and among Ethiopian political parties, which time and again failed to set a common agenda and mobilize millions for a common good.


Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele Aug 2007

Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The spatial, physical and socio-economic conditions of Addis Ababa City, in general, is by far behind the requirements fundamental to sustain the livelihood of the city. In addressing the problems of the city, the suggested government intervention strategies include, among others, the relocation and resettlement of residents for efficient utilization of potential sites, and bringing balanced and coordinated investment/development in different parts of the city. These strategies, so far, seam to concentrate on the supply side and neglected the effective demand of the majority of investors. This study, therefore, aims to assess determinants of investors' willingness to pay for a …


Farmers’ Preferences For Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers From East Ethiopian Highlands, Wagayehu Bekele Aug 2007

Farmers’ Preferences For Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers From East Ethiopian Highlands, Wagayehu Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The aim of this paper is to better understand farmers' perception of the relevance of different development intervention programs. Farmers’ subjective ranking of agricultural problems and their preference for development intervention are elicited using a stated preference method. The factors influencing these preferences are determined using a random utility model. The study is based on a survey conducted in the Hunde-Lafto area of the East Ethiopian Highlands. Individual interviews were conducted with 145 randomly selected farm households using semi-structured questionnaires. The study suggests that drought, soil erosion and shortage of cultivable land are high priority agricultural production problems for farmers. …


Influence Of Credit Constraint On Technical Efficiency Of Farm Households In Southeastern Ethiopia, Hussien Hamda Komicha, Bo Öhlmer Aug 2007

Influence Of Credit Constraint On Technical Efficiency Of Farm Households In Southeastern Ethiopia, Hussien Hamda Komicha, Bo Öhlmer

International Conference on African Development Archives

Credit constraint not only affects the purchasing power of farmers to procure farm inputs and cover operating costs in the short run, but also their capacity to make farm-related investments as well as risk behaviour in technology choice and adoption. These, in turn, have influence on technical efficiency of the farmers. Although credit constraint problem has been recognized in economics literature, especially in those dealing with developing countries, little emphasis has been given to its effect on productive efficiency of farmers. In light of this, explicitly considering credit constraint, this paper estimated technical efficiency of credit-constrained (CCFH) and unconstrained farm …


The Contribution Of Farmers’ Breeders In Meeting Food Security: The Case Of Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench) In Ethiopia, Firew Mekbib Aug 2007

The Contribution Of Farmers’ Breeders In Meeting Food Security: The Case Of Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench) In Ethiopia, Firew Mekbib

International Conference on African Development Archives

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the fifth most important cereal crop worldwide and it is the third most important crop in Ethiopia. The national average yield amounts 1302 kg/ha. In order to assess the achievement in farmer breeding various types of research were undertaken. These include survey research to quantify the trend in productivity, the level of and reasons for adoption of improved varieties, yield performance and preference evaluation of farmers’ varieties (FVs) and improved varieties (IVs). As per the trend analysis over the last four decades, total production and yield per hectare has increased by 11.63% and …


Government’S Response To The Challenge Of Hiv/Aids In Ethiopia, Bedri Jebril Mohammed Aug 2007

Government’S Response To The Challenge Of Hiv/Aids In Ethiopia, Bedri Jebril Mohammed

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia is facing a huge threat to the survival of its people and the socio-economic development of the country from a generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic. Ethiopia with an estimated 1.3 million HIV/AIDS infected people as of December 2006, is one of the worst-affected countries where HIV infection is concentrating among productive age group, thereby affecting productivity. The objective of this study is to examine the ways in which the government of Ethiopia has been dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and suggests the ways in which it can improve its strategies. More specifically, the study tried to investigate the …


What Role Should Civil Society Organizations Play To Address Ethnic Conflicts In Ethiopia?, Sisay Gebre-Egziabher Aug 2007

What Role Should Civil Society Organizations Play To Address Ethnic Conflicts In Ethiopia?, Sisay Gebre-Egziabher

International Conference on African Development Archives

The Ethiopian people are ethnically heterogeneous, speaking multiplicity languages comprising of more than 100 groups. Hence, the country presents a mosaic of nationalities, each speaking a dialect of one of more than 70 languages and has a long history of rich culture and strong social values. Although there were some ethnic-conflicts, that go back a long way, among few of the ethnic groups (mainly for control over resources, such as grazing land, water points, cultivable land), people solved such conflicts using their own conflict resolution mechanism; for instance elders meeting and community tribunal system. The indigenous civil society groups have …


Status Of Local Governance At Woreda/District Level In Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw Aug 2007

Status Of Local Governance At Woreda/District Level In Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

In Ethiopia, about 50% of the population lives below poverty line. Efforts have been exerted to reverse the situation both by Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs); so far however solid results have not been achieved as expected. The question of “what has gone wrong?” has been coiling around in the minds of development practitioners. The international communities point their fingers at poor governance, corruption, internal and regional conflicts for the underdevelopment of the country. It was the outcome of these kinds of questions along with suggestions made that brought about the idea of promoting good governance in developing countries. The …


Examining The 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election Results Under Alternative Electoral Rules, John Ishiyama Aug 2007

Examining The 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election Results Under Alternative Electoral Rules, John Ishiyama

International Conference on African Development Archives

As many scholars have noted, electoral systems exert a powerful influence on the process of democratization (Taagepera and Shugart, 1989; Horowitz, 1985; Ishiyama 1997). Indeed first competitive or “transitional” elections are crucial moments for newly democratizing countries. Although these elections mark only a beginning point in an often arduous journey, their outcomes crucially affect the future course of democratic transition and democratic consolidation (Olsen 1993; Schmitter 1992; Bermeo, 1987). Indeed, whoever wins the transitional election often has the opportunity to re-write the rules of the game to their advantage and, hence, significantly influence future political developments.


Aid, Growth And Poverty Alleviation In Ethiopia, Sintayehu Fissha Aug 2007

Aid, Growth And Poverty Alleviation In Ethiopia, Sintayehu Fissha

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia is one of the countries receiving large proportions of aid, especially since the introduction of the policy changes (1992) there is a substantial amount of aid flows. This lead to raise government expenditure on various productive activities, contribute either directly to the improvement of economic growth of the country (accelerator) and/or to the development of services (multiplier). In both ways I deem that the undergoing efforts made by the government using aid as an additional resource are contributing to the enhancement of the economic development of the country. But I still argue that the achievements made are not up …


The Political Economy Of Poverty Reduction Policies In Ethiopia, Abu Girma Moges Aug 2007

The Political Economy Of Poverty Reduction Policies In Ethiopia, Abu Girma Moges

International Conference on African Development Archives

Poverty reduction strategies and policies have gained considerable popularity in recent policy discourse and international economic relations. These policies and strategies are framed in the context of the Millennium Development Goals that set specific quantitative targets to be achieved within a specified time framework. The goals specify the targets and require countries to design national poverty reduction strategies and achieve them with a generous financial assistance from the international community. However, the domestic political economic forces remain to shape the extent and effectiveness of such strategies in addressing and reducing the extent and depth of poverty in the reforming countries. …


Critical Factors Hampering Agricultural Productivity In Ethiopia: The Case Of Northern Ethiopian Farmers, Yezihalem Tesfa Dagnaw Aug 2007

Critical Factors Hampering Agricultural Productivity In Ethiopia: The Case Of Northern Ethiopian Farmers, Yezihalem Tesfa Dagnaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

Why we Ethiopians are celebrated for unforgettable images of chronically malnourished children with large skeletal heads clinging to their mothers dried up breasts? Why we are still forced to seek for food aid when there is ample local potential to feed ourselves? Why does drought, famine return almost every decade in Ethiopia? The paper attempts to demonstrate convincingly that Ethiopian droughts and famines are not sudden natural disasters nor are they simply caused by lack of rainfall. It tries to show the weaknesses of successive strategic development related policies intended to reverse the situation which considered and treated natural factors …


Governance And Productivity: Microeconomic Evidence From Ethiopia, Daniel Zerfu Aug 2007

Governance And Productivity: Microeconomic Evidence From Ethiopia, Daniel Zerfu

International Conference on African Development Archives

We used household survey data from the rural Ethiopia to investigate the importance of governance for agricultural productivity. We argued that the impact of governance is household specific and identified some governance indicators accordingly. Trust in government and government officials, strength of property rights and personal contact with local authorities are identified as governance indicators. A stochastic frontier production function is specified and estimated to capture the effects of governance on productivity or technical efficiency of households. Our results show that improvement in governance could reduce technical inefficiencies significantly and hence could considerably boost productivity.


Commercial Offtake Of Cattle Under Smallholder Mixed Crop-Livestock Production System In Ethiopia, Its Determinants And Implications For Improving Live Animal Supply For Export Abattoirs, Asfaw Negassa, Mohammad Jabbar Aug 2007

Commercial Offtake Of Cattle Under Smallholder Mixed Crop-Livestock Production System In Ethiopia, Its Determinants And Implications For Improving Live Animal Supply For Export Abattoirs, Asfaw Negassa, Mohammad Jabbar

International Conference on African Development Archives

The main objective of this study is to assess the current commercial offtake rates for cattle and shoats in the highland areas of Ethiopia in order to overcome the limited empirical information related to the offtake rates. The specific objectives are: (1) to analyze the ownership and marketing behaviour of livestock producers, and (2) to identify factors affecting the market participation and commercial offtake of live animals by livestock producers.


Households’ Willingness To Resettle And Preference To Forms Of Compensation For Improving Slum Areas In Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele Aug 2007

Households’ Willingness To Resettle And Preference To Forms Of Compensation For Improving Slum Areas In Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The spatial, physical and socio-economic condition of Addis Ababa City, in general, is by far behind the requirements fundamental to sustain the livelihood of the City population. The limitations of its current developmental trend and the depth of the existing environmental problems, coupled with the requirements of the projected population of more than 3.5 million people by the year 2010, entail reexamination of constraints and opportunities with the aim of devising appropriate measures and strategies for action. The suggested government intervention strategies, as stated in the report by ORAAMP, include: Relocation and resettlement of residents for efficient utilization of potential …


Agricultural Research And Development In Ethiopia, Efrem Bechere Aug 2007

Agricultural Research And Development In Ethiopia, Efrem Bechere

International Conference on African Development Archives

To review past and current agricultural research activities and access their impact on agricultural development in Ethiopia and discuss some challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed.


Ethiopia In The World Economy: Trade, Private Capital Flows, And Migration, Kenneth A. Reinert Jun 2005

Ethiopia In The World Economy: Trade, Private Capital Flows, And Migration, Kenneth A. Reinert

International Conference on African Development Archives

Economic globalization can be evaluated with reference to at least three dimensions: trade, private capital flows, and migration. For each of these dimensions, pathways can be identified through which economic globalization can alleviate or contribute to poverty. This paper makes a preliminary examination of the pathways between globalization and poverty for the case of Ethiopia. As one of the world’s poorest countries, Ethiopia’s integration with the world economy takes on specific features. It is highly dependent on the exports of a few goods, has imported a large amount of arms, is largely excluded from global FDI flows, benefits from relatively …


Are The Millennium Development Goals (Mdgs) Feasible? Can The Deadlines Be Met Particularly For Education And Gender? The Case Of Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw Jun 2005

Are The Millennium Development Goals (Mdgs) Feasible? Can The Deadlines Be Met Particularly For Education And Gender? The Case Of Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper addresses the feasibility of the MDGs in Ethiopia, in general and in particular Education and Gender issues in relation with the deadline of 2015 a target set by the UN millennium declaration. The paper will assess the possibility of achieving universal primary education by 2015 in Ethiopia, for all school age children. The role required by parents and the community, private sector and what has been so far to achieve these goals will be reviewed as a follow-up to my previous paper (educating the community, Western Michigan’s Ethiopian American Foundation International conference, 2003). Both for education and gender …


Ethnicity, Economic Conditions, And Opposition Support: Evidence From Ethiopia's 2005 Elections, Leonardo R. Arriola Jun 2005

Ethnicity, Economic Conditions, And Opposition Support: Evidence From Ethiopia's 2005 Elections, Leonardo R. Arriola

International Conference on African Development Archives

Under what conditions will voters support opposition parties in the dominant party systems of sub-Saharan Africa? Scholars generally agree that most of the region’s ruling parties manage to win re-election by relying on a set of by now familiar strategies – distributing patronage, exploiting ethnic cleavages, and employing violence (van de Walle 2003; Adejumobi 2000; Diamond and Plattner 1999; Joseph 1997). While the incumbent’s deliberate manipulation of the electoral arena is well established in the Africanist literature (Takougang 2003; Makumbe 2002; Crook 1997), we still lack a clear conception of the factors which enable opposition parties to build popular support …


Land Scarcity, Tenure Change And Public Policy In The African Case Of Ethiopia: Evidence On Efficacy And Unmet Demands For Land Rights, Tesfaye Teklu Jun 2005

Land Scarcity, Tenure Change And Public Policy In The African Case Of Ethiopia: Evidence On Efficacy And Unmet Demands For Land Rights, Tesfaye Teklu

International Conference on African Development Archives

Despite the apparent abundance of land, agricultural land with a dependable growing period represents a fraction of the total land area in Ethiopia. Moreover, land degradation is extensive and severe1, particularly in the highlands above 1500 meters above sea level, which account for about 40 percent of the total land area but home for 90 percent of the total population and 70 percent of livestock. Population continues to grow rapidly in these highlands and exert pressure on diminishing supplies of agricultural land, particularly arable land for cultivation and pasture. There are signs of declining farm size and fragmentation, and excess …


Socioeconomic Impact Of Export Oriented Agricultural Production On Farmers, In Eastern Ethiopia, Adem Kedir Jun 2005

Socioeconomic Impact Of Export Oriented Agricultural Production On Farmers, In Eastern Ethiopia, Adem Kedir

International Conference on African Development Archives

This study was undertaken to assess the socio-economic impact of producing export oriented agricultural crops on the livelihoods of the farmers, in eastern Ethiopia. A random sample of 305 farmers was studied. Comparisons were made between producers and non-producers using the Z- test and regression analysis. It was found that producers of export oriented crops are better off than the non-producers in terms of sending children to elementary school, housing conditions and ability to finance their families’ food requirements. The impact of father’s education, number of children and livestock ownership on the improvements in the livelihoods of the farmers and …


Heterogeneity In Returns To Schooling: Econometric Evidence From Ethiopia, Sourafel Girma, Abbi M. Kedir Jun 2005

Heterogeneity In Returns To Schooling: Econometric Evidence From Ethiopia, Sourafel Girma, Abbi M. Kedir

International Conference on African Development Archives

The paper investigates whether returns to schooling in Ethiopia vary across the wages distribution of individuals. To do so it adopts an instrumental variables quantile regression framework that allows for both endogeneity of schooling resulting from unmeasured ability, and possible heterogeneity in the impact of schooling. The empirical estimates indicate that education contributes more to the earnings of the individuals at a lower end of the income distribution. Under the assumption that the wage and ability distributions are related, this result is consistent with the notion that education and ability are substitutes.


The Economics Of Rotating Savings And Credit Association: Evidence From Ethiopia, Abbi M. Kedir Jun 2005

The Economics Of Rotating Savings And Credit Association: Evidence From Ethiopia, Abbi M. Kedir

International Conference on African Development Archives

Using a unique individual level data on the membership of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) collected in 1994 from seven major urban centres in Ethiopia, we provide one of the few econometric tests of the economic theory of ROSCAs. In recognition of the heterogeneity of rosca types across space, we provide basic information about the characteristics of roscas in urban areas of Ethiopia. In addition, we use individual and household level data to describe the characteristics of both rosca participants and non-participants. The findings from the descriptive part of the analysis indicate that most of the rosca members are …


Democracy And Development: Lessons From Turkish Experience Applied To Ethiopia, Paul B. Henze Jun 2005

Democracy And Development: Lessons From Turkish Experience Applied To Ethiopia, Paul B. Henze

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia's development problems are not unique. Similar problems have been (and are being) encountered in many other countries. Turkey's successful transformation from a politically and economically backward, stagnant country into one of the most dynamic societies of our time offers an example of the kind of progress Ethiopia can hope for during the 21st century. How did Turkey transform itself in little over half a century? Turkey and Ethiopia have similarities. Both have complicated geography but lack major wealth in minerals and oil. Both have suffered strife and political turmoil. Both have unstable and aggressive neighbors. Both carry a heavy …


Concepts And Perspectives From The Economics Of Sustainable Development: Views Of Economists And Their Policy Implications For Ethiopia And The Rest Africa, Sisay Asefa Jun 2005

Concepts And Perspectives From The Economics Of Sustainable Development: Views Of Economists And Their Policy Implications For Ethiopia And The Rest Africa, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

Sustainable development is a concept about the relationship between economic growth and the environment. The term was first used in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Commission for its Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland). In the Commssion’s report, “our common Future”, it defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987. The aim of this paper is to explore the various dimensions of sustainability from an economic perspective by focusing …