Ethiopia’s economy is rapidly transforming. However, the extent to which this is affecting off-farm income and labor markets in rural areas is not well understood. Based on a large-scale household survey in high potential agricultural areas, we find that total off-farm income (defined as wage and enterprise income) makes up...

We use qualitative and quantitative information from a number of datasets to study the adoption patterns and labor productivity impacts of herbicide use in Ethiopia. We find a four-fold increase in the value of herbicides imported into Ethiopia over the last decade, primarily by the private-sector. Adoption of herbicides by...

Since 2014, Digital Green and the Government of Ethiopia have been piloting a project to introduce a community-centric video approach to agricultural extension provision.1 Digital Green’s approach has the potential to transform extension in Ethiopia via a fairly simple impact pathway. By providing a cost-effective ap-proach to information dissemination, video-based...

Due to the rapid growth of cities in Africa, many more farmers are now living in rural hinterlands in relatively close proximity to cities. However, empirical evidence on how urbanization affects these farmers is scarce. To fill this gap, this paper explores the relationship between proximity to a city and...

FAO Sub-Regional Office for East Africa and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have signed a partnership agreement to coordinate cross-border efforts on animal health, trade and natural resources management coordination.  The programme will address community engagement on policy and investment as well as cross cutting areas of work such...

The average farm size in Ethiopia is shrinking and the option for expanding the land frontier is also very limited. As a result, increasing farm productivity is critical for achieving higher growth and national food security. Identifying the drivers of productivity and weighing their significance are therefore vital for effective...

Small-scale irrigation is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security under growing climate uncertainty in Africa south of the Sahara. Rainfed production dominates the region, but governments and other stakeholders are increasing investments in irrigation. As these efforts are being rolled out, the gender...

This presentation was held by Million Beley from MELCA-Ethiopia at the World Food Day 2016 event in Stockholm on the 14th of October 2016.

Soil erosion and degradation is an important agro-ecological challenge in the highlands of Ethiopia. Conservation agriculture (CA) has a long time been identified as one of the key interventions that could abate the current trend of physical and chemical erosion of soil. This study analyzed adoption of the different components...

An exploratory survey was undertaken in Doyogena district of Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples region of Ethiopia to understand the sheep production system, the breeding practices, selection criteria and sheep production constraints in order to develop a sheep breeding strategy. Data were collected from 107 households using semi-structured questionnaire and group...

El Niño is the warming of sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific, which occurs roughly every 2 to 7 years, lasting from 6 to 24 months. While the main threat to food production is reduced rainfall and drought in some regions, El Niño can also cause heavy rains and...

FAO’s water and income diversification projects have become instrumental to tackle the negative impacts of El Niño induced drought for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the Afar Region of north eastern Ethiopia. FAO supports the Afar regional government’s effort to improve the livelihood of pastoral and semi-pastoral households through animal...

The FAO Youth Mobility, Food Security and Rural Poverty Reduction (RYM) project aims at mitigating distress economic mobility in Tunisia and Ethiopia. With the support of the Italian Development Cooperation, the project will promote innovative mechanisms and rural development strategies with the objective of mitigating distress migration for rural youth...

Floods, droughts, heat waves, cold spells, and other natural disasters are large sources of risk for farmers. For instance, in semiarid areas of India, 89 percent of farming households cited drought as the largest risk to agricultural production. Climate change may make weather patterns more extreme and unpredictable, further exposing...

Pulses have a huge share in Ethiopia’s agriculture crop production. As figures show, Ethiopia annually produces over 400 000 metric tons of chickpea, which places the country among the top ten largest chickpea producers in the world. About five million Ethiopian smallholder farmers are relying on the production of pulses for...

The following pages report the results of our survey conducted among (Malian, Senegalese and Mauritanian) Soninké migrants during the period of 14th to 4 December 2015, living in the social residences of the former home Pinel (first home of migrant workers in France). This survey had to aim to discuss...

This book on Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement provides with valuable knowledge and information both at the global, regional, and national levels on the costs of land degradation and benefits of taking action against land degradation. A key advantage of this book is that it goes beyond the conventional...

Over the past 25 years, Ethiopia has made remarkable headway in addressing the country’s nutrition situation. Despite ongoing challenges, significant progress has been made toward meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, including halving child mortality, doubling the number of people with access to clean water, and quadrupling primary school...

This study examines the impact of the Wheat Initiative technology package promoted by the research and extension systems in Ethiopia on wheat growers in the highlands of the country. The package includes improved wheat seed, a lower seeding density, row planting, fertilizer recommendations, and marketing assistance. A sample of 490...

With this year's main planting season winding down in Ethiopia, there is still a small window of opportunity in September for farmers to plant the last set of crops this year and grow food for millions facing hunger, provided the necessary support arrives on time. The newly released Mid-Year Review...