What is the optimal size and composition of Rural Savings and Credit Cooperatives (RuSACCOs)? With these broader questions in mind, we characterize alternative formation of RuSACCOs and their implications in improving rural households’ access to financial services, including savings, credit and insurance services. We find that some features of RuSACCOs...

Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), FAW, is an insect native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Its larval stage (photo) feeds on more than 80 plant species, including maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton. FAW can cause significant yield losses if not well managed. It can...

What is the optimal size and composition of rural financial cooperatives (RFCs)? With this broad question in mind, we characterize alternative formations of RFCs and the implications of each in improving the access of rural households to financial services, including savings, credit, and insurance services. We find that some features...

Pastoralism is a rational and viable economic land-use system able to generate significant returns in the dryland areas of Eastern Africa. Widespread misunderstanding about pastoralism has left it often under-protected, undervalued and an unintended victim of uninformed policies. However, this traditional livelihood system, which evolved as an adaptive strategy for...

Cash transfer programmes in sub-Saharan Africa impact the productive activities of both beneficiary and non-beneficiary households in the communities where they are implemented. These programmes have led to an increase in agricultural activities in beneficiary households, including greater use of agricultural inputs, more land area in crop production and higher...

Increasing access to modern electricity services in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the main development challenges facing the world over the next two decades. The rural economies are overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture; in fact, agriculture and agribusiness comprise nearly half of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). These enterprises require electricity...

The livestock subsector has contributed little to the remarkable economic growth recorded in Ethiopia in the last decade. In an effort to stimulate livestock production, the Ethiopian government has recently recognized livestock as an important strategic subsector in which to invest. Unlike most studies that focus purely on aspects of...

What is the optimal size and composition of Rural Financial Cooperatives (RFCs)? With this broad question in mind, we characterize alternative formation of RFCs and their implications in improving the access of rural households to financial services, including savings, credit, and insurance services. We find that some features of RFCs...

This report consolidates findings from previous activities by FAO and other stakeholders, and identifies in the four focus countries (Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti & Somalia): - the location and direction of the main livestock trade routes, - appropriate sites for rehabilitation & development of strategic livestock water sources, - good practices...

Each year, rural areas lose a promising share of their workforce, as youth leave their homes and migrate to cities or move abroad in search of a better future. By addressing the links between distress migration and rural development, FAO is making a difference in Ethiopia.

To amplify the development impact of the African Agriculture Fund, the International Fund for Agricultural Development actively promoted a Technical Assistance Facility to work alongside its investments. Blending development finance with technical assistance can be a powerful tool to achieve business growth and development outcomes. After five years of implementation,...

The present study is a gender assessment of the dairy value chain in selected sites in Ethiopia: North Shoa Shewa (Degem woreda), East Gojam (Dejen woreda) and Gamu Gofa Arba Minch (Arba Minch Zuria woreda). It relies on evidence gathered through fieldwork complemented by a review of specialized background documentation....

In Ethiopia, smallholder farmers’ commercialization and integration into the market has been one of the policy directions to ensure households’ progress out of poverty and maintain the sustainable development trajectory. A lot of progress has been made in this endeavor over the past couple of decades. However, market participation and...

Forest cover in sub-Saharan Africa declined by nearly 10 per cent between 2000 and 2010. Of this loss, 75 per cent was caused by the conversion of forest to agriculture, largely for food production to serve rapidly growing domestic food demand. Focusing on Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania, this study examines...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ethiopian Ministry for Livestock and Fishery to hold the first Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 (ASL2050) Technical Consultation on the 21st and 23rd of February 2017 and the ASL2050...

This publication was initiated by the FAO Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa to identify, analyse and document existing watershed management practices in the Eastern Africa sub-region that contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation. There is opportunity to use this information to inform agriculture and watershed management-related policies, programmes and...

One of the most devastating El Niño events on record continues to affect the lives and livelihoods of farmers and herders in Ethiopia. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is begun providing assistance through a destocking programme, aimed at assisting the most vulnerable communities in parts of Somali Region.

This climate-smart agriculture scoping study for Ethiopia was produced by the FAO. The study is aimed at identifying and documenting existing climate-smart agriculture practices in Ethiopia that enable stakeholders to understand the opportunities and constraints to adopting particular climate-smart agriculture technologies or practices.

Inclusive agribusiness umbrella organisations (which ideally are vertically integrated down to the level of smallholder farmers’ organisations) could be key institutions to contribute to policy dialogue and design from the perspective of the private sector. Furthermore, they have the potential to carry forward the implementation of such policies on the...

The strongest El Niño weather episode in the last several decades has caused repeated crop failure, decimated livestock herds and driven some 10.2 million people across Ethiopia into food insecurity, FAO reported as it presented its emergency response plan to urgently protect livestock and rebuild crop production in the Horn...