Field and river

20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES20)
Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Regional and Global Ethiopia - Interconnections and Identities"
1-5 October, 2018

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[PANEL] 0308 RURAL DEVELOPMENT: RECENT RESEARCH ON THE SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION OF FARMERS

Organizers:

HAGOS Nigussie Kahsay, Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Kristie DRUCZA, Gender and Inclusion Research, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Ethiopia

Paper presenters:

MEHARI Hiben; ABDELLA Kosa; IDRIS Mohammad; Tom LAVERS; HAGOS Nigussie; AREGA Shumetie;
HAGOS Kidane; TESFAYE Lemma; ABRAHA Weldu; TOLLERA Tesema

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CAN WE MODEL IRRIGATION POTENTIAL IN A DATA SCARCE ENVIRONMENT? [Abstract ID: 0308-06]

MEHARI Hiben, Tigray Water Bureau

This paper proposes a methodology to model irrigation potential mapping in data scarce areas by using global remote sensing data. The model incorporates spatial data and spatial analysis, raster analysis tools and their application, the concept of irrigation water requirement, and estimates of the availability of irrigation water, based on simple and valid approaches. The protocols of GIS project design and execution in relation to remote sensing data are used for suitability map calibration and validation purposes to map irrigation potential, while NASA's SRTM is used to describe landmass topography. The Giba Basin (the upper tributary of Tekeze River in Ethiopia) is used as an example application to illustrate the methodology. To this end, parameter and input uncertainty are explicitly taken into account and visualized via probabilistic irrigation potential maps. Also, the study investigates the impact of land-use changes on irrigation schemes using the SWAT modelling tool and the propagation of this land-use change is visualized again using a probabilistic mapping approach. The GIS spatial analysis tools will analyze remote sensing and image analysis will map the land irrigation suitability using spatial data and estimation of irrigation water requirement and available water for irrigation using the SWAT model.

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FARMERS MARKET ACCESS AND CASH CROP ADOPTION: EVIDENCE FROM NORTH SHOA ZONE ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0308-10]

ABDELLA Kosa, Lecturer at Kotebe Metropolitan University
IDRIS Mohammad, Lecturer at Debre Berhan University

Even though farmers face a number of barriers in accessing markets, there is a high potential to derive livelihoods from market-oriented agriculture. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the farmer’s market access and cash crop adoption in Ethiopia. Its information was gathered through questionnaires, with a sample of 345 farmers analyzed, quantitatively using descriptive and inferential analyse; interviews conducted with 8 office workers were analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the study show that Farmers are ready to adapt to cash crops but that there are obstacles in accessing requirements to produce cash crops. Most of the farmers are interested in participating in emerging markets, but they are limited in their access it because of prohibitive costs, lack of market information, poor strategies used by farmers and unions, and lack of transparency in the supply chain. Cash crop adoption is significantly affected by age, educational level, farm size, market experience, types of product produced, product sufficiency, product quantity, business skill, price variation, and level of farmers' benefit from the market. Meanwhile, the farmer’s market access is significantly determined by supply chain, product and market risk, farmer’s collective action, and strategies to
access the market. Therefore, we recommend the government and NGOs take measures to remove the obstacles to adopting cash crops, accessing markets and becoming competent by providing appropriate information and training to improve the livelihood of small-scale farmers.

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IDEAS AND THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN ETHIOPIA: THE PRODUCTIVE SAFETY NET PROGRAMME AND COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH INSURANCE [Abstract ID: 0308-07]

Tom LAVERS, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester

Ethiopia has taken significant steps to expand social protection provision over the last decade or so, notably including the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) which supports some 8 million people, as well as the expansion of the Community Based Health Insurance programme (CBHI) to some 11 million people. The existing literature has identified and discussed the important role played by transnational actors in promoting social protection in developing countries over this period, with some critics suggesting that this is a primarily donor-driven process. This paper examines the social protection policymaking process in Ethiopia from an ideational perspective, focusing on the extent to which ideas promoted by transnational actors have influenced Ethiopian policy debates. The analysis comprises case studies of the decision making process surrounding the PSNP, CBHI and the National Social Protection Policy, based on more than 60 key informant interviews with senior Ethiopian politicians and bureaucrats, as well as key donor officials. The paper concludes that while transnational ideas have been important inputs into policy, these ideas are not adopted uncritically. Rather, the Ethiopian government, and in particular political elites at the very highest levels, have selected policy models that fit existing government objectives and have consciously sought to adapt these policy models to ensure consistency with the government overarching developmental vision. The result is a distinctively ‘productivist’ approach to social protection in line with the ‘developmental state’ ambitions of the ruling party.

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PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS [Abstract ID: 0308-02]

HAGOS Nigussie, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

This paper examines public meetings and their significance for citizen participation in food security programs in Irob and Gulomekeda districts, Eastern Tigray. Public meetings are the forms of communication most commonly used to convey socio-cultural, religious, political and development messages in rural areas. The continuing use of public meetings in rural areas is attributable to lack of infrastructure and of access to modern media outlets. The global question of this paper is: to what extent do public meetings help rural people to participate in the design and implementation of food security programs? Methodologically, it employed an ethnographic research approach. The findings of the study were that public meetings are dominated by the views and interests of government officials and development agents, which limited the participation of local people in the strategic design and implementation of the food security programs. Thus, public meetings in Irob and Gulomekeda districts are ineffective in conveying food security messages. There are three main reasons for this: first, public meetings employ a top-down communication approach, which limits participation in the decision-making processes; second, food security messages in public meetings are not communicated in the languages of the people (especially the Irob people, many of whom do not speak Tigrigna); third, because of the urgency of most government programs, three to five programs are addressed in a single meeting, making it difficult for people to decide priorities. Overall, though government officials and development agents believe public meetings to be an inclusive communication strategy, public meetings are unproductive in connecting rural people to food security programs.

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RURAL LABOUR DISPLACEMENT AND CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN CENTRAL ETHIOPIA: PANEL DATA APPROACH [Abstract ID: 0308-03]

AREGA Shumetie, Haramaya University, Ethiopia

Unbalanced panel data (1994-2014) collected from the central highlands and Arssi grain plough farming systems of Ethiopia were used to examine the effect of climate variability on rural labour displacement. The result of instrumental random effect two-stage least squares regression revealed that increments in crop income significantly reduced rural labour displacement from the study area. This significant interaction implies that factors relating to climate variability, which have a negative effect on crop income, strongly affected rural labour displacement. The model result also showed that the possession of large livestock, which is the main source of labour, food and cash, has a significant effect in reducing labour displacement from the two farming systems. Household participation in off-farm activities would reduce displacement from their home location, according to the results of the model. Factors including crop season rainfall, disease and pest outbreaks, and shocks caused by climate variability, were significant causes of displacement by household members. This study therefore recommends that policies and programs should focus on creating stable income sources and sustainable water availability for smallholder agriculture in order to reduce rural labour displacement from the two farming systems.

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SMALLHOLDER FARMERS’ PARTICIPATION IN SEED PRODUCING COOPERATIVES IN SOUTHERN ZONE OF TIGRAY, ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0308-05]

HAGOS Kidane, Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Alamata Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 56, Alamata, Ethiopia
TESFAYE Lemma, Haramaya University, Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Haramaya, Ethiopia
GIRMAY Tesfay, Mekelle University, Department of Natural Resources Economics and Management, Mekelle, Ethiopia

This research sought to examine the participation of smallholder farmers in seed producing cooperatives in the Southern zone of Tigray, with the goal of assessing the factors affecting their participation and identifying the determinants of participation. Both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were employed to select 192 sample households. Interview schedules with respondents and focus group discussions were used to gather qualitative and quantitative data for the study. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviations and inferential statistics such as t-test and χ2-test were employed to see mean difference and association, respectively, between both participation categories. The descriptive statistics showed that, out of the total fourteen variables, eleven were significant at a 1%, 5% and 10% probability level between the participation categories. A binary logit model was employed to identify the determinants of participation. The model showed that the participation of smallholder farmers in SPCs was significantly influenced negatively by the age and sex of the head of household, and the distance to the SPC office, and positively by participation in field days, participation in trainings and family labor endowment. Therefore, enhancing institutional support services by creating village based seed producing clusters, organizing trainings, field days and using labor saving pre-harvest and post-harvest technologies, would contribute to improving the participation of smallholder farmers in SPCs.

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THE INSTITUTION OF MAHBER: AN ENGINE FOR DEVELOPMENT OR A SOURCE EXTRAVAGANCE [Abstract ID: 0308-08]

ABRAHA Weldu, Bule Hora University, Ethiopia

This study aims to explore the principles of a socio-religious self-help institution by looking at the celebration of Mahber, a religious-oriented association, in Adi Werema, Tigray. The association has been poorly interpreted by some writers who assume it as a source of extravagance and economic backwardness. The present paper, however, argues that Mahber has developmental tendencies and promotes economic cooperation and reciprocity. Like other indigenous self-help institutions such as Equb and Edir; Mahber extenuates the gender, social, and economic polarities in the community. It is a source of sorority and fraternity as well. Importantly, it takes into consideration the notion of development and gender equality. It could be said that Mahber empowers both men and women to establish separate association in order to find support, enjoyment, and affirmation in the contentment of persons their own gender. Under the umbrella of Mahber, women are markedly empowered to express themselves freely in a way that they could not display in public. It also incubates the concept of saving and mutual assistances in the farming community. The study employs a qualitative research approach based on primary and secondary sources. The study critically examined available literatures and attempts to reinterpret existing evidence to investigate the role of Mahber in the community. The findings show that Mahber has played a key role in promoting economic cooperation. However, its celebration is sometimes taken the working days for few individuals.

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THE ROLE OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN POVERTY REDUCTION AMONG THE RURAL POOR IN ETHIOPIA: IN THE CASE OF OMO MICRO FINANCE INSTITUTION IN GURAGE ZONE [Abstract ID: 0308-09]

TOLLERA Tesema, Dept of Admin. and Public Management, MPMP, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

There has been a strongly growing interest in considering micro financing as a viable strategy for the poor and after the success of the different MFIs, the system has been duplicated in the different parts of developing world. Ethiopia is also one of the countries where microfinance has been given due consideration as a safety net for the poor to help them overcome the adversities of poverty. Microfinance institutions are basically set up with the goal of poverty reduction. This study has undertaken empirical evidence in Omo Microfinance Institution taking a sample of 120 clients from Qebena woreda, Gurage Zone, South Region nation and nationalities to discern the MFI contribution towards poverty reduction. The main objective of the study was to find out the impact of microfinance towards poverty with a particular reference to Omo Microfinance Institution based on income, living condition, asset accumulation, saving, decision making power, self-confidence, business management skills along with the strength and weakness of the institution among others. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaires, key informants; focus group discussions, and observations to obtain primary data and secondary sources of data. The findings showed that OMFI scheme has made positive contribution to the clients in relation to observed variables. Nevertheless significantly higher number of the clients complained about the institutions high interest rate, too small loan size, repayment policy, problematic group dynamics. Conclusion and recommendation based on findings are presented.