The just concluded 9^th international conference convened by the Ethiopian Economic Association in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia brought together over 500 experts from different regions to debate on imminent issues affecting the economy of the country.

Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) was represented by researchers Amdissa Teshome, Abdi Abdullahi Hussein and Samuel Gebreselassie whose research papers on pastoralism and smallholder commercialization were amongst the 90 papers presented during the 3-day conference. FAC also co-sponsored a plenary session with Tufts University to look at the emerging issues on innovations, animal health and conflict management in pastoral areas.

Abdi Abdullahi Hussein – Pastoral Innovation in Somali Region

FAC researcher, Abdi Hussein presented a paper on the emerging innovations of pastoralists to deal with longstanding challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities to participate in national and regional politics and markets.

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Amdissa Teshome – Pastoral Extension System

FAC researcher Amdissa Teshome presented a paper on agricultural extension in pastorals areas where millions are currently struggling to survive the effect of the drought.

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Samuel Gebreselassie – Smallholder Commercialisation

In one of the parallel sessions, FAC researcher Samuel Gebreselassie presented his research on agricultural commercialisation which appraised a small-scale irrigation scheme in Lume district, Ethiopia and the impact it had on small households. In his presentation, Gebreselassie pointed out that interventions such as this were crucial in enabling small scale farmers diversify their outputs into high value cash crops and enhance their participation in output markets.

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In addition to presenting their papers, FAC researchers Amdissa and Samuel chaired a number of sessions and contributed for the success of the conference.