APRA Contributes to a Pivotal International Conference on the State of the Ethiopian Economy
The Ethiopia Team of the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) is preparing for their participation in the 17th International Conference of the Ethiopian Economics Association (EEA) on the Ethiopian Economy (https://www.eeaecon.org/), which will be held from 18-20 July 2019 at the EEA Multi-Purpose Building Conference Hall in Addis Ababa.
EEA holds one of the largest annual economic conferences in Africa and serves to advance Ethiopia’s economic development through the sharing of policy-relevant research and analysis. The APRA Ethiopia team, consisting of Dawit Alemu (Ethio-Netherlands Effort for Food, Income, and Trade Partnership program, BENEFIT), Agajie Tesfaye (Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, EIAR), Abebaw Assaye (EIAR), Shewaye Lakew (EIAR), Marco Carreras (Institute of Development Studies, IDS), Rachel Sabates-Wheeler (IDS) and John Thompson (IDS), will present their research findings on the changing dynamics of rice commercialisation and agrarian change in Ethiopia at this year’s event. During the plenary session on the morning of Friday, 19 July, they will give three presentations on the theme, ‘The Importance of Rice, Its Commercialisation and Future Perspectives’:
- The Importance of the Rice Sector in Ethiopia: Commercialisation, Emerging Challenges and Opportunities – John Thompson
- Trends and Prospects of Rice Commercialisation and the Changing Labour Market: The Case of the Fogera Plain in Ethiopia – Agajie Tesfaye
- Rice Commercialisation and Agrarian Change in the Fogera Plain of Ethiopia – Dawit Alemi
The presentations, along with a blog on the event, will be available on the APRA website soon (www.future-agricultures.org/apra).
EEA organises an annual conference on the state of the Ethiopian economy, the contents of which focus on emerging issues that are important for national economic development. The event will be attended by senior government ministers and state ministers, as well as numerous national organisations (universities, research institutes, NGOs) and international organisations, including representatives of ECA, EDRI, IDRC, IFPRI, IGC, UNDP and USAID.
The Association is a non-profit making, non-political and non-religious professional organisation established with a view to advancing the following objectives:
- contribute to the economic policy formulation capability and broadly to the economic advancement of Ethiopia
- promote the professional interests of economists
- promote the study of economics in the country’s educational institutions
- promote economic research and assist in the dissemination of the findings of such research in Ethiopia
- provide fora for the discussion of economic issues
- promote professional contacts between Ethiopian economists and those of other countries
The Future Agricultures Consortium (www.future-agricultures.org) is an alliance of African and UK-based research organisations seeking to provide timely, high-quality and independent information and advice to improve agricultural policy and practice in Sub-Saharan Africa. APRA is a five-year research programme of FAC which aims to generate new evidence and understanding of pathways to agricultural commercialisation and their differential impacts on livelihoods and rural economies in eight countries in the region, including Ethiopia.