The 13th International Economics Association Conference was held at the EEA on July 23-25, 2015. Over the 3 days, 900 participants attended sessions to learn about how Ethiopia’s economy is transforming through a variety of political and economic influences, and to be exposed to the breadth of research currently being undertaken.
The sessions covered a range of research topics from the PSNP to the coffee industry, as well as other aspects such as the use of different analytical techniques to handle and visualize data.
PSNP featured heavily in the plenary session, focusing on the impact this programme has had on rural Ethiopia in terms of nutrition, schooling, livestock assets and growth of crop yields as a result of the assets built through public works. One particular aspect of the PSNP, which has been raised in earlier discussions, was how the PSNP may be modified to include nutrition sensitive aspects in the future. Further to this, nutrition received a place during one of the parallel streams. The sessions encompassed: women’s engagement in agriculture and their division of time between the family and providing better nutritional outcomes; changes in food consumption over recent years; and a review of selected indicators on nutrition over time.
Technology is rapidly changing, however, the uptake of new and improved technologies is slow. Such determinants of technology uptake in Ethiopia featured in a number of sessions, including studies to try and understand the decision-making process for adopting such technologies.
Ethiopia’s coffee industry has been the subject of much research recently. Changes in the value chain, standards, and certifications applied to coffee were covered in various sessions, including a consideration of the benefits these changes bring to smallholder farmers. The government has plans to expand the coffee cultivation land and to increase productivity of this valued crop, and consequently the changes to the value chain afforded some attention.
To learn more about the conference presentations, refer to Slideshare or visit the EEA website.