Based on unique data from a quasi-experimental setting in northwestern Ethiopia, this study examines the “last mile(s)â€â€”from the input distribution center to the farmer—in the chemical fertilizer and improved seed distribution system. We find that increasing transaction...

Individuals’ aspirations and their consequences for future-oriented behavior have received increased attention in devel-opment economics literature in recent years. At this stage, however, each study relies on ad hoc empirical instruments to measure aspirations, thereby limiting...

On the back of both a global food crisis and various domestic factors, Ethiopia has experienced one of the world’s fastest rates of food inflation in recent years. Yet the lack of high frequency survey data means that very little is known about the welfare impacts of these price changes....

Recognition that policies aimed at ‘getting prices right’ in less-developed countries have not been successful due to incomplete markets has spurred a new wave of reforms aimed instead at ‘getting markets and institutions right’. Previous studies of this policy shift...

There is growing interest in the role of policy reforms to promote gender equality and empower women, two key objectives of development policy. From a policy perspective, it would be ideal for reforms undertaken in different policy areas to be consistent, so that they reinforce each other in...

The most recent (2010–2011) drought in the arid and semiarid lowlands (ASAL) of the Horn of Africa has rendered over 13 million people in need of food, and caused a devastating famine in southern Somalia. The drought has also raised concerns that pastoralist livelihoods in this region are...

Ethiopia is known to have one of the largest livestock populations in the world. Yet the overall contribution of livestock products to households’ daily consumption is very limited. The average per capita annual consumption of meat and dairy products are just 4.6 kg and 16.7 kg,...

During the 2003/04–2008/09 period agricultural production in Ethiopia grew annually at 9.3 percent while cultivated area expanded at 4.7 percent. The remaining growth resulted from intensive use of other inputs, increased productivity, increased efficiency, or a combination of these...

In recent years, microfinance institutions are seen as beacons of hope to help eradicate poverty through, among others, providing credit to poor rural households. Availability of small but repeated loans is, in the long-term, expected to impact on poverty. However, decades after the introduction...

Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future. To explore the idea of fatalism, we draw inspiration from...