Report on rural development issues in Ethiopia : problems and prescriptions with special reference to EPID and the Ada project

The project is designed to provide the Ada district with new technology, infrastructure, and local institutions to increase small farmer income. The author spent two weeks in Ethiopia interviewing government officials and Ada project staff as well as a number of farmers and local officials. In his analysis of the national policy constraints to rural development, the author gives special emphasis to expanding and improving agricultural production research. This warrants emphasis because (1) a basic, solid core of research institutions already exists and (2) without expanded research, Ethiopia will soon lack profitable recommendations to farmers. The first priority for the experiment station system must remain with the basic food crops. Ethiopia is presently following the "extensive approach" to rural development which provides broad areas of the country with a basic "minimum package program". Despite the simplicity of the present technical package there is a clear need for increased technical knowledge and for modification of the package to suit specific conditions. The Ada project, by contrast, is an intensive effort in a small area. The role of intensive projects such as Ada should be to serve as a focus for experimentation on ways to improve the existing package and to set priorities for its expansion. To this end, the author recommends that the Ada project intensify experimentation and testing in order to improve that basic technology package. The working relationship between Ada and the Debra Zeit experiment station should be expanded; different extension techniques should be analyzed and compared; and different ways of organizing farmers for provision of marketing services should be tested, including crop storage and handling techniques. More experimentation is needed to find the most effective way of organizing farmers for infrastructure projects, especially roads. All these recommendations will require an expanded project staff including more evaluation experts.