Rural Youth and Employment in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia’s economy remains at a very early stage in its structural transformation. A puzzle presents itself as to how such growth can be maintained given its relatively low urbanization rate and its reliance on the agricultural sector as the primary form of employment. This chapter examines labour diversification in Ethiopia, focusing on youth, and explores current conditions that youth face in both the agricultural and nonfarm labour markets. Using data from the Ethiopia Socioeconomy Survey (ESS) and the National Labour Force Survey (NFLS), we explore current trends in labour diversification, along with youth nonfarm engagement in rural and small towns. We find that youth (ages 25 to 34 years) have a greater probability of working in nonfarm enterprises compared to mature individuals (age 35–64). However, wage labour opportunities remain scant in rural Ethiopia. The majority of individuals working in nonfarm employment are engaged in small-scale trade activities.

Farm size, food security, and welfare

“…Research on this area is important for Ethiopia given rapid population growth and limited urbanization. Most rural residents depend on agriculture as their main source of livelihood (Schmidt and Bekele 2016;Bachewe et al 2018), and access to land is therefore crucial for rural livelihoods. A large-and rapidly growingpopulation means that more and more people are going to reside in rural areas.…”

Evolving food value chains

“…While the importance of agriculture in GDP has come down rapidly, the share of workers employed in agriculture has barely changed. Based on data 2000/2001-2016/2017 -2.5 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009 from the national labor survey, Schmidt and Bekele (2016) find that the share of the population employed in agriculture declined by only 4 percent between 2005 and 2013-from 80.2 percent in 2005 to 76.7 percent in 2013. The large share of employment in agriculture and the declining share of its economic weight is a typical pattern in developing countries and is reflective of low productivity levels in agriculture.…”

“…As most rural residents depend on agriculture as their main source of livelihood (Schmidt and Bekele 2016;Bachewe et al 2017), access to land is crucial for agricultural activities. This is especially an issue for the younger population given that they have less access to agricultural land.…”

Evolving food systems in Ethiopia: Past, present and future

“…Source: NBE (2018) While the importance of agriculture in GDP has come down rapidly, the share of workers employed in agriculture has barely changed. Based on data from the national labor survey, Schmidt and Bekele (2016) find that the share of the population employed in agriculture declined by only 4 percent between 2005 and 2013 -from 80.2 percent of those employed nationally in 2005 to 76.7 percent in 2013. The large share of employment in agriculture and the declining share of its economic weight is a typical pattern in developing countries and is reflective of low economic productivity levels in agriculture.…”

“…The absolute differences in farm sizes between the different age groups remained rather similar across years. As most rural residents depend on agriculture as their main source of livelihood (Schmidt and Bekele 2016;Bachewe et al 2017), access to land is crucial for agricultural activities. This is especially an issue for the younger population given that they have less access to agricultural land.…”