Regional EEA Conference in Dire Dawa on Agricultural Transformation

The program began with a welcoming speech by Professor Mengistu Ketema, CEO of EEA who stated what EEA has been focusing on in its work and underlined the importance of the regional conferences. His speech was followed by opening remarks of Mr. Michael Troester, Resident Representative of FES on the importance of the cooperation of FES and EEA and on current economic challenges Ethiopia is currently facing. Dr. Solomon Zerihun, Vice President of Dire Dawa University’s Research and Community Service, also addressed the participants by highlighting the significance of the conference for regional development.

During the one day conference, a panel discussion focusing on the Ten Year Economic Plan at the national and for the Dire Dawa regional level with focus on the Agricultural and Service perspective. Also, five research papers were presented and discussed on the following subjects: Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty in the context of Climate-induced Shocks; Impact of Contract Breach on Farm Investment and Welfare of Farm Households in Easter Harare Zone of Oromia; Choice of Market Outlet and its effects on Market Gain of Smallholder Potato Farmers in Easter Ethiopia; The Effects of Fiscal Policy Shocks on Macroeconomics Variables in Developing Countries; Revisiting Nutrition-Labour Productivity Link: New Empirical Evidence from Farm Households in Ethiopia.