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Papers by Tilahun Amede

Agricultural Systems, 2007

This paper focuses on the conceptual evolution of watershed management within the context of an a... more This paper focuses on the conceptual evolution of watershed management within the context of an action research program operating in the highlands of eastern Africa, as informed by both theory and practice. Following a review of the watershed management literature, and brief program and methodological overviews, the paper explores in detail the concepts of ''participation'' and ''integration'' in watershed management. Conceptual and methodological dimensions of the terms are discussed in the context of a watershed implementation process, clarifying how ''watershed issues'' are defined by local users, how ''stakeholders'' are defined with respect to those issues, and how participation and integration may be operationalized in practice. Data are selectively chosen from different pilot sites to illustrate how concepts underlying watershed management have been refined, and methods improved. It is clear that ''participation'' in problem diagnosis and program implementation must move beyond community-level fora to socially-disaggregated processes and explicit management of trade-offs to diverse groups. Secondly, integration does not come about through implementation of parallel interventions, but rather through an explicit analysis of potential trade-offs and synergies of interventions to diverse system components, and strategies to define and reach systems-level goals. Each approach requires attention to ways to optimize returns to diverse social groups and system components while minimizing negative spin-offs. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for agricultural research and development in the eastern African region.

Public Health Nutrition, 2002

Objective: To assess the 1999-2000 food security situation and the food relief programmes in Ethi... more Objective: To assess the 1999-2000 food security situation and the food relief programmes in Ethiopia, and evaluate the need for a national food and nutrition policy. Design: A systematic search of data sources from the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), the Ethiopian Central Statistical Authority, the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the bibliographic database Medline and direct contacts with associations, institutions and people concerned with food security in Ethiopia. Setting: Consultations to WFP Ethiopia. Results: Food availability was severely restricted due to recurrent disasters such as drought, flood, war and a lack of diversity of food items. Food accessibility was limited due to a weak subsistence-agriculture-based economy, depletion of assets, absence of income diversity and a lack of alternative coping mechanisms. Food intake adequacy was rarely achieved due to food shortages, improper diet and poor sanitary conditions. There was a lack of early warning data to monitor food security indicators. Food aid programmes did not meet the requirements for food quantities and composition, and faced major obstacles in logistics and targeting of the vulnerable population. Conclusions: Improvements in food security and the eradication of famine will require investment in sustainable projects. There is an immediate need for better planning and targeting of food aid and a national food security monitoring system. A national food and nutrition policy is recommended, focusing both on relief efforts and on underlying factors contributing to the famine.

Papers: Mountains, Migration, Linkages & Policy by Tilahun Amede

Proceedings of A planning workshop on Thematic Research Area of the Global Mountain Program (GMP) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 29-30, 2006, , 2007

Executive Summary: A two-day planning workshop on RUL was conducted from August 29-30, in Addis ... more Executive Summary: A two-day planning workshop on RUL was conducted from August 29-30, in Addis Ababa. The primary objective of the planning workshop was to enrich the draft conceptual framework for the RUL Thematic research area and devise the way forward for action research/development intervention to strengthen RUL and thereby support the development efforts of the country. The workshop was attended by 80 participants drawn from federal and regional government offices, higher learning institutions, civil society organizations, private sector and International Agricultural Research Centers. The workshop was officially opened with welcoming and opening remarks by high level officials from EIAR, GMP, EPA and MoARD.
The workshop was organized in to paper presentation sessions and group work sessions followed by a panel discussion. The first day of the workshop was dedicated for paper presentations and second day for group work and panel discussions.
Key outcomes of the workshop:
- Cognizing that RUL was a missing element in Ethiopia’s development endeavor and the consideration of RUL in PASDEP, a general agreement was reached that the initiative will be instrumental in providing vital information in addressing the current gap.
- While endorsing the proposed sub-thematic areas, it was recommended to depict clearly the interconnections between the sub themes in the design of the conceptual framework (see Figure 2 of the paper presented by Gete Zeleke (Page 30) which shows the revised conceptual framework as per the recommendation).
- Priority action areas were identified under each sub-theme to be incorporated in the improved version of the concept note. The identified priority action areas are:
° Flow analysis (goods and services)
• Natural resources – flows of water , energy, sediment, nutrients , pollutants within rural-urban continuum;
• Products flow (Value chain analysis) – flows of forest, crop (including high value horticultural products) and livestock products and by products; agricultural inputs; market and market infrastructure;
• Labor flow (migration) – migration (RU, RR, UR, cross boarder) including flows of remittance/capital and gender and age relations;
• Knowledge and information flow – analysis of flows of market and other information, skills, services, etc;
° Policy and institutional analysis
• Policy – rural policies, urban policies, RUL-relevant common policies and International conventions and agreements including land tenure policies;
• Institution – public, private and communal institutions both in rural and urban settings, issues related to institutional linkages and stability;
° Livelihoods analysis
• Economic activity options including new frontiers such as
➢ The role of tourism as alternative livelihood options within RUL setting
➢ Value adding, etc…
• Natural resources (NR) and livelihood options (analysis of the interdependence of poverty and land degradation)
• Analyzing peri-urban and urban agriculture – going for business unusual intervention to improve livelihoods
• Impacts of cultural values and norms towards improved livelihood options and solutions
• Physical distance and livelihood options
• Migration as livelihoods option within the RUL context – challenges, opportunities and actions
• Factors affecting choice of livelihood options in rural and urban settings
• Policy and institutional requirements to improve livelihoods within RUL context
° Cross cutting issues
• Capacity building requirements (on system development and spatial planning and the inter-linkage with sectoral planning approaches)
• Gender and HIV/AIDS
- Baseline research to identify key gaps, opportunities and intervention areas related to the three sub-thematic areas is recommended as a first activity.
- The workshop recommends that the RUL initiative need to be strongly linked with the national R&D system.
- The proposal to establish a RUL platform was endorsed as a freestanding organ. List of members of the platform, TOR (including roles and responsibilities) to be developed later.
- Strong collaboration by different stakeholders was emphasized and recommended that the platform shall be one avenue to ensure close collaboration.
- In addition to the benchmark site and satellite cities proposed, it was recommended to include emerging urban areas such as Assosa and Gambella

"

Agricultural Systems, 2007

This paper focuses on the conceptual evolution of watershed management within the context of an a... more This paper focuses on the conceptual evolution of watershed management within the context of an action research program operating in the highlands of eastern Africa, as informed by both theory and practice. Following a review of the watershed management literature, and brief program and methodological overviews, the paper explores in detail the concepts of ''participation'' and ''integration'' in watershed management. Conceptual and methodological dimensions of the terms are discussed in the context of a watershed implementation process, clarifying how ''watershed issues'' are defined by local users, how ''stakeholders'' are defined with respect to those issues, and how participation and integration may be operationalized in practice. Data are selectively chosen from different pilot sites to illustrate how concepts underlying watershed management have been refined, and methods improved. It is clear that ''participation'' in problem diagnosis and program implementation must move beyond community-level fora to socially-disaggregated processes and explicit management of trade-offs to diverse groups. Secondly, integration does not come about through implementation of parallel interventions, but rather through an explicit analysis of potential trade-offs and synergies of interventions to diverse system components, and strategies to define and reach systems-level goals. Each approach requires attention to ways to optimize returns to diverse social groups and system components while minimizing negative spin-offs. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for agricultural research and development in the eastern African region.

Public Health Nutrition, 2002

Objective: To assess the 1999-2000 food security situation and the food relief programmes in Ethi... more Objective: To assess the 1999-2000 food security situation and the food relief programmes in Ethiopia, and evaluate the need for a national food and nutrition policy. Design: A systematic search of data sources from the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), the Ethiopian Central Statistical Authority, the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the bibliographic database Medline and direct contacts with associations, institutions and people concerned with food security in Ethiopia. Setting: Consultations to WFP Ethiopia. Results: Food availability was severely restricted due to recurrent disasters such as drought, flood, war and a lack of diversity of food items. Food accessibility was limited due to a weak subsistence-agriculture-based economy, depletion of assets, absence of income diversity and a lack of alternative coping mechanisms. Food intake adequacy was rarely achieved due to food shortages, improper diet and poor sanitary conditions. There was a lack of early warning data to monitor food security indicators. Food aid programmes did not meet the requirements for food quantities and composition, and faced major obstacles in logistics and targeting of the vulnerable population. Conclusions: Improvements in food security and the eradication of famine will require investment in sustainable projects. There is an immediate need for better planning and targeting of food aid and a national food security monitoring system. A national food and nutrition policy is recommended, focusing both on relief efforts and on underlying factors contributing to the famine.

Proceedings of A planning workshop on Thematic Research Area of the Global Mountain Program (GMP) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 29-30, 2006, , 2007

Executive Summary: A two-day planning workshop on RUL was conducted from August 29-30, in Addis ... more Executive Summary: A two-day planning workshop on RUL was conducted from August 29-30, in Addis Ababa. The primary objective of the planning workshop was to enrich the draft conceptual framework for the RUL Thematic research area and devise the way forward for action research/development intervention to strengthen RUL and thereby support the development efforts of the country. The workshop was attended by 80 participants drawn from federal and regional government offices, higher learning institutions, civil society organizations, private sector and International Agricultural Research Centers. The workshop was officially opened with welcoming and opening remarks by high level officials from EIAR, GMP, EPA and MoARD.
The workshop was organized in to paper presentation sessions and group work sessions followed by a panel discussion. The first day of the workshop was dedicated for paper presentations and second day for group work and panel discussions.
Key outcomes of the workshop:
- Cognizing that RUL was a missing element in Ethiopia’s development endeavor and the consideration of RUL in PASDEP, a general agreement was reached that the initiative will be instrumental in providing vital information in addressing the current gap.
- While endorsing the proposed sub-thematic areas, it was recommended to depict clearly the interconnections between the sub themes in the design of the conceptual framework (see Figure 2 of the paper presented by Gete Zeleke (Page 30) which shows the revised conceptual framework as per the recommendation).
- Priority action areas were identified under each sub-theme to be incorporated in the improved version of the concept note. The identified priority action areas are:
° Flow analysis (goods and services)
• Natural resources – flows of water , energy, sediment, nutrients , pollutants within rural-urban continuum;
• Products flow (Value chain analysis) – flows of forest, crop (including high value horticultural products) and livestock products and by products; agricultural inputs; market and market infrastructure;
• Labor flow (migration) – migration (RU, RR, UR, cross boarder) including flows of remittance/capital and gender and age relations;
• Knowledge and information flow – analysis of flows of market and other information, skills, services, etc;
° Policy and institutional analysis
• Policy – rural policies, urban policies, RUL-relevant common policies and International conventions and agreements including land tenure policies;
• Institution – public, private and communal institutions both in rural and urban settings, issues related to institutional linkages and stability;
° Livelihoods analysis
• Economic activity options including new frontiers such as
➢ The role of tourism as alternative livelihood options within RUL setting
➢ Value adding, etc…
• Natural resources (NR) and livelihood options (analysis of the interdependence of poverty and land degradation)
• Analyzing peri-urban and urban agriculture – going for business unusual intervention to improve livelihoods
• Impacts of cultural values and norms towards improved livelihood options and solutions
• Physical distance and livelihood options
• Migration as livelihoods option within the RUL context – challenges, opportunities and actions
• Factors affecting choice of livelihood options in rural and urban settings
• Policy and institutional requirements to improve livelihoods within RUL context
° Cross cutting issues
• Capacity building requirements (on system development and spatial planning and the inter-linkage with sectoral planning approaches)
• Gender and HIV/AIDS
- Baseline research to identify key gaps, opportunities and intervention areas related to the three sub-thematic areas is recommended as a first activity.
- The workshop recommends that the RUL initiative need to be strongly linked with the national R&D system.
- The proposal to establish a RUL platform was endorsed as a freestanding organ. List of members of the platform, TOR (including roles and responsibilities) to be developed later.
- Strong collaboration by different stakeholders was emphasized and recommended that the platform shall be one avenue to ensure close collaboration.
- In addition to the benchmark site and satellite cities proposed, it was recommended to include emerging urban areas such as Assosa and Gambella

"