Assefa Hailemariam

The social and economic problems children and youth face today in Ethiopia are strongly related to the demographic situation of the country. High fertility combined with moderately declining mortality has contributed to the large number of children and youth in the country while the low level of development has worsened their condition. This paper attempts to review the general demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Ethiopia. The study is based on data obtained from censuses and surveys conducted in the country during the last several years. Descriptive statistical methods are used in the analysis. Including the introductory section the paper is organized in five sections. Section two presents the demographic profile of the country followed by a description of the socioeconomic situation in section three. Section four attempts to address the implications of the prevailing demographic and socioeconomic situation on children and youth. The last section presents a summary of the main findings and highlights some policy issues.

10 Conclusions and Policy Implications Leslie Lipper, C. Leigh Anderson, Timothy J. Dalton and Alder Keleman INTRODUCTION We began this research uncertain ... We follow with policy implications to support improv-ing farmer access to crop genetic resources in local markets ...

This analysis of household size in Ethiopia during 1965-84 indicates that conditions did not have the same effect on rural and urban areas at the regional level. Household size fluctuated during the study period. Analysis of variance of household size in 1964 and 1984 among urban and rural areas indicates that overall variation in household size was explained by type of residence, the Awraja, and the region. There were significant differences between rural and urban areas, between the 75 Awrajas, and between the 12 regions. Over the study period, rural areas had decreases in household size, whereas in urban areas and the regions of Gojam, Gonder, and Keffa, which were least affected by famines, household size increased. It is suggested that rural-to-urban migration during periods of famine accounted for the increased household size and temporal changes. Mortality increase and migration due to famine in rural areas reduced household size. During 1970-80, in rural areas, the relative number of small households decreased from 37.3% to 31.5%. The proportion of large households increased from 15.5% to 20.5%. A comparison of household size in Addis Ababa and rural areas around 1980 indicates that the proportion of large households in the city vs. rural areas was similar. The largest differences were in the proportion of small and medium households. The city had more small households, and rural areas had more medium households. Only in 1965 were the differences in average household size between rural and urban areas statistically significant. It appears that household size over time varied with the size of urban centers. Larger urban centers had a greater proportion of large family sizes. Urban household size was larger in all regions in 1984 compared to 1965. Gains were largest in Shoa and Gojam regions and smallest in Arssi and Illubabor. In 1984 average household size was 5.2 in Addis Ababa and 4.3 for the nation.

The paper studies the emerging patterns of urbanization in Ethiopia. It is noted that, over the 1967-1984 period, a number of structural changes have occurred which are likely to play a dominant role in the future urban growth in Ethiopia. The paper also provides some data ...

The principle of evidence-based decision-making for development policy and planning is now well accepted, and population data are of critical importance. Some ministries (eg., Health) are even including targets for program managers in the “use of reliable data in 75% of their decisions”. In 2008–2009, four African countries were selected for a study to assess the demand for, access to and use of demographic data for development decision making. In the Ethiopia case study presented here, the authors carried out nearly 100 key informant interviews of decision makers, key advisors, planners and media, at Federal and regional levels, plus follow up dialogue with selected and forthcoming policy advisors. The main finding is that demand for demographic data has increased, with the heightened need for monitoring international (eg, poverty, Cairo conference and MDG) targets and national results-based planning, as well as decentralized and locally empowered planning. However, there is still weak demand by international partners for developing strong and transparent national M&E systems. The demand and supply side barriers to effective use include: limited awareness of the value and type of data available; differing sources of information available on the same indicator (eg., contraceptive prevalence, ante-natal care) with contradictory estimates; old, unrepresentative and non-disaggregated data; research and survey findings not communicated well to policymakers, and skepticism and even mistrust of unexpected demographic statistics. Applied research, rigorous evaluation and data generation and analytical capacity in the country are weak, and the lack of demographic media expertise exacerbates the data use gap. The overall recommendation is advocacy for a culture of transparent information in order to rebuild trust and promote strategic use, as well as active involvement of the media to promote awareness of the importance of demographic data for development. Technical and institutional capacity building include the strengthening of key statistical, research and data collection institutions; improving true international partnerships towards increasing local ownership for large scale demographic data collection, research and M&E systems. It is also important to resolving key indicator contradictions between service statistics and household surveys through committed harmonization of sources, improve communications between data analysts, media and policymakers, and the creation of a well-functioning National Population Council. More research is needed on the socio-cultural and historical barriers to enabling a greater culture of reliable data.

ABSTRACT This article explores the application of key informant research to examine barriers and facilitators to maternal health services in rural and pastoralist Ethiopia. The key informants were health extension workers (HEWs) who assist women with birth preparedness and facilitate timely referral to health centres for birth. While women encounter many barriers to giving birth in health facilities, where HEWs are supported by their communities and health centre staff, they can effectively encourage women to travel to health centres to give birth with skilled birth attendants rather than at home with unskilled relatives or traditional birth attendants.

... Moreover, policy documents, such as PASDEP (MoFED, 2006, 2007), research findings and evaluations (MoFED, 2003; Assefa and Sisay, 2003; Teller and Assefa, 2009) and other relevant materials (eg, Annual Progress Reports) Reports for Ethiopia on Progress towards ...

The demographic transition “theory” or framework has been the main preoccupation of modern scientific demography in the past 60 years. However, other than the generality of mortality declining before fertility, there is little consensus on the timing, pace and causality related to socio-economic development. In heterogeneous sub-Saharan Africa, the western-based transition theory is not very predictive of the variation in

The chapter starts with a brief description of Ethiopia’s social, economic, and cultural background and discusses the availability of demographic data. Using the 2015 Revision of the United Nations World Population Prospects, the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys, and other government sources, the chapter examines the major components of population dynamics, along with the trends and key factors that have contributed to changes in mortality and fertility over the last three decades. Then, we present the fertility differentials by region, place of residence, and other socio-economic variables. We show that both mortality and fertility have declined considerably over the last 20 years in urban as well as rural areas, though the decline in urban mortality and fertility has been significantly larger. We review the levels and trends of the factors that are likely to have contributed to changes in mortality and fertility and discuss the evolution of population policies as well as the population projections until 2050. The last part of the chapter considers the country’s prospective chances of reaping a first demographic dividend.

BACKGROU D: Female genital mutilation/cutting is a harmful practice which has effect on female’s wellbeing. However, the practice has continued to prevail in many cultures. Research on the social determinants of the practice and its continuation are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess whether attitude towards the continuation of female genital mutilation is predicted by gender role perception among adolescents in Jimma zone. METHODS: This study used data collected in the first round of Jimma Longitudinal Family Survey of Youth. A total of 2084 adolescents were identified from 3700 households and one adolescent were interviewed from each household using structured questionnaire. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics, religiosity, access to electronic media, perception of gender role, attitude towards continuation of Female circumcision was collected. Descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyze the data using SPSS for windows version ...

Female genital mutilation/cutting is a harmful practice which has effect on female's wellbeing. However, the practice has continued to prevail in many cultures. Research on the social determinants of the practice and its continuation are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess whether attitude towards the continuation of female genital mutilation is predicted by gender role perception among adolescents in Jimma zone. This study used data collected in the first round of Jimma Longitudinal Family Survey of Youth. A total of 2084 adolescents were identified from 3700 households and one adolescent were interviewed from each household using structured questionnaire. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics, religiosity, access to electronic media, perception of gender role, attitude towards continuation of Female circumcision was collected. Descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyze the data using SPSS for windows version 16.0. Statically ...

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. Although it is the fastest-growing economy in Africa, it is also one of the poorest and least urbanized. Recently, the country has been undergoing demographic changes of historic proportions. It has been experiencing rapid declines in fertility, in infant, child, and maternal mortality, and an increase in life expectancy. Currently, the country is going through a demographic transition process. Both the size and the age structure of the population are changing. Understanding these changes is vital as the country plans the pathway for its future development. This contribution uses rigorously generated evidence of Ethiopia’s demographic transition to highlight the changes in population dynamics that have occurred in the country in the last sixty years and to examine the main drivers of these changes and their implications for the country’s future.

In the early years of development planning, development was viewed by most economists as well as social scientists as mainly the improvement in per capita GNP. Trade-offs to the various routes to development were measured essentially in terms of marketable goods and services, which led to the underestimation of the social costs of economic growth. Consequently, the relationship between population growth and development measured by such an index as GNP per capita remained inconclusive. Evidence could be found to support both the pessimistic view that population growth slows down growth of per capita income through its depressing impact on rates of savings and investment (Coale and Hoover, 1958; Coale, 1969) as well as the optimistic view that population growth inspires technological innovation and helps to capture economies of scale (Boserop, 1965, Clark, 1967; Simon, 1977). On balance, it appears that empirical correla-tions found between population growth and growth in per capita i...

Background: The Ethiopian government promulgated its first ever explicit, comprehensive and multisectoral population policy in 1993. The policy aimed at harmonizing population growth rate with that of the economy and the capacity of the country for sustainable socio-economic development. As with any population policy, there are important lessons to be learnt from the problems and challenges encountered during its implementation.Objective: The paper assesses the extent to which the population policy objectives have been realized; highlights the successes registered and identifies challenges encountered in its implementation and proposes the way forward.Methodology: Trend analysis using secondary data from censuses, surveys and UN sources were used and policy documents, research findings, development plan and program reports reviewed.Results: Fertility, infant, under-five and maternal mortality have declined significantly. Female participation in education and labour force increased. ...

ABSTRACT This article explores the application of key informant research to examine barriers and facilitators to maternal health services in rural and pastoralist Ethiopia. The key informants were health extension workers (HEWs) who assist women with birth preparedness and facilitate timely referral to health centres for birth. While women encounter many barriers to giving birth in health facilities, where HEWs are supported by their communities and health centre staff, they can effectively encourage women to travel to health centres to give birth with skilled birth attendants rather than at home with unskilled relatives or traditional birth attendants.