Ethiopia—Achieving Food Security: What prospects Lie Ahead? Challenges and Opportunities

Ethiopia presents a unique case among developing countries, having combined major social welfare programs with an East Asian-style development-state approach to investment. However, it differs from its East Asian counterparts in two key areas: it has not maintained decades of uninterrupted political stability, nor has it implemented a comprehensive land reform. Even so, its experience illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of the East Asian development model. Despite a decade of high growth and significant poverty reduction in the early 2000s, Ethiopia continues to grapple with widespread poverty, vulnerability, high unemployment, food insecurity, and violent internal conflict. These persistent challenges are now compounded by the existential threat of climate change and a rapidly growing youth population. The Government of Ethiopia has proposed an ambitious, multi-year agenda of structural reforms aimed at addressing climate change while pursuing its broader development objectives. These reforms include redefining the role of the state in relation to the private sector. If Ethiopia’s past success in adapting its development strategy is any indication, it may once again be able to turn crisis into opportunity.