Rural Employment Problems in Ethiopia During the 1990s: A Critical Assessment
Kebede Kassa Tsegaye
Kebede Kassa Tsegaye, Department of Social Development, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Addis Ababa. Ethiopia.
Manuscript received on 08 October 2024 | Revised Manuscript received on 26 October 2024 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 December 2024 | Manuscript published on 30 December 2024 | PP: 5-12 | Volume-4 Issue-2, December 2024 | Retrieval Number: 100.1/ijssl.B115104021224 | DOI: 10.54105/ijssl.B1151.04021224
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© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is an open-access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: This paper is derived from the author’s study on rural employment problems in Ethiopia. The research was conducted in 1998 in two rural districts of Ethiopia: Alemaya Woreda, located in the eastern Hararghe Zone, and Shirka Woreda, situated in the Aresi Zone. The study employed qualitative methods of data collection and qualitative analysis techniques. This paper argues that unemployment and underemployment in Ethiopia, as in other parts of Africa and the least developed countries, are the primary factors contributing to the country’s underdevelopment. Yet unemployment or underemployment rarely, if ever, receives attention from policymakers or decisionmakers. The paper examines the root causes of unemployment and the resulting poverty and underdevelopment of the country. A combination of historical, cultural, and political forces kept Ethiopia, economically speaking, a relatively underdeveloped country, even though it chose to adopt Western values and ideals since the turn of the 20th century. The introduction of modern money, the establishment of banks, schools, hospitals, communication, and service facilities brought the traditional society into direct and indirect contact, albeit with a considerable degree of selectivity and reinterpretation, with Europe and America at the height of their industrial development. One hundred years or so later, however, the Ethiopian society is still overwhelmingly rural, and to use the more value-loaded term, traditional. Therefore, it is emphasised that the project of modernity could marginalise the Ethiopian populace and, directly or indirectly, contribute to the problem of rural employment in the country. The paper then outlines the underlying macro- and micro-level causes and consequences of rural employment constraints, as employment in Ethiopia is predominantly rural. The problem of unemployment impinges upon the welfare of the nation. The final section summarizes the paper and forwards some key recommendations that are believed to alleviate rural poverty and generate rural employment. Although the paper focuses on the realities of the 1990s, the lessons reflected and the recommendations suggested are believed to be relevant to the present and the future.
Keywords: Unemployment, Poverty, Policy, Development, Rural Ethiopia.
Scope of the Article: Sociology