The objective of the ESSP Policy Conference 2006 was to present policy analyses and relevant research findings on key strategic issues identified in consultation with the program advisory committee. It is expected that these analyses will provide insights to directly inform the current dialogue on the rural growth agenda, as outlined in the PASDEP. The issues tackled in the first year of the research program are broad, encompassing, and inter-linked. Thus, the conference agenda included research on the economic growth linkages between agriculture and non-agriculture, using a newly completed SAM (social accounting matrix), the impact of public spending on the rural poor, analyzing 20 years of public expenditure, patterns and constraints on smallholder commercialization using a new national household survey, price risk and volatility, Ethiopian commodity exchange development policy options, agricultural innovation systems, and geographic targeting of rural policy according to development domains.

Bringing together a broad array of stakeholders drawn from policymakers, external partners, researchers and analysts, private sector, and civil society, the aim of the conference was thus:

• to bring relevant analysis to inform strategic thinking on the various elements of the country's growth and poverty reduction agenda; and
• to contribute to a process for moving forward on the implementation of the various elements of the rural development strategy.