There is growing interest in the role of policy reforms to promote gender equality and empower women, two key objectives of development policy.

Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future.

The most recent (2010–2011) drought in the arid and semiarid lowlands (ASAL) of the Horn of Africa has rendered over 13 million people in need of food, and caused a devastating famine in southern Somalia.

Individuals’ aspirations and their consequences for future-oriented behavior have received increased attention in devel-opment economics literature in recent years.

The livestock sector is a large contributor to the Ethiopian economy as well as a mainstay in the livelihoods of many Ethiopians.

In recent years, microfinance institutions are seen as beacons of hope to help eradicate poverty through, among others, providing credit to poor rural households.

On the back of both a global food crisis and various domestic factors, Ethiopia has experienced one of the world’s fastest rates of food inflation in recent years.

Ethiopia is known to have one of the largest livestock populations in the world. Yet the overall contribution of livestock products to households’ daily consumption is very limited.

During the 2003/04–2008/09 period agricultural production in Ethiopia grew annually at 9.3 percent while cultivated area expanded at 4.7 percent.

This paper presents an overview of crop agriculture in Ethiopia, focusing mainly on cereal production.

Decisionmakers in Ethiopia have pursued a range of policies and investments to boost agricultural production and productivity.

Recognition that policies aimed at ‘getting prices right’ in less-developed countries have not been successful due to incomplete markets has spurred a new wave of reforms aimed instead at ‘getting markets and institutions right’.