Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide for Local Economic Development in Nekemte and Its Hinterlands, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com Bridging the rural-urban divide for local economic development in Nekemte and its hinterlands, Oromia, Ethiopia Megerssa Tolessa Walo * Institute for Regional Development, University of Tasmania Submitted November 10, 2015 / Revised January 4, March 6, April 11, and May 4, 2016 / Accepted May 25, 2016 / Published online September 21, 2016 Citation: Walo, M. T. (2016). Bridging the rural-urban divide for local economic development in Nekemte and its hinterlands, Oromia, Ethiopia. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(4), 125–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2016.064.012 Copyright © 2016 by New Leaf Associates, Inc. Abstract enabling policy of the government to facilitate This study explores some of the challenges to rural-urban linkages, the linkages in the district strengthening rural-urban linkages for local remain weak as far as their capacity to improve the economic development in the Guto Gidda district overall local economies. Diversification of of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Participants were economic activities is therefore used as a temporary selected from farmers, traders, small-scale strategy to reduce poverty, but it is a stop-gap processors of maize and niger seed, and venture rather than a strategy that could improve government officials using a snowball sampling the income of the community at large. In this study, technique. The primary data gathered related to I recommend that investments in rural feeder roads, flows of agricultural produce (maize and niger improved provision of rural microfinance and seed), people, and market information between the access to market information, and ensuring actors in agricultural products at Nekemte town affordable agricultural inputs would improve rural- and its hinterlands. The information was collected urban linkages and thus lead to stronger local using interviews. Results indicated that despite the economic development. * Megerssa Tolessa Walo, University of Tasmania, Institute for Keywords Regional Development, Cradle Coast Campus, Burnie; Ethiopia; Agricultural Industries; Local Economic Tasmania 7320, Australia; [email protected]; Development; Rural Development Policy; Rural- [email protected]; [email protected] Urban Linkages Volume 6, Issue 4 / Summer 2016 125 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com Introduction In Ethiopia, the government views rural-urban The traditional rural and urban dichotomous linkages as a policy priority for rapid economic approach to understanding local economic development, and it has been introducing succes- development (LED) does not always accord with sive development policies that encourage rural- the reality of the contemporary globalized world urban linkages since 2002/03 (MoFED, 2007). (United Nations [UN], 2011). Globally, societies These policy frameworks include the Sustainable are highly interconnected at local, national, and/or Development and Poverty Reduction Programme international levels (Magel, 2003). At the local level, (SDPRP) and the Plan for Accelerated and Sus- rural and urban areas are linked together through tainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP), the flow of people, production, commodities, among others. PASDEP was considered to be the capital, income, and market information, among most comprehensive policy framework and was other elements, and this makes rural-urban linkages implemented between 2005/06 and 2009/10. The important for LED and poverty reduction First Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), (Fritsche et al., 2015). Strong rural-urban linkages, 2019/10 to 2014/15, closed recently, and the therefore, would encourage new forms of second GTP is to be implemented from 2016 to livelihood through diversification and agro- 2020 (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia processing (Steinberg, 2014). [FDRE], 2015). Academics around the world have been debat- The initiatives under each framework were ing the pros and cons associated with rural-urban built on the results from those of the previous linkages since the 1950s. However, there have been initiatives. The initiation of PASDEP pointed out changes in this area over time. In the 1950s policies the need to strengthen rural-urban linkages to called for an acceleration of urban industrial maximize growth and reduce poverty by taking full growth because urbanization was generally advantage of the synergies provided by market considered to be associated with modernization integration, labor mobility, and access to income- (Sani & Far, 2015). By the 1970s, development earning opportunities between urban and rural approaches shifted to integrating infrastructure in areas (MoFED, 2005). It also underlined the rural areas to achieve rural developmental goals; importance of improving infrastructure (rural this also was correlated with a reduction of access roads, telecommunication, and rural comparative disadvantages for competition and electrification), and developing small-scale credit utilization of rural resources (Nemes, 2005). In the markets as key instruments to facilitate rural-urban 1980s it was recognized that these dichotomous linkages. PASDEP linked rural transformation with development approaches had failed to bring the electrification since it made clear that electricity intended development outcomes, and therefore, transforms rural economies not only by providing rural-urban linkages have emerged as a develop- the basis for businesses and agro-processing at ment approach in regional planning (UN, 2011). A regional and/or zonal towns but also as an input study by Tegegne (2001) indicated that an attempt into agriculture for irrigation pumping, commercial to bring about rural development has been made agricultural production, and processing. The rural by focusing on structural sectoral problems in transformation intended to prevent migration to Ethiopia; however, this has failed to achieve the urban areas and also to use the byproducts from desired changes. The rural-urban linkages approach agro-processing industries to be channeled back to to development focuses on the mutual develop- the field. It was also expected to enhance the ment of both urban and rural areas for a strong modernization of agricultural production, which local economy. It is assumed that both the areas could attract investors interested in agricultural are interdependent through the flow of resources production and establish ancillary industries in the and other linkages. Urban areas provide markets regions (FDRE, 2010). In PASDEP’s urban devel- for agricultural and rural commodities, while rural opment strategy, rural-urban linkages were con- areas provide agricultural surpluses to the urban sidered to be one of the pillars whereby emphasis area (Akkoyunlu, 2013). was given to the development of small towns as 126 Volume 6, Issue 4 / Summer 2016 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com major entry points of resources (MoFED, 2005). their aims in developing stronger linkages, and if According to the government’s evaluation, not, why. This study aims to identify some of the PASDEP achieved most of its desired goals. The underlying causes contributing to weak rural-urban report also indicates that gross domestic product linkages. The importance of the study rests in the (GDP) increased from 7% in 2005/06 to 11% in fact that LED-related studies are under researched; 2009/10, with the share of agriculture and industry this is particularly true in the study area. being 8.4% and 10%, respectively. In terms of infrastructure, the numbers of kilometers of all- Objectives of the Study weather roads increased from 36,400 km (22,618 The paper has two specific objectives: (a) to iden- miles) in 2004/05 to 48,800 km (30,323 miles) in tify the major obstacles to maximizing value from 2009/10; these figures exclude those in the district rural-urban linkages and LED; and (b) to suggest or rural areas (FDRE, 2010; Nuru, 2015). Mobile possible ways to foster rural-urban linkages to help telecommunication network capacity was increased strengthen LED in the study area. from 0.5 million users to 25 million users. PASDEP was also used to generate 2000 MW Rural-urban Linkages in Local Economies (61% of its objective) of electricity at the end of Urban and rural areas have been defined based on 2009/10 (FDRE, 2010). various criteria, including population size and den- However, scholars question the credibility of sity, economic activity, administrative functions, the FDRE report as it lacks independent verifica- and infrastructural development (McGranahan & tion (Teshome, 2006). Telecommunications, Satterthwaite, 2014). Administration and demog- utilities, civil aviation, and financial services remain raphy are the two major criteria for a successful solely or largely under government control, limiting rural and urban linkage (Tacoli et al., 2015). In the services they provide as there is no other Ethiopia, the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) has alternative provider. There have been reports that defined urban areas as localities with 2,000 or more the state-owned telecom provider is failing even to households since the implementation of the CSA’s provide basic services, and this is negatively affect- first census covering the entire population in 1984. ing rural-urban linkages and development of the Urban areas