Development Interventions in Wollaita, 1960s-2000s

Action for Development, Christian Aid, and Inter-Church Organization for Development Cooperation commissioned this study. They are all active in Wollaita, one of the most densely populated areas of Ethiopia. It examines the development interventions of the last four and a half decades from the point of view of three key determinants of poverty and destitution: population dynamics and land shortage, urbanisation and commercialisation, and livelihood diversification. The interventions are found to have largely failed to address these key determinants; and the study suggests that a considerable change of policy is needed to put these determinants at centre stage and to accelerate the pace of development.