As my first activity as Rose Scholar this Fall, I participated on a very interesting conversation dinner with Dr. Dambala Gelo Kutela, who is a native of Ethiopia, where he studied forestry prior to obtaining his MS in Economics and Resource Management in Norway, and his PhD in Economics from the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2015 where he continues to work as a postdoctoral. In 2017, Dr. Kutela came to Cornell as a STAARS Fellow, a program that stands for Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces, supported by the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and USAID among others. At Cornell, Dr. Kutela works with Professor Christopher Barrett at the Dyson School of Economics on economic development and transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. The topic of his research is improving our understanding of the drivers of poverty and food insecurity, and how private and public policy can facilitate desirable structural transformation in low-income societies. During dinner, Dr. Kutela described how parental income is very uncertain for farmers in Ethiopia due to severe draught exacerbated by climate change, and how children can only attend school when the crops grow well, while they are taken out of school if bad weather affects their crops as they have to help their families generate their income.   Dr. Kutela’s father was also a farmer in Ethiopia, and as a child he had no choice but to stop studying to help his father. It is the uncertainty of the income for farming families that is at the center of the lack of continuity in child education that becomes a major driver for poverty in Ethiopia, with more than half of its population being illiterate. Dr. Kutela’s very personal story was very enlightening to me as we many times take for granted education, food, running water when others cannot.

Ethiopia’s economy relies heavily in farming, with its main export being coffee. Ethiopia’s main sources of income come from services and its agricultural economy but unfortunately drought is still a major factor affecting directly farming families and threatening food security. In recent years, Ethiopia has attracted roughly $8.5 billion in foreign direct investment, mostly from China. However, Dr. Kutela’s expressed apprehension of political corruption that does not lead to investment in development for the Ethiopian needs. In my view, a very challenging future for a country with such rich cultural heritage, and cradle of the first modern humans. Hopefully, Dr. Kutela’s training and that of others with true interest in economic development will help Africa and particularly Ethiopia implement innovative approaches to prevent extreme poverty for the well-being of their population. Certainly, continuous child education and increased literacy are essential foundation for sustainable development.