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<p>Part of the conversation at the inaugural Forbes Regional Summit (FRS) in Kigali focused on the need to increase financial success for women in rural areas and small enterprises. In a discussion on how best it can be achieved, CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera caught up with Vice President for International Development at Mastercard Worldwide, Salah Goss for more.</p>


Mastercard’s renewed drive for women’s financial inclusion

<p>By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yirga-gelaw-woldeyes-408052" rel="author"><span class="fn author-name">Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes,</span></a><span class="fn author-name"> </span><span class="fn author-name">Lecturer of Human Rights, Curtin University.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Abiy Ahmed has made a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/08/abiy-ahmed-upending-ethiopian-politics">raft of radical steps</a> since taking over as Ethiopia’s prime minister in April 2018. He has redressed some of the wrongs committed by his own party, brokered peace with Eritrea and released political prisoners. Abiy has also invited opposition political groups back into the country and <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/ethiopias-torn-orthodox-church-reunites-after-27-years-20180727">overseen the reunification</a> of a splintered Orthodox church.</p>
<p>Abiy’s approach is summed up by his philosophy of <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2018/04/18/ethiopia-a-nation-in-need-of-a-new-story-abiy-ahmed-ethiopiawinet/">medemer</a>, or inclusivity and unity. His reforms have led millions to believe that positive revolutionary change is on its way. But there’s one significant group he has yet to address: the rural majority.</p>
<p>More than 80% of Ethiopians <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/about.html">live in rural villages</a> beyond the reach of mass media. So far, they have not been included in the ongoing national conversation. Yet, they contribute significantly to the economy by providing <a href="http://www.fao.org/ethiopia/fao-in-ethiopia/ethiopia-at-a-glance/en/">85% of all employment and 95% of agriculture outputs</a>.</p>
<p>Past governments exacted revenue from rural people but <a href="http://ethiopianbusinessreview.net/index.php/commentary/item/164-the-peasant-the-state-a-comprehensive-rural-policy-analysis">ignored their voices</a> in policy making. During Haile Sellasie’s rule, rural people had to pay a share of their produce to their chiefs in order to keep their land. Mengistu Haile Mariam’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2017/12/07/why-ethiopians-are-nostalgic-for-a-murderous-marxist-regime">marxist regime </a> introduced land reform based on its communist ideology but required rural people to fund and fight its wars.</p>
<p>The current government came to power with the promise of ensuring food security but it <a href="https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com.au/&amp;httpsredir=1&amp;article=1043&amp;context=africancenter_icad_archive">politicised ethnic identity</a> and is currently focusing on rapid economic growth through the commercialisation of agriculture.</p>
<p>Consistently, Ethiopian governments created their own policies without listening to rural people first. But there can never truly be any hope for the country’s future if the forgotten majority continue to be ignored.</p>
<h2>The reality for rural people</h2>
<p>Since the 2000s, Ethiopia has been praised for <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/east-africa/2015/09/15/ethiopia-fastest-growing-country/">fast economic growth</a>. The government celebrates small holding farmers as the <a href="https://news.ilri.org/2015/10/30/whats-driving-ethiopias-fast-development-millions-of-smallholder-farmers-of-course/">drivers of its success</a>. But, so far, economic growth has not translated into a better life for the rural poor.</p>
<p>In 2015, some 18 million (20% of the total population) were affected by drought, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/23/ethiopia-struggles-with-worst-drought-for-50-years-leaving-18-mi/">the worst in 50 years</a>. This year alone, 7.4 million, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/humanitarian-action-children-2018-ethiopia">mostly children and women, are in need of help</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to natural disasters, rural people are victims of an ill-conceived land policy. Land is controlled by the government. Farmers don’t own their land. They’re simply granted the right to use it. Land scarcity is a major problem. More than 60% of rural households survive on <a href="https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/content/experts-claim-rural-landlessness-exacerbating-poverty-food-insecurity">less than one hectare of land</a>. A lack of access has led to young people being <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X14001727">uprooted from rural areas</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, the government leases large tracts of land to private investors to spur economic growth. From late 1990s to 2008, almost 3.5 million hectares of land was rented to investors at <a href="https://theredddesk.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdf/Ethiopia_Rahmato_FSS_2011.pdf">very low prices for a period of up to 99 years</a>. The government <a href="http://images.mofcom.gov.cn/et/201509/20150922215452876.pdf">advertises</a> that 11.5 million hectares of land is currently prepared for private investment. Investors mainly focus on producing flowers, biofuel, and other export products. These in turn <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&amp;context=wh2ojournal">cause water shortages and environmental problems</a>.</p>
<p>In a country of 103 million, where the survival of 80% of the people depend on <a href="http://media.accademiaxl.it/memorie/S5-VXXXIX-P2-2015/GedamuGebre273-289.pdf">subsistence agriculture</a>, the priority given to private investors raises significant concerns.</p>
<p>Urban Ethiopians view foreign investors as a sign of progress. They see this land-grabbing as a sign of development. Yet the commercialisation of agriculture is being used to <a href="https://ig.ft.com/sites/land-rush-investment/ethiopia/">concentrate wealth</a> in the hands of a small ruling class. It has increased <a href="https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/292412/rr-life-time-food-price-volatility-ethiopia-year-1-140414-en.pdf?sequence=25&amp;isAllowed=y">food prices</a> for the poor.</p>
<p>In Gambella, 70,000 people have been <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/16/ethiopia-forced-relocations-bring-hunger-hardship">moved to new areas</a>. Many more are believed to have been moved off their ancestral lands to make way for the country’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/14/ethiopia-villagisation-violence-land-grab">vision of becoming the world’s leading sugar producer</a>.</p>
<p>Abiy has yet to address any of these issues. So far, he has shown no signs that he intends to change the government’s land policy.</p>
<h2>Colonial mindset</h2>
<p>One of the major hurdles facing the forgotten rural majority is the colonial mindset of many urbanites and people in power. The exclusion of rural people from the affairs of the state is not new. But it has intensified since 1974.</p>
<p>Traditionally, rural Ethiopians had institutions that influenced the power of their leaders. Leaders needed to fulfil and be accountable to tradition. They were respected more than feared.</p>
<p>But since the beginning of 20th Century, Ethiopian leaders sought to gain global legitimacy by bringing western institutions and knowledge to the country, excluding traditional knowledge and Ethiopian languages from higher education. Students learnt western history, culture and philosophy in English, and started to internalise the western gaze that <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001473/147348E.pdf">saw Ethiopian traditional knowledge and institutions as primitive</a>.</p>
<p>This colonial mindset, that has internalised western knowledge as progressive and Ethiopian knowledge as backward, is one of the major factors excluding rural people from reform and political debate. Rural people are seen as antithetical to progress, or simply ignorant of how things can be done better. For example, ten years ago the World Bank blamed Ethiopia’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-food-ethiopia/world-bank-urges-ethiopia-to-update-farming-systems-idUSL1868602920080618">“backward farming system”</a> for acute food shortages.</p>
<p>Across the country, rural people understand land not as a natural resource that can be converted into cash, but as a source of life, spirituality, culture, and identity. Any cursory study of land-grabbing in Ethiopia shows that government policy has resulted in ongoing violence against the livelihood and culture of rural people. Rural people still feed the majority of the population; protecting them protects the rest.</p>
<p>Everything Ethiopians are proud of today, from their ancient culture to their independence from colonialism, came from the culture of rural life. It is this rich cultural knowledge that should be drawn upon, rather than continually looking out to the west.</p>
<p>Despite all of Abiy’s inspirational reforms, there can be no true progress for Ethiopia without listening to the rural majority.<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102204/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yirga-gelaw-woldeyes-408052">Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes</a>, Lecturer of Human Rights, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a></em></p>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-abiy-wont-succeed-unless-he-listens-to-ethiopias-majority-its-rural-people-102204">original article</a>.</p>

Why Ethiopia’s prime minister needs to listen to people living in rural areas

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<p>By 2030 600 million people out of the 674 million people will be without access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, a majority of them in rural areas. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss the region&#8217;s energy outlook is Hannah Daly, World Energy Outlook: Energy Demand Division Directorate of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks at International Energy Agency.</p>


Will energy for all be achieved by or before 2030?

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<p>Over 70 per cent of Africa’s population live in rural areas. However, there is little allocation of resources in those areas, rendering Public Service inefficient. Ibrahim Mayaki, NEPAD’s CEO spoke to CNBC Africa on how to improve public services.</p>


Improving public service delivery in Africa

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<p><em>This content was supplied to CNBC Africa by Standard Bank</em></p>
<p>Rural areas are poised to be a significant economic driver in developing countries. According to the latest 2017 State of Food and Agriculture <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-I7658e.pdf">report</a> by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are transforming rural communities and promoting agriculture. “Since the 1990s, rural transformations in many countries have led to an increase of more than 750 million in the number of rural people living above the poverty line,” says FAO. “To achieve the same results in the countries that have been left behind, the report outlines a strategy that would leverage the enormous untapped potential of food systems to drive agro-industrial development, boost small-scale farmers’ productivity and incomes, and create off-farm employment in expanding segments of food supply and value chains.”</p>
<p>While the prospects of lifting rural communities out of poverty look good, progress is slowed down by rapid population growth. According to the report, between 2015 and 2030, the combined population of Africa and Asia is expected to rise from 5.6 billion to more than 6.6 billion. It further states that in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people aged 15 – 24 years is projected to increase by more than 90 million by 2030, with the highest rise in rural areas. The large increases in youth population will create a challenge of unemployment in the decades to come. There is low productivity in the industrial sector and agriculture, which means new job seekers will struggle to find employment. As a result, those who migrate from rural areas to the cities will likely add to the growing numbers of the urban poor.</p>
<p>According to the report, rural communities are therefore likely to escape poverty if they remain in rural areas and not move to urban areas. The solution is to drive investment to rural areas and create policies that support small-scale farmers. Currently, smallholder food producers have little to no access to profitable markets and value chains, which are dominated by large producers and retailers.</p>
<p>To ensure small-scale farmers meet the food demand both in urban and rural areas, policies need to be introduced that “reduce the barriers limiting their access to inputs; foster the adoption of environmentally sustainable approaches and technologies; increase access to credit and markets; facilitate farm mechanisation; revitalize agricultural extension systems; strengthen land tenure rights; ensure equity in supply contracts; and strengthen small-scale producer organisations.”</p>
<p>While industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa has been slower than other regions, rural transformations can be done by leveraging food systems to meet the growing demand for food in urban areas. The aim is to diversify food systems and create new economic opportunities in off-farm, agriculture-related activities such as trading, processing, packaging, distribution, and storage. The increasing demand coming from urban food markets is expected to be a major driver behind rural transformations.</p>
<p>However, while the growing urban food demand creates a “golden opportunity” for agriculture, it may also present challenges for smallholder farmers. The extension of small pieces of farmland into larger commercial farms may lead to the exclusion of millions of smallholder farmers from taking advantage of emerging opportunities. To ensure this transformation benefits everyone, especially the most vulnerable, policy makers and governments need to understand the socio-economic links between cities, towns and rural areas and how they influence the food system.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Small farmers may need support if they are to benefit fully from emerging opportunities. Their lack of access to finance, markets and transport, as well as the barriers created by standards on quality, traceability and certification, often make their participation in integrated value chains very difficult. In many countries, the ongoing fragmentation of farmland may further hinder smallholder farmers’ capacity to adopt new technologies.” &#8211; FAO.</p></blockquote>
<p>As urbanisation continues to sweep across the continent, rural areas and small cities hold the key to economic growth. This is the main takeaway to policymakers, who possess the power to bring the change those living in rural areas need.</p>
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rural areas

Mastercard’s renewed drive for women’s financial inclusion

Why Ethiopia’s prime minister needs to listen to people living in rural areas

Will energy for all be achieved by or before 2030?

Improving public service delivery in Africa

This is why Africa needs to look to its rural areas

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rural areas

Mastercard’s renewed drive for women’s financial inclusion

Why Ethiopia’s prime minister needs to listen to people living in rural areas

Will energy for all be achieved by or before 2030?

Improving public service delivery in Africa

This is why Africa needs to look to its rural areas

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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