OneWorld.net (U.S.)

This in-depth feature was authored by Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, senior research fellow and program leader of the Ethiopia Strategy Support Program at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Experts are generally good at analyzing ideas. But, analysis that changes lives depends most, in fact, on listening to people and then understanding what motivates their behavior. In this spirit, the International Food Policy Research

In one of the world’s poorest countries, IFPRI has set up a country-driven program that aims to better understand Ethiopia’s rural development challenges and to use this knowledge to inform policy. Putting sophisticated models and theories aside, our researchers travel around the countryside and simply talk to small farmers, traders, women’s groups, entrepreneurs, and others. In this way, we gain a better sense of what matters and how policies designed at the top translate into the reality of everyday peoples’ livelihoods.

Page 1 - Research That Listens Page 2 - Listening to Local Voices Page 3 - Open Market Challenges Page 4 - Trading with Trust Page 5 - Commodity Exchanges

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