ENHANCE THE SUSTAINABLE YOUTH ECONOMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Notwithstanding its rapid economic growth and relative success in reducing absolute poverty over the past two decades, a significant segment of the Ethiopian population (29.6%) still lingers in absolute poverty. Indications of food insecurity are shown in the WFP report, which estimated 8.3 million people requiring emergency food assistance in 2019. The registered growth also came with soaring inequalities – both vertical and horizontal. The imbalance between economic growth and the actual living standards of the people, in tandem with the apparent inequality, created dissatisfaction among the public, particularly, the youth who are largely unemployed.

While unemployment is a national challenge, the problem is more prevalent among the urban youth (estimated at 17%).This is largely due to rural-urban migration caused by large-scale infrastructure investments and the commercial pressure for land from both domestic and foreign investors, growing urbanization as well as the failure of the economy to absorb the growing workforce. Moreover, over the past two decades, with the aim of modernizing the agricultural sector, the country introduced capital intensive farming projects (involving both local and foreign investors), mainly in Oromia, Gambella and SNNP regions. However, many of the decisions surrounding the allocation of land to developers followed a top-down approach that created resentment from local community and regional states and also came with little or no compensation to the displaced. This move naturally aggravated poverty and inequality by increasingly exposing them to food insecurity. The frustration caused by joblessness and persistent dependency forced the disaffected youth to resort to informal migration and violence.