EDITOR'S NOTE 

Peace and stability are the foundation for the realisation of national development and the deepening of the democratisation process. In this age of technological advancement, global economic integration and expanding investment, the Horn of African region has remained one of the least developed and the poorest area in the world, not so much because it lacked in natural resources or in skilled labour but because it has been ravaged by war and internal instability for several decades. The wars between Somalia and Ethiopia, and Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the incessant internal conflicts in Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan are cases in point. The end of the thirty-year conflict between successive Ethiopian governments and Eritrean secessionist groups with the de jure blessing of Eritrea’s independence by the new government in Ethiopia gave rise to so much hope for lasting peace that when the drums of war began to be beaten again they were greeted with almost universal scepticism. The Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples share, more than any other neighbouring sovereign peoples in the region, a common history, culture, language, and socio-political experience, and this should have been a solid ground on which to build their peace and future relations. What went wrong? What should be done? This is what Bahru Zewde’s article tries to answer. 

Poverty reduction has been the by-word of Ethiopia’s economic development endeavours during the last one and a half decade. Nevertheless, the realisation that the path to this goal is proving elusive yet again seems to strike us with full force whenever nature betrays us in the form of rain failures and we hear the alarm bells about five million or more people facing food shortages. China, whose staggering economic success has recently been hitting the headlines every quarter year, used to face massive food shortages not many decades ago. Can China provide a model for economic development to Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular? Dessalegn Rahmato’s observations, based on his recent field visit to Western China, offers food for thought on the possibilities and limitations of using China as a model for poverty reduction. He also makes an interesting recommendation for a bottom-up innovation transfer. 

The recent price hike of tef (Eragrostis tef), the crop most preferred as staple food by Ethiopia’s urban and highland population, has sparked off a debate among the politicians, the economists and the environmentalists. The issues raised range from the causes of the price rise to the economic value and environmental impact of tef and the alternatives to tef. The article by Daniel Kassahun examines the productivity of tef in comparison with other crops, its nutrient value, labour demand, and environmental impact and recommends strategies for addressing the challenge of food security vis-à-vis tef production. 

This issue of the Bulletin also presents a review of a new publication on the decline of the quality of higher education in Ethiopia, a subject which has become critical in light of the rapid massification we have been witnessing particularly during the last five years. 

 EDITOR's Note on Bulletin Vols. 3 & 4

The last issue of the Bulletin was a double issue that came out in December 2004. The publication of the Bulletin was suspended during the whole of 2005 partly due to lack of suitable materials and partly because of staff shortage which FSS encountered especially during the transition period. That is why this issue has come out belatedly as a double-volume issue (vols. 3&4). It is the first of three issues planned for 2006.

The third article by Shiferaw, Munira and Gezahegne examines the impact of modern agricultural inputs on the livelihoods of farmers and on the environment. While acknowledging that agricultural inputs such as selected seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides increase crop yield, the authors argue that this consideration should be balanced against other factors such as sustainability, environmental impact and effects on health.

Editor's Note.............…....................................…1