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This chapter accomplishes several purposes, in which it shares the reader the theoretical orientation and empirical evidences of numerous studies that are closely related to the issues being raised in this study. It deals with the review of theoretical and empirical literature mainly related to rural poverty and livelihoods. In doing so, the chapter intentionally includes discussions on a wider scale to look at pertinent literature from many sub-Saharan African countries and beyond that have some resonance to better understand and relate the Ethiopian case to the wider literature.
The chapter begins with the discussion of the backgrounds on the persistence of poverty and food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa followed by subsequent general discussions on the link between agriculture and poverty reduction drawing evidence from some case studies across the developing world. Basically, the chapter is organized in two main sections each with subsections. The first main section reviews the main arguments and the available empirical evidence in the debate over the role of agriculture in economic growth and poverty reduction specifically whether smallholder agriculture in particular can provide a viable means to reduce poverty and persisting livelihoods insecurity in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Then it continues to discuss the challenges mainly the political economy of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, and provides an overview on linking land and livelihoods in the region as land continues to occupy at the centre of rural livelihoods.
The second main section presents the Ethiopian case. It is organized in four subsections. The first one outlines the issues of land, vulnerability and livelihoods. Here, emphasis has been placed to the agricultural sector since agriculture and agriculture related activities largely provide the means of living for the vast majority of rural households. The second subsection looks at and reflects on the links between land degradation, land tenure and livelihoods. It examines the effect of land tenure on land degradation and its implications to livelihoods as well as the implication of land scarcity on rural livelihoods drawing from evidence documented by other research undertaken over various parts of the country. The third considers the literature on livelihood diversification followed by discussions on migration issues. The final part of the chapter presents a short conclusion.
It is worth noting that this chapter indeed deserves a special attention because it provides a framework for relating this present study to the larger ongoing dialogue in the literature, identifying gaps and extending existing studies. In addition, it will provide a benchmark for comparing the results of this particular study with the other existing findings.
