Employment and unemployment in Ethiopia

The author, who headed a recent ILO employment mission to Ethiopia, believes that to attack urban unemployment in that country head-on is both short-sighted and self-defeating. Import-substitution growth policies have proved to be capital-intensive and labour-displacing; the emphasis must therefore be switched to employment-oriented agricultural development and export-led economic growth. The article discusses the problem in general terms and goes on to summarise the mission's specific findings and recommendations in respect of such matters as educational policy, urban unemployment, the employment of women, labour absorption in agriculture, rural development and various macroeconomic policy measures to stimulate the demand for labour