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Ethiopia is currently experiencing the worst drought in 30 years, as failed spring rains combined with El Nino conditions to severely weaken the summer harvests that feed 80-85 percent of the country.  However, experts have been quick to emphasize that the current situation will in no way reach the crisis levels seen during the 1984 drought and subsequent famine.

As developing country incomes rise and populations become more urbanized, food markets are seeing more demand for higher value and processed foods. At the same time, trade liberalization and increased foreign direct investment have stimulated changes in many countries’ food value chains, making it easier for modern markets to access a reliable supply of high-quality goods. These supply- and demand-side transformations have led to a strong new trend throughout developing regions – the growth of the modern supermarket.

Macroeconomic policies (monetary and fiscal policies, exchange rate policies, and trade policies) can significantly impact agricultural development and food security, and vice versa. This complex relationship is the subject of a new book , Macroeconomics, Agriculture, and Food Security: A Guide to Policy Analysis in Developing Countries , written by IFPRI Visiting Senior Research Fellow Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla.

The 2015-2016 El Niño cycle could bring significant flooding to areas of the eastern Horn of Africa, according to a new FEWS Net Alert released this week. Southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, and south-central Somalia are among the areas likely to be affected. FEWS NET warns that the situation could mirror the El Niño-driven floods and subsequent food insecurity seen in 1997, when flooding displaced close to 2 million people throughout the region and led to widespread crop and livestock loss.

As the only functioning commodity exchange in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is viewed as wildly successful in modernizing the Ethiopian economy, linking smallholder farmers to markets, and enhancing the country’s food security.