Unpacking Local Economic Development: A Case Study from Nekemte Town and Its Hinterlands, Oromia, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Most agree that local economic development (LED) is a “bottom-up” development approach seeking to unleash the development potential of a locality. Nonetheless, focusing closely on the dynamics of specific localities, this can be criticized for being too local and overlooking extra-local links. This article explores the drivers of LED from the local economic actors’ perspectives in Nekemte town and its hinterlands, Oromia region, Ethiopia. The results clarify that LED is not only just “local”, but also an approach that links urban and rural areas, and thus, understanding rural–urban linkages is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the local economic development.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethiopia
• local economic development
• Oromia
• rural–urban linkages

Acknowledgment

I thank my supervisors A/P Robyn Eversole (Director of the Institute for Regional Development) and A/P Laurie Bonney (A/P in Value Chain Innovation Research, TIA) who continuously read and commented on this article.

Notes

¹ According to the classification of the District’s Agriculture Office, on average, large-scale, medium-scale, and small-scale farmers are those who own 8 ha/farmer, 3 ha/farmer, and less than 0.5 ha/farmer, respectively.

² A stimulant plant—its fresh leaves and tops are chewed or, less frequently, dried and consumed as tea.

³ A plant used in the brewing of local beer.