034 document-travail-va

AgenceFrançaisedeDéveloppement

34November 2006

AgenceFrançaisedeDéveloppement

WorkingPaper

DEPARTEMENT DE LA RECHERCHE

Vocational Training in the Informal SectorReport on the Ethiopia Field Survey

Research financed by GTZ(Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit)

Richard Walther, ITG Consultant([email protected])

Translation: Adam Ffoulkes Roberts

Agence Française de Développement

Direction de la Stratégie

Département de la Recherche

5 rue Roland Barthes

75012 Paris - France

www.afd.fr

Foreword

This report is an integral part of the survey and analysis work launched by the Research Department of the French

Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement, AFD) on training in the informal sector in five African countries

(South Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Morocco and Senegal). It was commissioned by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and

uses the same working assumptions as those applied to the other countries studied. It is also complementary to the report on

Ethiopia, which was produced on behalf of the German technical co-operation agency (GTZ) and also used the methodologi-

cal framework developed by the AFD.

The Angola field survey was carried out with extensive support from the French Embassy. However, the objectives could not

have been met without assistance from Emilio Ferreira and Fernando Madeira, experts with the firm HRD (Human Resources

Development) who helped the field survey mission to interpret the subtleties embedded in certain situations and accounts of

different experiences. Above all, they were able to convince certain people with little availability that they should provide the

survey team with information and analysis coming under their area of authority. The survey benefited from the expertise of

Anna Sofia Manzoni., who helped to identify the most legitimate Angolan representatives in the area studied and also provi-

ded her support in identifying documentary sources on the subject. The survey also benefited from the extremely useful help

of Abel Piqueras Candela, of the European Commission, who agreed to make a critical appraisal of the final report and nota-

bly checked that the sources quoted really do reflect the most recent changes in the country’s education and vocational trai-

ning policies.

Lastly, this report was also able to draw on extensive and very useful documentation, notably thanks to the representatives of

the European Commission Delegation, the UNDP, the DW, USAID and IDIA. They are very warmly thanked for their contribu-

tions.

� Working Paper N° 15 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Concept Note.

� Working Paper N° 16 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Morocco Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 17 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Cameroon Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 19 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Benin Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 21 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Senegal Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 30 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the South Africa Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 34 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey.

� Working Paper N° 35 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector – Report on the Angola Field Survey.

The Ethiopian case study has been produced by the GTZ in partnership with the AFD as a part of efforts to align the action of

French and German development agencies.

Disclaimer

The analysis and conclusions of this document are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the official position of

the AFD or its partner institutions.

© AFD Working paper No 34 � Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 2

Table of contents

1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector 4

1.1. How the survey was carried out 4

1.2. The contribution of existing reports and studies 5

2. The country’s economic and social challenges 7

2.1. Growth is strong, but vulnerable to climatic and political conditions 7

2.2. Persistent poverty 8

2.3. Major educational needs 9

2.4. An essentially rural and informal labour force 11

2.4.1. A strong contrast between rural and urban activities 11

2.4.2. Difficulties in appraising the informal sector as a whole 12

3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges 15

3.1. Current state of TVET 15

3.2. Towards a reform focusing on those concerned in the informal economy 16

3.2.1. The main thrust of the reform 17

3.2.2. The reform implementation process 18

3.2.3. The challenges of reform: moving from an institutional to a grassroots approach 22

4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector 23

4.1. The reality of traditional apprenticeship – a difficult issue 23

4.2. Public policies targeting the creation of micro activities 24

4.2.1. FEMSEDA entrepreneur training 24

4.2.2. The Dire Dawa REMSEDA’s integration and support role 25

4.2.3. The Addis Ababa weavers’ training project (ILO) 27

4.2.4. On-site training for MSEs in the building sector (GTZ) 29

4.3. The strategic role of women in the informal sector 30

4.3.1. The ILO survey and the profile of women entrepreneurs 30

4.3.2. Dire Dawa Women Entrepreneurs Association (DDWEA) 31

4.3.3. Dire Dawa Women’s Association (DDWA) 31

4.3.4. A training programme for empowering women 32

4.4. Varied experiences from the world of agriculture 32

4.4.1. The highly informal nature of employment in rural areas 33


4.4.2. Training farmers and agricultural development officials 33

4.4.3. Training the rural population in community skills training centres (CSTC) 33

4.4.4. The innovative activities of the Harar technical and agricultural training centre 35

4.4.5. NGO actions 37

5. Future developments and actions 39

5.1. TVET reform and the opportunities for the informal sector 39

5.1.1. Training institutions can ensure that training becomes an effective aspect of socialand economic development 39

5.1.2. The TVET system: skills assessment and certification for informal sector workers 41

5.2. The outreach of reform in the informal sector 42

5.2.1. The low impact of the training system on the informal sector 42

5.2.2. TVET reform and the lack of recognition of skills development processes in the informal economy 43

5.2.3. A paradigm shift with limited effects 43

5.3. The challenge of revitalising the informal sector 44

5.3.1. Looking closely at the real potential of traditional apprenticeship and self-learning methods 44

5.3.2. The need for a qualitative analysis of informal economy occupations 45

5.3.3. The need to go through with plans to recognise skills acquired in the informal sector 45

5.3.4. The need to strengthen sectoral, territorial and institutional dynamics 45

5.3.5. How to have informal sector workers take on responsibility for their own training and skills 46

In conclusion: the need to refocus the reform on grassroots initiatives 48

Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action 49

List of acronyms and abbreviations 51

References 52

Table of contents



The Ethiopian government is undertaking a complete

reform of its education and vocational training system and

wants the informal sector to be included in any changes.

This is an ambitious strategy, which will entail a complete

overhaul of the education and training system, focusing on

outcomes and responding to the economy’s needs, thus

contributing to the country’s development. It will also mean

integrating the different kinds of training systems (formal,

non-formal, informal) into an overall approach focusing on

skills that have previously acquired, through whichever

means. This shift from a unified system to a flexible and

modular one, and from a qualification-based paradigm to

one based on acquired vocational skills, offers a real oppor-

tunity for those working in the informal sector to obtain

recognised qualifications. The reform notably includes

plans for Centres of Competence whose purpose will be to

acknowledge not only skills acquired through experience

and work, but also those obtained through the various exist-

ing types of training.

However, the inclusion of informal sector workers among

the beneficiaries of the reform is not as easy as it sounds.

The various officials met during the survey will have to

acknowledge the reality of the informal sector and econo-

my. This will not come easily. During our interviews, for

example, it was difficult, if not impossible, to obtain precise

figures concerning the informal sector’s role in the labour

market or its contribution to national wealth. It was even

more difficult to gain any idea of the real situation concern-

ing production and service activities in the informal sector,

or to identify the traditional methods used for acquiring

knowledge and know-how. Differing opinions were

expressed and there was much debate as to the existence

or otherwise of traditional forms of apprenticeship. It was as

if the informal sector was viewed in terms of the role

assigned to it by the reform, rather than by taking account

of the actual situation and trends.

In this respect, Ethiopia is at a crossroads. Domestic work-

ers, women involved in income-generating activities, street

vendors, small-holders vulnerable to the vagaries of the

weather and all the micro-enterprises involved in production

and service activities will not see any lasting improvement

in their situation unless the reform acknowledges the reali-

ty of this situation and take steps to improve it. Moreover,

the reform will not succeed in achieving its aim of training

all those involved in economic production unless it takes

account of the sector as it exists, and, more importantly,

unless it involves and exploits the potential of existing

stakeholders, partners and trends.

The operational success of the current reform will undoubt-

edly enable Ethiopia’s informal sector to shift from a para-

digm of mere survival to one of growth and development.

However, this will only happen if the reform, which is

designed to facilitate the recognition and accreditation of

the sector’s human and vocational capital, first of all helps

to develop and enhance what already exists instead of pur-

suing its own training agenda.

1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the realityof the informal sector

1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector


The Ethiopia field survey differs from those carried out in

the other countries in that it is the result of a fruitful part-

nership between German and French development agen-

cies, namely the German Technical Co-operation Agency

(Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit - GTZ),

which provides technical assistance to the Ethiopian

authorities in the design and delivery of the reform of tech-

nical and vocational education and training (TVET), and the

French development agency (Agence Française de

Développement – AFD), which has overall responsibility for

the study on vocational training in the informal sector.

The Ethiopia survey reflects the desire of the German and

French agencies to align their thinking and efforts in the

education and training field. It was funded under the Ethio-

German TVET project, which started in 1999, and was

organised further to a joint agreement between the

Ethiopian education authorities and German technical

assistance providers. The various German development aid

agencies constitute the largest donor and support provider

in the current process of vocational training reform.1 The

survey was carried out between 5 and 16 September 2006.

It started in Addis Ababa, where meetings were held with

the various officials responsible at federal and regional lev-

els in the various ministries involved in vocational training.

Meetings took place with the major international organisa-

tions involved in this field, as well as with national employ-

ers’ and trade union federations. It was also possible to

meet some of the actors working closely with those eco-

nomically and professionally active in the informal sector.

After the interviews in the capital, the survey was complet-

ed by a field trip to the Dire Dawa region, where it was pos-

sible to interview project leaders working with micro-enter-

prises and production and service units, as well as some of

the workers who actually benefited from the training and

skills development activities. These meetings were particu-

larly useful in that they shed light on the real situation in the

informal economy and the way in which those working in it

are trying to raise themselves above subsistence level.

1.1. How the survey was carried out

1.2. The contribution of existing reports and studies

Unlike Morocco and Cameroon, Ethiopia has not undertak-

en any specific national surveys on the informal economy.

Neither has Addis Ababa been the subject of a specific sur-

vey such as those carried out for the major capital cities of

West Africa.2 However, the 2005 Labour Force Survey car-

ried out by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia3

provides some data which can be used to make an objec-

tive appraisal of the significance and role of those working

in the informal sector.

However, current data and forecast trends concerning the

economic, social and educational situation are widely avail-

able. The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development

to End Poverty (PASDEP),4 published in October 2005, fol-

lows on from the Sustainable Development and Poverty

Reduction Program (SDPRP).5 It describes in detail the

progress made since 2000 and sets out the major policies

and means required to enable Ethiopia to achieve econom-

ic growth and reduce poverty. It also includes useful data for

this study, notably regarding what is happening in the edu-

cation and training area and how efforts to boost micro and

small enterprises (MSEs) can improve national economic

growth and reduce unemployment, and on the strategic

sectors and market niches which have job growth potential.

This plan thus combines economic strategy, a skills devel-

1 German technical assistance in the reform of TVET is being supported by most institutionsor organisations specialised in international development aid: the Centre for InternationalMigration (Center für Internationale Migration - CIM), the German Development Service(Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst - DED), Capacity Building International (InternationaleWeiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbh - InWEnt) and Senior Expert Service (SES). TheGTZ, which is the technical cooperation agency, is responsible for coordinating all of thepartners involved. The German Development Bank KfW also provides financial support forsome parts of the reform programme.

2 STATECO, (2005), Méthodes statistiques et économiques pour le développement et latransition, No. 99.

3 Central Statistical Agency, (2006), The 2005 Labour Force Survey.

4 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), (2005), Ethiopia: Building onProgress: A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)(2005/6-2009/10).

5 The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) covered theyears 2000/01-2003/04.

1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector


6 Ministry of Education, (2005), Education Sector Development Program (ESDP-III),2005/2006-2010, Program Action Plan (PAP).

7 Ministry of Education (September 2006), National Technical and Vocational Education andTraining (TVET) Strategy.

8 Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECPB, July 2006), Non-Formal TVETImplementation Framework, Building Ethiopia.

opment strategy, and the inclusion of informal sector work-

ers in the vision of the country’s future.

The third phase of the Education Sector Development

Program (ESDP-III),6 which follows on from a programme

initially launched by the Ethiopian Government in 1997,

gives an overview of the education system and explains in

detail how training and education policies are contributing

to the overall strategy for boosting growth and reducing

poverty.

Information on the current TVET reform may be found in a

number of reports, the most important of which is the

National Technical and Vocational Education and Training

(TVET) Strategy.7 The latest version of this report was

being completed during our survey. The document sets out

and explains the reform’s key guidelines and the various

phases of its development. The reform’s implementation

framework, notably regarding the inclusion of non-formal

training in the future TVET system, is dealt with in a sepa-

rate document which has been produced by the Education

Ministry with German technical assistance.8

All of these documents, which are constantly being updat-

ed, clearly show that the inclusion of vocational training in

the country’s development strategy, and notably efforts to

recognise the informal sector’s role and skills needs, is at

the heart of the political agenda.

The only things missing from this comprehensive bibliogra-

phy are a very detailed analysis of the informal sector/econ-

omy, and an objective picture of its contribution to the coun-

try’s growth and poverty-reduction policy.


2. The country’s economic and social challenges

Ethiopia’s informal sector is part of an economy that

remains heavily dependent on the primary sector, although

a noticeable shift towards services and production activities

is under way. It has also been fully included in the policy to

combat poverty and reduce illiteracy and under-education

rates among the population.

2.1. Growth is strong, but vulnerable to climatic and political conditions

Since the Federal State was established in 1994, Ethiopia

has enjoyed a relatively sustained rate of growth, signifi-

cantly above that of Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

However, this rate suddenly fell from 8.8% to 2.7% in 2002,

and there was negative growth in 2003 (-3.7%). This was

due to the drought that afflicted the country in 2002/2003.

Economic growth then peaked at an unprecedented 13.1%

in 2004, mainly due to the quick recovery of agricultural pro-

duction. According to the OECD, the Ethiopian economy

should continue to show good results following the 2004

peak. Economic growth for 2004/2005 was 6.8% and a rate

of 5.8% has been forecast for 2005/2006.

Table 1. GDP growth: Ethiopia and Sub-Saharan Africa

1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

CGDP (current prices, in billions of dollars), Ethiopia 8.61 5.78 6.53 6.51 6.06 6.65 8

GDP (current prices, in billions of dollars) Sub-Saharan Africa 298.38 317.52 326.24 324.87 337.21 439.29 ..

Annual GDP growth, Ethiopia (%) 2.6 6.1 6.0 8.8 2.7 -3.7 13.1

Annual GDP growth, Sub-Saharan Africa (%) L 3.8 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.9 4.8

GDP per capita (in constant 2000 dollars), Ethiopia 94.7 90.2 101.5 108.0 108.6 102.4 ..

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, Ethiopia 170 110 110 110 100 90 110

Source: World Bank (2005), World Development Indicators.

The Ethiopian economy is heavily driven by the agricultural

sector, which represented 42.1% of GDP in 2004,9 employs

80% of the population (89% in 2001 according to World

Bank figures) and provides around 90% of export revenue.

The estimated increase in agricultural production is 6.6% in

2004/2005, and 7.4% in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.

Agriculture receives support from public aid programmes

such as the national food security programme, and benefits

from the extension of public services to rural areas and the

protection of farmers’ rights. However, given the constraints

affecting agricultural markets (partially due to the lack of

roads), low levels of productivity (due to the limited use of

pesticides and fertilisers, irregular rainfall, poor soil fertility,

and environmental degradation)10 as well as chronic short-

ages of foodstuffs, the OECD estimates that approximately

5 million Ethiopians continue to depend on food aid.

Services represented 46.5% of GDP in 2004. This sector

grew by approximately 7% between 2004 and 2005, chiefly

9 OECD (2006), African Economic Outlook 2005/2006 – Country Studies: Ethiopia.

10 World Food Programme (2006), Draft County Programme - Ethiopia 10430.0 (2007-2011).

as a result of the growth in the health and education sec-

tors, as well as in transport and communications.

Industry, which represented 11.4% of GDP in 2004, showed

real growth of approximately 7% over the 2004/2005 peri-

od. This was mainly generated by a high level of household

and business demand for construction services, and the

development of the mining and quarrying industries.

Growth in service activities and a genuinely modern indus-

try appears to be constrained by the fact that Ethiopia has

a predominantly public sector economy and is finding it dif-

ficult to introduce effective privatisation policies.

The country has considerable unexploited resources

(hydroelectricity, minerals, tourism, etc.) There are a num-

ber of growth niches just waiting to be exploited. 2004 saw

the rapid emergence of a horticultural sector, which contin-

ued to show strong signs of growth in 2005.11

Ethiopia’s balance of trade has a structural deficit. Exports

are essentially generated by coffee (Ethiopia is the world’s

sixth largest producer), where the downward trend in prices

is likely to continue in view of the global surplus.

Conversely, the increase in import prices, in particular of oil

and steel, has worsened the country’s trade deficit, which

reached 20.4% of GDP in 2003/2004. Ethiopia relies on

multilateral and bilateral international funding to cover its

budget deficit and also to finance part of its investment pro-

gramme.

The present economic situation is however threatened by

recent political developments. The violence that broke out

as a result of the contested election results in May 2005,

and the ensuing brutal repression of the opposition, jeopar-

dised political stability and led to the freezing of part of the

international aid budget ($375 million in December 2005,

which is equivalent to 10% of the country’s revenue).12 The

growing risk of conflict with Eritrea should also be stressed;

there has been a constant increase in tension between the

two countries in recent years, despite the peace agreement

signed in December 2000.



Table 2. GDP in 2004, by sector

As a % of Ethiopia’s GDP

Agriculture 42.1

Manufacturing industries 4.6

Other industries 6.8

Trade, hotels and restaurants 8.6

Transport, storage and communications 7.0

Public services 14.7

Other services 16.2

Source: AfDB/OECD 2006.

2.2. Persistent poverty

Table 3. Growth of GDP per capita

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006(estimated) (anticipated)

GDP per capita, in dollars 120 109 115 137 153 170

GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) 723 727 691 769 823 858

Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Apart from the 2002/2003 period when Ethiopia faced a

general economic slowdown, GDP per capita has been

gradually and consistently increasing over recent years.

However, in spite of this encouraging economic perform-

ance, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the

world. It was ranked 170th out of 177 countries in the

UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) in 2005.13

Despite the constant increase in Ethiopia’s HDI, a large

section of the population continues to live in poverty. In

2000, 77.8% of Ethiopians lived on less than $2 a day, and

23% were living under the absolute poverty level ($1 a day).

11 Mission économique d’Addis-Abeba (2006), Fiche pays Ethiopie, MINEFI-DGTPE.

12 OECD, op. cit.

13 UNDP, (2005), Human Development Report.

Studies carried out under the PASDEP show that average

growth of 4% over the coming years would not be enough

to reduce the level of absolute poverty. At this rate of

growth, more than 20 million Ethiopians will still be living in

poverty in 2015. An annual growth of at least 8% would be

needed to achieve the Millennium Goals to cut current

poverty levels by half.

Ethiopia is thus one of Africa’s chief recipients of World

Bank and EU development aid. In 2004, Ethiopia received

aid worth a total of $1.2 billion, which is approximately

equivalent to 16% of its GDP14.

Under the PASDEP’s current phase (2006-2011), it should

be possible to improve the current situation thanks to

increased productivity growth in agriculture, improved man-

agement of natural resources, food security and diversifica-

tion of the means of subsistence.15

Ethiopia also benefits from the Heavily Indebted Poor

Countries (HIPC) Initiative. It completed the process on 20

April 2004, thus opening the way for cancellation of multi-

lateral debt. This has permitted rescheduling which has

resulted in a reduction of nearly 80% of Ethiopia’s foreign

debt.16



2.3. Major educational needs

According to data from the National Population Office (2005),

Ethiopia has a population of 73 million. The country has had

an annual demographic growth rate of nearly 2.5% over the

last decade, which has now settled at 1.9% (World Bank,

2006). This means that Ethiopia has a young population

(45.4% of the population—in other words about 31.2 million

people—was aged under 14 in 2003), and that considerable

investment is thus needed in the education system.

In view of this situation, the Ethiopian government adopted

an education and training policy, from 1994 onwards. With

UNESCO’s help, it drew up a ten-year Education Sector

Development Programme (ESDP). The country is currently

in the third phase of this programme (ESDP III), which runs

from 2005 to 2011. The main aim of the programme is to

achieve the Millennium Goals through improved access to

Table 4. Literacy rates, Ethiopia compared with Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa

Literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) (2000-2004) 49.9 62.5

Female literacy rate (% of women aged 15 and over) (2000-2004) 40.3 54.8

Male literacy rate (% of men aged 15 and over) (2000-2004) 60 70.9

Youth literacy rate (% of 15- to 24-year olds) (2001) 67.5 70.5

Literacy rate of young women (% of 15- to 24-year old young women) (2001) 60.2 65.7

Literacy rate of young men (% of 15- to 24-year old young men) (2001) 74.8 75.7

Source: UNESCO, Institute of Statistics.

education and better quality teaching.

There are considerable challenges to be met in terms of lit-

eracy. According to UNDP data, Ethiopia’s illiteracy rates

were among the highest in the world until the mid-1970s.

UNESCO data for 2000-200417 shows that adult literacy

rates remain 12.6 points lower than the average for Sub-

Saharan Africa, and that there is a gap of nearly 20 points

between male and female literacy rates. They also show

however that literacy among young people aged between

15 and 24 is clearly on the increase, and that the disparities

between Ethiopia and the other countries of Sub-Saharan

Africa, and between young men and young women in

Ethiopia, are gradually being reduced thanks to the efforts

14 Mission économique d’Addis-Abeba, Fiche pays Ethiopie, MINEFI-DGTPE.

15 World Food Programme (2006), op.cit.

16 Mission économique, op. cit.

17 UNESCO’s data are more encouraging than those in the PASDEP (Plan for Acceleratedand Sustained Development to End Poverty), which indicates that in 2004, 62% ofEthiopians were illiterate.

the country is making in order to develop its education sec-

tor. However, there are still significant disparities between

rural and urban areas, and these also need to be reduced.

UNESCO’s analysis of the net enrolment ratio18 shows that,

despite progress made in the area of literacy, education lev-

els in Ethiopia remain below those for Sub-Saharan Africa.

This net enrolment ratio is low for primary education com-

pared to other countries, remaining at under 50% of children

of school age. The repetition rate in primary education is rel-



Table 5. Progression and achievements in the education system (2004)

Ethiopia

Average number of years’ education ISCED20 1-6 years 6 (UIS estimate)

Repetition rate, primary education (%) 11

Survival rate into the grade for 10- to 11-year-olds (%) (2000-2004)21 62

Rate of transition from primary to secondary education (%) 85


Table 6. Primary and secondary school net enrolment ratios (2004)

Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa

Net enrolment ratio, primary school (%) 46 65

Net enrolment ratio of girls, primary school (%) 44 63

Net enrolment ratio of boys, primary school (%) 49 67

Net enrolment ratio, secondary school (UIS estimate,22%) 25 24

Net enrolment ratio of girls, secondary school (UIS estimate, %) 19 21

Net enrolment ratio of boys, secondary school (UIS estimate, %) 31 26


atively low (11%) and the survival rate is 62% of children.19

However, in secondary education the net enrolment ratio is

around 25% of the age range concerned. This puts Ethiopia

at the same level as the average for Sub-Saharan Africa.

One of the reasons for this situation is the relatively high

transition rate from primary to secondary education; this

was 85% in 2004.

The data provided by the PASDEP reinforce those provid-

ed by UNESCO.23 They show a gross enrolment ratio24 of

79.2% in 2004/05 (70.9% for girls and 87.3% for boys).

They also highlight extremely wide inter-regional dispari-

ties, with a rate of 125% for Addis Ababa compared with a

rate of 75 to 80% for the regions of Amhara and Dire Dawa,

and only 15 to 17% for the regions of Afar and Somalia.

Lastly, they show that between 1997 (the year the first

ESDP was launched) and the current phase of ESDP III,

the number of primary schools in Ethiopia rose from 10,394

to 16,078. This increase has however been coupled with a

rise in the teacher/pupil ratio. This stood at 57 in 1997 and

has risen to 69 in 2005 (compared to an average of 44 in

Sub-Saharan Africa), despite the aims of the successive

programmes to bring it down to 50.

Although Ethiopia spends an average of 4.6% of its GDP on

18 The net enrolment ratio is the percentage of enrolled children of the official age for the edu-cation level indicated to the total population of that age. Net enrolment ratios exceeding100% reflect discrepancies between these two data sets (UNDP, (2003), HumanDevelopment Report).

19 According to 2006 World Bank data, the survival rate is only 51%, which would consider-ably weaken the efficiency of the Ethiopian education system.

20 International Standard Classification of Education.

21 UNICEF.

22 UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

23 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) (2005), Ethiopia: Building onProgress: A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)(2005/6-2009/10).

24 The gross enrolment ratio is the percentage of total number of children enrolled in primaryeducation, irrespective of age, and the population of the age group of those officially eligi-ble for primary education in any given year. This indicator is widely used to assess theoverall level of participation in primary education and the capacity of the education systemto satisfy primary education needs (UNESCO).

education, a figure that puts the country in the higher brack-

et in terms of education spending across the region, con-

siderable efforts are still needed. However, the number of

teachers is appallingly low in relation to the number of chil-

dren of school age. According to the Ministry of Education,

the lack of teachers is the main factor hindering the

increase in primary education enrolment. This is why there

are plans, under ESDP III, to recruit 294,760 teachers with

a view to educating a maximum number of children and

reducing the teacher/pupil ratio to acceptable levels.



2.4. An essentially rural and informal labour force

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), carried out in 2005 by the

CSA,25 indicates a participation rate of the economically

active population (including all those over 10 years old) of

76.7% over the twelve months preceding the survey.

However, this figure varies widely according to gender and

areas of activity. For example, the participation rate is only

50.2% in urban areas, whereas it reaches 82% in rural

areas. The rate for men is 84.7% compared to 69% for

women. Similar differences can be seen as far as unem-

ployment is concerned.26 The rate of unemployment is

20.6% in cities, but only 2.6% in rural areas. There is bare-

ly any male unemployment in rural areas (0.9%), although

it is high in urban areas (13.7%). Female unemployment is

very high in urban areas (27.2%), but low in rural areas

(4.6%).

2.4.1. A strong contrast between rural and

urban activities

Analysis of the economically active population by cate-

gories of employment highlights differences between sec-

tors, in particular agriculture/fishing and services, as well as

between the kinds of jobs held by those working in these

sectors. These include skilled workers, workers doing ele-

mentary jobs (mainly in manufacturing), craftworkers and

Table 7. Breakdown of the economically active population by categories of workers

Categories of workers Overall participation rate Participation rate in urban areas Participation rate in rural areas

Those working in services or trade 6.7 24.8 4.5

Qualified workers in agriculture and fishing 40.5 8.2 44.5

Elementary jobs27 42.8 24.6 45.1

Crafts and related activities 7.0 22.6 5.1

Technicians and similar

workers 1.0 5.5 0.4

Others 2.0 14.3 0.4

Source: National Labour Force Survey, 2005.

technicians.

The breakdown by categories of activity/types of jobs con-

firms the fact that Ethiopia’s economy is heavily dependent

on the rural and agricultural sector (which employs more

than 25 million people out of a total economically active

population of 35 million). It also indicates that non-agricul-

tural service and production activities are mainly concen-

trated in urban areas. From this we can infer that the grow-

ing urbanisation of Ethiopia, which currently has one of the

highest rural population rates in the whole of Africa (85% of

total population and 90% of the population living under the

poverty level currently live in rural areas)28 will have a sig-

nificant impact on the type of work done by the economi-

cally active population. Service, crafts and technical activi-

ties are also likely to grow.

25 Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (2006), The 2005 National Labour Force Survey.

26 According to the person in charge of the LFS, the concept of unemployment used inEthiopia is that of flexible unemployment. This defines the unemployed as those who areavailable for work whereas the strict definition used by the ILO is unemployed people avail-able for work and looking for work.

27 The survey defines elementary activities as those carried out by day labourers in agricul-ture, mining or building.

28 ECPB (2006), National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)Strategy.

According to the survey, the distinction between skilled and

elementary activities does not appear to correspond to the

usual skills levels. It rather suggests that skilled workers in

agriculture and fishing have a fixed professional activity,

whereas workers classed in the elementary jobs category

are day labourers who change jobs depending on the work

available mainly in manufacturing. According to the survey

on the informal urban sector published in 2003,29 the term

“elementary job” refers to routine tasks that are usually of a

manual nature and require physical effort. Examples given

in the survey include street, market or door-to-door sales,

various kinds of washing and cleaning activities, cleaning

and maintenance in houses, hotels and offices, portering,

etc.

2.4.2. Difficulties in appraising the informal sec-

tor as a whole

The statistical data available (LFS 2005 and Informal Sector

Survey 2003) provide a detailed overview of Ethiopia’s

labour market, given that the two surveys furnish significant

data on the breakdown of the workforce and the respective

shares of types of activity according to a large number of cri-

teria. Amajor problem still remains, however, concerning the

identification of those working in the informal sector. The

concept used by the CSA only applies to urban areas, and it

is only possible to gain an overall view of the non-structured

economy by analogy, in other words by applying the

Agency’s indicators for urban areas to the rural sector.

A labour market dominated by domestic jobs and self-

employment

The Labour Force Survey gives a detailed analysis of

employment status in Ethiopia, indicating in particular that

the majority of the economically active population is either

unpaid family workers (50.3%) or self-employees/own

account workers (40.9%). Although the available data does

not enable any precise classification of these workers, there

is no doubt that most of the activities covered here are infor-

mal, in that they are above all based on occasional employ-

ment (according to the term “day labourer” used to define

elementary activities), family, personal or social links

(unpaid family workers) rather than jobs covered by a prop-

er employment agreement including guarantees.30 The

table on the breakdown of the economically active popula-

tion according to employment status shows that at most

8.8% have salaried employee status and thus the possibili-

ty of a formal employment contract.

On the basis of these data, it is impossible to say that all

jobs outside public administration and private enterprises

are in the informal economy, although there are strong

grounds for presuming this to be the case. The results of

the 2003 Informal Sector Survey31 make it easier to give an



Table 8. Breakdown of the economically active population according to type of employment

Employee status As a % of overall As a % of urban As a % of ruralparticipation/activity rate participation/activity rate participation/activity rate

Government employees 2.6 16.5 0.9

Self-employees/own account workers 40.9 40.3 41.0

Unpaid family workers 50.3 15.0 54.6

Private organisation 2.9 15.1 1.4

Others 3.3 13.1 3.5

Source: National Labour Force Survey, 2005.

accurate interpretation of the 2005 survey on the real situ-

ation in the overall labour market.

Those working in the informal sector do so by necessity,

are left to themselves, and are mainly self-taught

In its introduction to the Informal Sector Survey, the

Statistical Agency defines the informal sector as existing in

a specific context (urban areas only). It also uses multiple

criteria that are much wider than simply a business with no

29 Central Statistical Agency (2003), Report on Urban Informal Sector, Sample Survey.

30 See the definition of informal employment in R. Walther, (2006), La formation en secteurinformel, Note de problématique, AFD Working Paper No.15.

31 Central Statistical Agency (2003), Op.cit.

specific accounting system: the definition used in the sur-

veys identified in the other countries visited. The basic def-

inition used is that the informal sector refers to activities

which are carried out in the home or in a single-person

enterprise by the owner alone or by the owner and a very

small number of employees. The wider definition includes

the following criteria:

� the informal enterprise is not usually officially registered

and has a low level of organisation, productivity, and

profitability;

� it has limited access to the market, to credit agencies, to

formal training and to public services;

� it has very small or no fixed premises, and is usually

located in the family’s home;

� it is not recognised, supported or regulated by the pub-

lic authorities and does not comply with social protec-

tion regulations, employment legislation or health and

safety provisions.

Results of the 2003 survey on the informal sector are the

following:

� informal enterprises employ 50.6% of the urban eco-

nomically active population;

� out of the 799,352 people interviewed as part of the sur-

vey, 43.29% work in manufacturing and 37.78% in the

trade or hotel and catering sectors;

� 99.09% of enterprises have a single owner. Ownership

is based on a structured partnership in only 0.56% of

cases. Although the survey states that co-operatives

and associations are on the increase, these presently

represent only a very small percentage of informal

enterprises;

� the capital of informal enterprises is made up of 90%

personal or family capital. 0.12% have obtained a bank

loan, 0.74% have received funding from micro-credit

organisations, and 1.04% receive support/funding from

public authorities and/or NGOs;

� 63% of the value-added of the sector is generated by

trade and hotel and catering, and 25% by manufactur-

ing. Next by order of importance are personal services,

urban agriculture, and transport;

� people choose to work in the informal sector mainly

because they have no other alternative (41.73%) and/or

because little investment is required (36.73%). For only

4.54% is it a deliberate choice;

� workers in this sector acquire their skills through being

self-taught (67.86%), via their family (26.88%) or

through apprenticeship or on-the-job training (3.54%).

Only a very small percentage (0.09%) has received any

formal training.

An analysis of informal sector workers’ education levels and

the different methods of skills acquisition shows that only

46.95% are literate (compared with the national average of

49.9% for the same period), that 42.74% have completed

primary education (compared with 46% at national level)

and that only 13.01% of male workers have been through

secondary education, compared with 31% at national level.



Table 9. Analysis of the level of education of informal sector workers by gender (in %)

Total workforce and share by gender Illiterate Intermittent Years Years Years Over 12 Totalschool 1-6 7-8 9-12 illiterate

Men 32.50 5.03 16.45 13.48 13.01 0.71 67.50

Women 67.41 1.57 35.28 7.46 6.98 0.13 32.59

Total 53.05 2.99 24.19 9.46 9.46 0. 37 46.95

Source: Survey of the urban informal sector, 2003.

These figures show that the informal sector employs the

least educated men, and especially women, and that work-

ers with a higher level of education are more likely to be

able to find alternative employment to the informal sector.

They also show that only a very tiny number of workers

have taken part in TVET. It can be said therefore that, in

2003, TVET had almost no effect on the skills existing in the

informal sector.

A dominant and fast-growing informal sector

If the “informal unit” term used for urban areas is applied to

rural areas, it can be said that all of the jobs recorded in

2005 under the headings of self-employment, own-account

workers and unpaid family workers do, by analogy, come

under the informal sector. The percentage of informal work-

ers out of the total economically active population is thus

91.2%. This places Ethiopia alongside Cameroon, Benin

and Senegal as countries with a huge informal-type econo-

my employing at least 90% of the economically active pop-

ulation. This analysis is confirmed by the non-formal TVET

implementation framework programme drawn up by

German development aid agencies in co-operation with all

the Ethiopian authorities and training providers concerned.

It clearly indicates that the vast majority of employment

opportunities lie in the informal sector.32 The programme

also underlines that the creation and consolidation of

employment in Ethiopia cannot come from major public or

private companies, or from public administration, but nec-

essarily relies on the development of MSEs, especially in

the informal sector, and the promotion of viable forms of

self-employment. The statistical study on the informal sec-

tor also indicates that the informal economy is growing

rather than declining. According to the study, the economic

recession, structural adjustment policies, increasing urban-

isation and high population growth have led to the unantic-

ipated and unprecedented growth of the informal sector in

a number of developing countries. This is all the more so as

modern enterprises and especially public companies have

had to make workers redundant or make large cuts in

salaries. This partly explains the importance of the informal

sector in Ethiopia.



32 ECBP (Engineering Capacity Building Program) (2006), Non-formal TVET implementa-tion framework, Building Ethiopia.


3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and socialchallenges

The TVET system is currently the focus of an in-depth strate-

gic rethinking and a reform intended to provide the Ethiopian

economy with the skills it needs in order to grow. This rethink-

ing and reform process is part and parcel of an overarching

policy entitled “Building Ethiopia”, which is being implement-

ed by the Ethiopian Government under the supervision of the

Ministry of Capacity Building and in partnership with the

Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and

the private sector. The Engineering Capacity Building

Program (ECBP)33 is responsible for the policy’s overall

implementation. It is funded by the German Ministry of

Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ), and oper-

ates with assistance from various German aid agencies

under the co-ordination of the largest such agency, the GTZ.

The purpose of the overall programme is to reform voca-

tional training and engineering courses. It is also designed

to introduce a national framework for qualifications and

standards, to develop the private sector and to encourage

it to contribute to the various types of action being taken.

The reform of the TVET system is a key component in the

programme. This reform, which is just getting under way, is

being implemented as part of the ECBP by the Ministry of

Education with technical assistance from German aid agen-

cies, in conjunction with local and regional authorities and

with the co-operation of all the economic and social part-

ners concerned.

3.1. Current state of TVET

According to the Ethiopian Ministry, technical and vocation-

al education and training comprises three main types of

training:

� formal training schemes run by accredited public or pri-

vate vocational training centres and leading to recog-

nised technician-level certification;

� “non-formal” training courses,34 which do not meet

recognised standards relating to content and the neces-

sary length of training in order to obtain certification.

They are delivered by public or private institutions such

as NGOs, community training centres, religious agen-

cies and private profit-making bodies. Non-formal train-

ing focuses primarily on helping people obtain employ-

ment. It is aimed at school leavers, school dropouts,

young and adult workers and groups excluded from the

labour market;

� informal training, which refers to the acquisition of

knowledge and skills in a non-structured environment. It

consists primarily of on-the-job training that is not cur-

rently recognised or validated and traditional appren-

ticeships in MSEs, particularly in the craft sector.

33 As the term ECBP is commonly used in Ethiopia, it seems logical for this report to refer tothe Ethiopian capacity building programme in this way.

34 The definition of non-formal training given in the reference documents is taken fromCEDEFOP’s 2003 Glossary on Transparency and Validation of Non-Formal and InformalTraining. It defines non-formal training as “learning which is embedded in planned activi-ties that are not explicitly designated as learning (in terms of objectives, time or support),but which contain an important learning element. Non-formal learning is intentional fromthe learner’s perspective.” The strategic and operational papers mentioned define the con-cept of informal training along the same lines as CEDEFOP (learning resulting from every-day activities related to work, family or leisure, which in most cases is unintentional fromthe learner’s perspective), while incorporating it into the overarching concept of non-formaltraining.

Training is also available in the agricultural sector, but the

Ministry of Education is not responsible for it.

The following table outlines the structure of the formal

TVET system organised by the Ministry of Education.

In order to increase the availability of training for young

excluded people and school dropouts, over ten years ago,

the Government decided to expand the formal TVET sys-

tem. Thus the number of non-agricultural education and

training institutions rose from 17 to 199 between 1996/1997

and 2004/2005, and the number of pupils from 3,000 to

106,300,35 31% of whom are trained in private establish-

ments. In addition, approximately 42,000 young people

were enrolled in agricultural courses in 2004/2005.

However, notwithstanding the efforts made to extend TVET

in recent years, it caters for just 3% of the relevant age

group.

3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges


Table 10. The Education and TVET system in Ethiopia

Source: Ethio-German TVET Programme (2003), The Ethiopian TVET Qualification System, Addis Ababa.

Age

19 Higher Education

Diploma Level

Certificate Level II

Certificate Level I

Junior LevelTVET

Basic LevelVocational

Upper SecondarySchool

General SecondaryEducation

Primary Education

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

4

Grade

Despite these investments, and although it is difficult to esti-

mate the number of Ethiopians with access to TVET,

demand still far exceeds supply and most of the population

does not have access to such training—particularly school

dropouts, the unemployed, company employees, the self-

employed and workers employed in MSEs. In addition, the

system has a number of obvious weaknesses. In recent

years, for instance, many employers have lamented the

poor quality of teaching, trainees’ lack of practical skills and

the unsuitability of training programmes. Moreover, it has

not been possible until now for people having acquired

vocational skills outside the formal TVET system (through

traditional apprenticeships, non-formal training, exercising

an occupation and so on) to obtain recognised certification,

resulting inter alia in a lack of labour market transparency.

35 According to ESDP (Education Sector Development Programme) III. The first ESDP pro-gramme (ESDP I) was launched in 1997 as an integral part of the Civil Service ReformProgramme (CSRP). In fact, the purpose of the ESDP is to help the Ethiopian Governmentharness the full range of national and international resources in order to enhance the qual-ity and efficiency of the education system as a whole, and to report on the efforts made inthis area.

The strategic thrust of the reform was defined as part of the

implementation of the PASDEP and in the context of the var-

ious national and sector-specific economic development

plans. The public authorities responsible for overseeing it

with technical assistance from German aid agencies have

the task of training a skilled, motivated and competent work

force. The aim is to develop the private sector and introduce

education and training schemes geared to demand and tai-

lored to the economic and social needs of the labour market,

particularly with a view to creating self-employment opportu-

nities. The current reform thus directly focuses on upgrading

the skills of those employed in the informal economy.

3.2.1. The main thrust of the reform

The main thrust of the reform may be described as follows:

� broadly, it seeks to change the vocational training para-

digm by moving from a supply-driven approach to one

driven by demand and, more importantly, by the accred-

itation of existing skills, irrespective of how they have

been acquired;

� by turning the system around, it will improve access to

training among people who are usually excluded (young

people and adults who have dropped out of school,

have a low level of education or are illiterate, entrepre-

neurs and workers in the formal and informal economy

who need to upgrade their skills and obtain recognised

qualifications, farmers and agricultural workers, unem-

ployed people seeking skills in order to enter the labour

market, and so on);

� it is designed to gear training to MSEs, to encourage

training centres to concentrate on the informal econo-

my’s skills needs, to introduce incentives aimed at

encouraging business start-ups at local level and in par-

ticular linking the acquisition of skills to access to micro-

credit so as to create self-employment opportunities,

and, lastly, to enable the various training institutions to

develop training courses tailored to the needs of their

target groups.

At a more structural level, the current reform is intended to

ensure that non-formal training becomes an integral part

of the training system. This means that the new system

must explicitly define the objectives and content of such

training and specify operational procedures, and that all

the relevant partners must be involved in the planning,

management and assessment phases when it comes to

developing non-formal training provision. It also means

that the existing distinction between formal training lead-

ing to specific qualifications and non-formal training lead-

ing to unvalidated, unrecognised competencies and skills

must be abandoned. To this end, the reform proposes that

the entire training system be based on occupational stan-

dards as well as a single format for accrediting all different

types of courses. It also proposes that training be

assessed and certified on the basis of outcomes, that is,

the competencies actually acquired as a result of formal or

informal training and validated using a uniform certifica-

tion method and system.

Figure 1 shows how the reform makes the transition from

supply-driven training to demand-led training, notably tak-

ing account of labour market needs. These needs are

reflected in, and organised into occupational standards

serving as a basis for the design of training curricula and

various modes of formal, non-formal, workplace, on-the-job

training and self-learning. If the system is to be successful,

a quality-management approach should be adopted during

the labour market analysis to ensure this is used effective-

ly to draw up occupational standards, and to incorporate

various forms of training into a service geared to the skills

development needs of individuals and businesses. `

According to the strategic and operational reference docu-

ments, delivery of the reform clearly calls for an overhaul of

all existing training schemes so as to tailor them to the com-

petencies and skills needed by the market, particularly in

the micro- and small enterprise sector. These schemes also

require institutional changes in line with the objectives to be

achieved. In particular, all private and public, economic and

social, and national and local partners must be involved

both in developing new training content and modes of train-

ing and in managing the overall training, assessment and

certification system.



3.2. Towards a reform focusing on those concerned in the informal economy

Figure 1. Outcome-based organisation of TVET system



3.2.2. The reform implementation process

Various strategic papers published since 2002 have gradu-

ally refined the reform process to be implemented, and out-

lined the main thrust of an operational scenario now being

developed. Various initial tangible outcomes were identified

during the field survey.

The decision to adopt a uniform approach to the reform

Various ministries are currently involved in Ethiopia’s TVET

sector on account of the institutions they are in charge of:

the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the

Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and

the Ministry of Labour. The paper setting out the “National

Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Strategy”,36 the latest version of which has recently been

completed (in September 2006), has the distinctive feature

of covering all forms of technical and vocational training,

apart from higher education, irrespective of which particular

ministry they come under. The application of this across-

the-board strategy to all forms of training is innovative in

that it unites all the partners around a common vision of

what needs to be done in order for Ethiopia to ensure a

more competent and skilled work force, thereby improving

its chances of development and economic growth. Previous

field surveys carried out as part of the study on “Vocational

Training in the Informal Sector”, particularly the one on

Benin, showed that without such a common vision none of

the reforms instituted had any chance of being completed

within a reasonable timeframe. The field survey demon-

strated that such a common vision exists in Ethiopia as

regards the broad thrust of reform, but not necessarily in

relation to the specific means of delivery.

The issue of consultative or deliberative management of

the reform process

The strategy paper calls for a wide range of stakeholders at

all levels to be involved in implementing the different com-

ponents and phases of the reform process.

Source: Ministry of Education diagram, Draft Revised Strategy, 2006.

36 ECBP (2006), op.cit.

Labour Markett

regulated byTVET authorities

(withparticipation ofstakeholders)

OccupationalStandards

Support to curriculumdevelopment: curriculumguides, model curricula, etc

OccupationalTesting/

Certification

QualityManagement

TVETDelivery

Helping Hand

Formal TVETdelivered by publicand non-publicproviders, enterpris-es,as cooperativetraining, etc.

Long and short termnon-formal TVETprogrammesdelivered by publicand non-publicproviders, inenterprises, etc.

Informal TVET, i.e.on the job-training,self-learning,traditionalapprenticeship andall other modes ofTVET

The public authorities have opted for the greatest possible

representation of stakeholders. The partners normally

involved in consultation forums in other countries (min-

istries, employers, trade unions and sector bodies) are

included, but so are representatives of teachers, parents,

local authorities, the beneficiaries and leading national

communication agencies. As a result, some of the organi-

sations met with during the survey, particularly employers’

organisations and trade unions, feel that their voices cannot

be heard properly. The key consultation forums identified in

the strategic paper are the national and regional commit-

tees responsible for helping the authorities introduce the

reform according to the main guidelines set. A number of

those met mentioned the current debate over the proper

nature of these committees: will they continue to serve as

mere forums for expression and information sharing, or will

they, as many seem to hope, be given genuine decision-

making authority? It appears that employers, who have

trouble finding the time and motivation to take part in these

committees, will play an active role in them only if their func-

tion is deliberative rather than purely consultative.

The crucial need for a uniform approach to reorganising

demand, supply and certification

The fact that the reform focuses on outcomes (i.e. the com-

petencies acquired and certified) has led to a complete

overhaul of the training system by means of a process

divided into interlinked phases in terms of both methodolo-

gy and timeframe. This process may be described as fol-

lows:

� analysis of the labour market and business demands

culminates in the setting of occupational benchmarks

standardised at national level;

� these benchmarks, which identify the competencies to

be developed, serve as standards for the development

of training curricula and quality management of the var-

ious training mechanisms (formal, non-formal and infor-

mal) introduced;

� both training outcomes and competencies acquired on

the job are assessed and certified in relation to the stan-

dardised occupational benchmarks;

� assessment and certification give access to recognised

national qualifications, which are identical regardless of

how they are gained (through training or the validation

of competencies acquired on the job).37

The reform project sets out procedures for implementing

each of these phases. For instance, the task of analysing

demand is described as being the joint responsibility of

training centres and employers. The federal authorities are

responsible for setting occupational benchmarks, although

employers and trade unions must also be consulted and

actively involved, and contributions must be sought from

experts who are knowledgeable about the world of work.

Curriculum development is assigned to experts within train-

ing centres, whose sole obligation is to produce modular

courses leading to the outcomes identified by the corre-

sponding benchmarks.38 Assessment and certification, car-

ried out on an independent basis at the Centres of

Competence still to be set up, undoubtedly form the cen-

trepiece of the entire reform. By assessing competencies

rather than the knowledge acquired during training courses,

the system as a whole can focus on the new target groups:

as well as graduates of formal and non-formal training

schemes, these include apprentices, workers trained on the

job and, by extension, those employed in the informal sec-

tor, many of whom have no educational qualifications other

than proven occupational know-how.

The field survey was able to verify that the reform imple-

mentation scenario was not merely hypothetical, but had

actually begun to take shape, particularly in the construc-

tion sector, which is regarded as a priority. Some bench-

marks for occupations in areas such as structural work, fin-

ishing work and interior fittings have been finalised.39While

the curricula for these benchmarks are not yet finished, they

are at least in the process of being completed. The experts



37 The “Engineering Capacity Building Program, National Training Qualification Framework”paper gives a very clear picture of the overall qualification framework on which the currentreform is based. As well as outlining the process of moving from labour-market analysis tocertification by means of occupational benchmarks and assessment of the competenciesacquired, it explains the different qualification levels: basic level, junior level, intermediatelevels I and II (leading to certificates) and intermediate level (leading to a diploma). Itshows that the qualification framework does not go beyond the recognition of technician-level diplomas, to use the terminology employed by the European Union.

38 Although training centres are responsible for curriculum development, they receive initialassistance from the Ministry of Education. It sends them “model curricula” developed at thecentral level, which they can adopt and/or adapt according to their own situation andneeds.

39 According to the PASDEP, more than 50 occupational benchmarks had been set by theend of 2005.

responsible for testing and certifying them have received

methodological training. All that remains is to set up the

Centres of Competence at Entoto College in Addis Ababa.

The centre’s development plan has been finalised, and

methodologically speaking everything is in place. The cen-

tre is not yet operational however, and some of the people

we talked to expressed their impatience in this respect. In

total, five or six Centres of Competence are to be set up

throughout the country.

The difficulty of developing dual-type training and/or

apprenticeships

The TVET system currently includes a form of training

known as “apprenticeship”. It involves young people in

grades 10+1, 10+2 and 10+3, that is, young people taking

formal technical and vocational courses. It operates as fol-

lows:

� young people spend 70% of the school year, or 9

months, being trained at the centre;

� for the remaining 30% of the year, they are placed in

firms. The firms are usually identified and selected by

the training centre or college within its immediate eco-

nomic environment. They are generally small or medi-

um-sized enterprises forming part of the local economic

fabric.

In educational terms, work placements count for 22% of the

overall assessment for the year. A number of those we

spoke to told us that such placements are simply a form of

work experience. According to the head of the Education

Office in Addis Ababa, there are institutions that train busi-

ness executives to become genuine apprenticeship mas-

ters and thus to supervise young people on internships.

Some of those institutions (including the college we visited

in Dire Dawa) have stopped offering this type of training.

The field survey found that this type of apprenticeship

raised a number of problems in practice. Firstly, this is an

inappropriate description in that it refers to the experience

of working in a firm rather than a form of training alternating

between theory and practice: in this sense, the word “intern-

ship” would be far more appropriate than “apprenticeship”.

Secondly, no reference is made to any kind of contractual

relationship between employer and trainee, and the young

person continues to be regarded as a school pupil through-

out his or her time in the firm. Moreover, colleges have real

difficulty placing young people in firms and/or finding intern-

ships matching the technological and vocational content

covered by the school syllabus.

The reform of the TVET system includes the design and

implementation of co-operative training courses.40 In prac-

tice, the initial aim is to introduce a pilot dual training

scheme in partnership with major Ethiopian public and pri-

vate enterprises. The enterprises participating in the project

will select the young trainees according to the skills they

need. However, the plan is also for these enterprises to

take partial responsibility for training young people who

may be hired by enterprises not involved in the pilot phase

or who start their own businesses. The TVET centres par-

ticipating in the scheme will have to bring both their teach-

ing quality and technological investment into line with the

needs of enterprises.

The project currently being launched provides for the subse-

quent extension of the pilot scheme to MSEs and, in particu-

lar, production and service units in the informal sector and co-

operatives and training centres in rural areas. The document

says that this second phase is particularly important because

of the predominance of MSEs in the Ethiopian economy, the

current reform’s key requirement to open the TVET system to

a wide range of target groups, and the Government’s goal of

significantly increasing the number of people trained in the

vocational education and training system.

It is unlikely that successful co-operative training in large,

modern enterprises can be extended to the informal sector

as it stands. At present, the reform plan does not provide for

a significant investment in training for adult workers in

MSEs, let alone in training for the heads of such enterpris-

es to become “apprenticeship masters”, albeit only for

those young people under their responsibility within the tra-

ditional apprenticeship system. A comparison with the other

countries surveyed shows that such investment is the only

way to motivate professionals to take on young trainees



40 ECBP (August 2006), Co-operative Training and Enterprise Training.

and involve them in an effective learning process. Training

young people without giving adults already in work (many of

whom are under-educated) the means to upgrade their own

skills and thus to develop their careers engenders—as

craftworkers in Benin put it—a sense of fear among adults

vis-à-vis the growing influence of young people with greater

skills, which can but be detrimental to the smooth develop-

ment of on-the-job training.



Figure 2. The phases of the reforms process

Source: Richard Walther.

3.2.3. The challenges of reform: moving from an

institutional to a grassroots approach

All the strategic and operational papers setting out and

organising the different phases and key points in the reform

process promise that the system will be opened up to those

currently excluded from it, and that efforts will be made to

involve its future beneficiaries. While target groups in the

informal sector are seen for their true worth, with an accu-

rate assessment of their situation, they are regarded as

potential individual beneficiaries rather than possible asso-

ciations set up to deal with economic, occupational or

industrial processes.

The various field surveys show that the institutional mind-

set of vocational training practitioners when it comes to

approaching people working in the informal sector is unlike-

ly to motivate the latter unless representative associations

are involved, be these territorial, vocational or sectoral or

simply NGOs. The field survey in Ethiopia was unable to

identify any highly structured organisations of informal

workers. However, steps are already being taken to form

groupings of stakeholders (which are mandatory in some

cases, particularly as a prerequisite for obtaining micro-

credit), networks of businesswomen, local, regional and

national agencies for MSEs, sectoral associations linked to

chambers of commerce and so on. A 2003 Ministry of Trade

and Industry directive41 lists several dozen sectoral associ-

ations, many of which are active in the informal sector. The

directive has the distinctive feature, however, of attempting

to organise and regulate—at the local, regional and nation-

al level and in conjunction with chambers of commerce—

organisations that exist first and foremost to represent

workers at the grassroots level.

In the light of a comparative analysis of training policies and

practices in the informal sector in the various countries sur-

veyed, it appears that the current TVET reform will be more

effective and relevant if it is not confined to an excessively

institutional approach, but brings on board all the collectives

and associations represented in the non-structured econo-

my. This means that the reform’s proponents must pay

greater attention to the processes already at work in the

informal sector and use them to underpin their efforts to

enable the sector’s many workers to upgrade their skills.

41 A Directive Issued to implement Proclamation No. 341/2002 of Chamber of Commerceand Sectoral Associations Council.


4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector

Although it was easy to obtain all available information on

training provided in formal establishments and on the broad

outlines of current TVET reform, it was difficult to find out

about training in the informal economy. There are several

reasons for this: the information was scattered; few people

work in this area; there is little communication among the

various public and private agencies involved, and, although

the matter is considered important, it is not a priority.

The field survey did, however, identify a number of

schemes and operators in the field. It was not always pos-

sible to obtain full information or meet the people best

placed to report on what has been done, but the information

gathered provides the broad outlines of current training ini-

tiatives in the sector.

4.1. The reality of traditional apprenticeship – a difficult issue

The Non-Formal TVET Implementation paper published

recently as part of the Capacity Building Programme men-

tions traditional apprenticeship in the MSE sector.

According to this document, this sector includes employers

or very often master craftsmen owning small enterprises in

the crafts, services, repairs, transport or trade sectors. The

latter make partial or full use of family members as unqual-

ified workers or apprentices.42

Despite this formal statement about the existence of tradi-

tional apprenticeship, the field survey revealed little to con-

firm the reality of its existence. Some people said that, in

the light of the situation in Sub-Saharan countries, there

was actually no traditional system established in crafts or

services. Others said that there was only the school

apprenticeship scheme offered in training establishments,

involving work placements in businesses rather than the

implementation of a well-balanced combination of class-

room-based training and work experience. Others said that

the term “apprenticeship” referred to the plans for designing

and developing co-operative or dual-type training in associ-

ation with the largest and/or best performing enterprises in

the country. Lastly, the meeting with an official from the

Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs made it possible

to make a rapid appraisal of the training scheme for which

it is responsible. The major features are as follows:

� in Ethiopia, as in West African countries, skills are large-

ly acquired within the family or neighbourhood. On this

subject, it is worth noting that only 3% of young people

go through the TVET system and that only 25% of pupils

who complete primary education go on to secondary

school. A 1999 survey recorded 12,100 apprentices

while a 2005 survey recorded 85,622, of whom 26%

were in the crafts production sector (such as woodwork,

weaving, sewing and so on), the remainder being in the

services sector;43

� traditional apprenticeship is not an organised process:

there is no curriculum, no training premises, no qualified

trainers and no structured progression;

� the main fields concerned are motor mechanics, main-

tenance and crafts.

42 ECPB (July 2006), Non-Formal TVET Implementation Framework.

43 This data was obtained from the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. The 2005 sur-vey on employment and the active population indicates that apprentices represent 0.3% ofthe 31,435,108 people in work, namely a total of 94,305 apprentices. It also indicates that50.3% of employees are unpaid family members. Although such employees are notapprentices, it is clear that they learned their trade as they went along, since only a tinynumber undertook vocational training. Since the Ministry has no clear picture of the reali-ty of what happens, it wishes to carry out a major study to establish the facts.

Legislation stipulates that an apprentice should have a con-

tract with a master craftsman or an establishment and work

under specified hygiene and safety conditions and in

defined trades. It further stipulates that the curriculum

should be determined in association with the Ministry of

Education and that the apprenticeship should be of defined

length, but does not fix any time limit. However, due to lack

of means, the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs

fails to apply the legislation as it should. While inspectors

visit workshops to check whether master craftsmen are

complying with ILO apprenticeship safety rules, they pro-

vide more in the way of advice and assistance than enforc-

ing the regulations.



4.2. Public policies targeting the creation of micro activities

The public authorities and more particularly the Ministry of

Commerce and Industry have national and regional

schemes targeted specifically at MSEs.44 The national

scheme, entitled FEMSEDA (Federal Micro and Small

Enterprises Development Agency), was set up in the time of

the Emperor of Ethiopia to train poor children who had no

other access to education and training. The regional

schemes, entitled REMSEDA (Regional Micro and Small

Enterprises Development Agencies), are currently being set

up by FEMSEDA, and also by regional offices of the

Ministry for Capacity Building. According to information

gathered during the survey, REMSEDAs were to be set up

in the Tigray and Harar regions. Work in the field included

lengthy contact with the Dire Dawa regional agency, the first

at national level to take any really serious action.

The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to

End Poverty (PASDEP 2005/2006-2009/2010), which

reports on action carried out in the MSE sector throughout

the country, gives an overall picture of action undertaken by

the various agencies responsible for MSE development. It

firstly indicates that such enterprises play a very important

economic role, to the extent that they use people who are

largely underemployed in the agricultural sector and enable

families to diversify their sources of income. Secondly, the

document lists sectors with high job-creation potential:

domestic livestock rearing, poultry rearing, silk harvesting,

bee-keeping, clothes-making, metal-working, construction

and fast-growing intra-urban services such as waste collec-

tion, car park caretaking, small retail and various repair

services. Lastly, it provides detailed figures on the

scheme’s results, indicating that 96,000 MSEs were given

a boost at national level and 280,000 jobs were created.

The activities undertaken by FEMSEDA and the Dire Dawa

REMSEDA form part of this overall approach, while at Addis

Ababa level, the ILO initiative aimed at training profession-

al weavers in order to improve their ability to access the

international market is based largely on co-operation with

FEMSEDA.

4.2.1. FEMSEDA entrepreneur training

FEMSEDA is a public body attached to the Ministry of

Commerce and Industry. It is organised into three depart-

ments: quality, planning and training/skills development. Its

role is to assist MSEs in meeting their training needs. It also

operates in the clothes-making, woodworking, textiles, pot-

tery, tapestry, weaving sectors, etc.

The agency runs an annual training programme from

October to March and from March to August. It works in

technical areas and also in management and finance. It

runs technical four or five month training sessions in sectors

such as clothes-making, metal and wood-working, three-

month training sessions in clothes-making and, at the

request of investors wanting to reach international markets,

one-month training sessions in weaving. 85% of skills

acquisition takes place on the job and 15% is acquired in

classroom sessions. FEMSEDA actually has its own prem-

ises in Addis Ababa, which enables it to provide training in

suitably equipped workshops offering appropriate tech-

niques for each specialist activity.

44 A “micro-enterprise” is an enterprise with an annual turnover of less than 20,000 birrs(1,800 euros), and a small enterprise is a unit with a turnover of less than 500,000 birrs(45,000 euros).

Training is aimed at the informal, essentially crafts, sector.

People can undertake the various training sessions without

having any specific level of skills, with the exception of

some, such as tapestry, wood-working and so on, which

require level 10, which is in fact TVET Grade 1.

Often, trainers in TVET centres or establishments do not

have the practical capabilities required for organising train-

ing schemes targeted at people in the informal sector. This

means that, during the holidays, some of them attend train-

ing sessions held in FEMSEDA premises.

The agency runs training to help MSEs improve the way

they launch or manage their business. It uses a training

package for literate people, which has been designed and

produced by ILO. For illiterate people, it uses a World Bank

aid that is practical and very visual in design. It offers train-

ing in creating and managing work. In each technical

course, it also includes an introduction to management and

entrepreneurship. All training sessions form part of an

annual training plan. The 2006 plan relating to MSE man-

agement provides a clear picture of the means implement-

ed by FEMSEDA to launch and stimulate the informal sec-

tor.

Training plan objectives

� to help individuals wishing to set up their own MSE to

acquire the basic notions of economics;

� to enable them to acquire the skills they need in order to

launch a profitable and successful business;

� to promote effective and high quality production and

service units in their field of activity.

Courses offered

Courses organised at federal level come under the general

title: “Develop a skills-based economic activity through

business creation.” They aim to encourage participants to

be self-critical, adopt an entrepreneurial approach and

develop the ability to set up their own business. They are

divided into three main types of training:

� Starting Your Own Business. Training is intended to

encourage informal economy workers to adopt an entre-

preneurial attitude so that they know how to set up a

business, obtain the necessary start-up capital, draw up

a financial plan, prepare a marketing plan, hire staff,

produce and sell and, lastly, develop the business suc-

cessfully;

� Improving Your Business. The aim of the course is to

help those who already have an established business to

improve and modernise their management practices by

developing their skills in the areas of market access,

purchasing, stock control, financial and accounts man-

agement and business planning;

� Acquiring Basic Economic Skills. Following the example

of what is offered in South Africa, the idea is to develop

entrepreneurial attitudes and provide training in the fun-

damental concepts of entrepreneurship, in order to

enable participants to distinguish clearly between fami-

ly and professional activities, to encourage them to

keep a cash book and to acquire basic business plan-

ning skills.

All courses are based on active learning methods specifi-

cally tailored to the needs of the people to be trained. They

include discussion groups, role-playing, case studies, site

visits, films and the analysis of good practice.

These courses are aimed more particularly at people who

want to launch or improve their business and, to this end,

wish to develop their technical and managerial skills. Each

course lasts five days and may be delivered as a one-week

training package or as ten half-days of training.

Fees are payable for all courses, except for those with min-

isterial exemptions and those targeting strategic sectors

such as clothes-making. The cost is 137 birrs per person,

or 12 euros,45 when delivered on agency premises, and 86

birrs, or 7.8 euros, when delivered off premises. When

courses are run outside Addis Ababa, the cost is 127 birrs,

or 11.5 euros.

In 2005, the agency trained 800 people from the informal

sector, including 500 in clothes-making, 150 in design and

120 in the metal-working, wood-working and silk sectors. All

of the people trained were selected for their ability to cas-



45 Exchange rate at 4 October, 2006.

cade what they learned to other members of their local

association or co-operative.

4.2.2. The Dire Dawa REMSEDA’s integration

and support role

The Dire Dawa REMSEDA has been in existence for two

years. The agency is really the institutional partner in an

economic development project that already existed in the

region. It currently comprises a planning and programming

department and a research and development department,

which are in turn subdivided into a piloting and support

service and an MSE development training and promotion

service. Other services are to be added, including a spe-

cialised service to support those developing income-gener-

ating activities, and an information and advice service to

assist trained people in accessing the job market. At pres-

ent, REMSEDA employs ten staff, soon to be supplement-

ed by a number of experts specialising in the fields in which

the agency is involved. The Dire Dawa REMSEDA is in fact

the first operational regional agency. Consequently, people

are always asking to visit it, and it often serves as an exam-

ple to other agencies that are in the course of being set up.

Strategic intervention areas

The agency focuses its work on sectors forming part of the

region’s economic strategy and which make a significant

contribution to GDP, such as property development, public

works (including road-building), food, textiles, arboriculture,

etc. The agency works on the principle that there is a mar-

ket for all of these activities. Construction is one of the

areas in which the agency has invested most, particularly

as the Government itself has issued calls for tenders in the

above-mentioned areas of roads and property, and also in

local agency creation and the building of schools, training

centres and rural development centres.

Local councillors, administrators and the various officials

concerned, including those involved in education and voca-

tional training, meet on a monthly basis. These regional

steering groups enable the agency to intervene according

to local development priorities and to play an effective role

in integrating the working population of the informal sector

into the job market.

The model for empowering people to find work

REMSEDA runs a scheme that enables unemployed and

unoccupied people to come together into groupings in order

to work on public interest projects, before gradually devel-

oping such projects into profitable activities. The scheme

can be described as follows:

� thanks to its fortunate public circumstances (financial

resources and the availability of land to establish busi-

ness parks), REMSEDA acts as an economic develop-

ment and job agency. It supports the creation of associ-

ations and co-operatives of young people and adults

(with a maximum of 15 members) as part of works com-

missioned by public authorities or forming part of the

regional development plan. It helps these associations

and co-operatives to set up production and services

units on the public land made available. It sets up infor-

mation and financial support offices as close to its busi-

ness parks as possible, so as to give the groupings eas-

ier access to public and private market opportunities.

REMSEDA has thus enabled its members to bid for the

construction of universities and enterprises, hospital

catering services or the delivery of traditional food to

local authorities. To date, REMSEDA has facilitated the

creation of 220 co-operatives or associations, including

63 in construction, 43 in food processing, 40 in metal-

working, 25 in waste disposal, 11 in clothes-making, 6 in

wood-working, 5 in urban agriculture and so on;

� REMSEDA helps to consolidate the work of associa-

tions and co-operatives at a professional and financial

level. It makes technical, financial and management

training run by the Dire Dawa TVET College available to

members of groupings. It helps them to obtain loans

from micro-credit organisations by giving them assis-

tance in drawing up their development plan. To date,

over 2,500 groupings have benefited from loans of up to

20,000 birrs (about 1,800 euros).46 It provides machin-

ery suited to their professional needs and compliant

with technical standards, and advises them throughout

the business development process;



46 Recently the Government decided to guarantee loans from micro credit organisations (tothe tune of 212 million birrs, which is about 19 million euros). This will make it possible toprovide MSEs with loans of 50,000 to 100,000 birrs (about 9,000 euros).

� lastly, REMSEDA promotes structured co-operation

between MSEs. It helps enterprises to organise trade

fairs that enable them to compete with private industry

products, to sell goods and to position their products to

meet export market demand. The agency invited

Djiboutian entrepreneurs to fairs that it organised so

that they could help Dire Dawa MSEs to evaluate the

quality of their products in the face of international com-

petition. REMSEDA also helped to bring together exist-

ing groupings in order to create sector associations. It

set up a production and service unit forum with a view

to transferring the responsibility for the creation of such

associations to members of the forum. The idea is that

forum members analyse opportunities for creating larg-

er groupings, express their joint training needs and, if

possible, respond jointly to invitations to tender.

Training activities organised

There have been many of these and they have improved

technical skills in all sectors: construction (1,012 people),

metal- and wood-working (682 people), sewing and textiles

(444 people), urban agriculture (430 people), food process-

ing (411 people), and so on. Training also addressed man-

agement and entrepreneurial skills (4,387 people). Over a

period of two years, a total of 12,935 of the working popu-

lation in the informal sector have received training. It is dif-

ficult to evaluate the impact of such training, especially

since it forms part of overall measures to achieve progres-

sive integration into jobs and stable employment. But the

fact that during the same period, 13,056 people found per-

manent or temporary employment demonstrates that such

training is at the very least an effective support in the over-

all process of entry into the world of work.

An example of job creation: cutting cobblestones for

paving roads

The field survey visited several sites, including one where

cobblestones were being prepared for building or repairing

Dire Dawa’s roads and pavements. This site has the fol-

lowing features:

� it encompasses all manufacturing stages of the final

product (a 10cm-sided cobblestone), including the quar-

riers (from outside the Dire Dawa region), the lorry driv-

ers bringing the stone to town, the various stone-cutters

who rough-hew the stone, break it into semi-finished

and then finished blocks and those who lay the cobble-

stones to make the roads and pavements. (This is a

long and complicated process requiring project-type

organisation that manages each stage from the original

product to the final stages of hewing and laying. It can

be successfully completed only through effective man-

agement of the various stages involved in production,

from the very start to the finished product);

� it operates as a commercial organisation to the extent

that the producers involved in each stage are set up as

profit-making companies, buy a product at a certain

stage of production, work on it in accordance with pre-

determined standards and then sell it after having cal-

culated the added value and the profit to be distributed

to each stone-cutter and layer. The work site assumes

de facto that there are a series of commercial compa-

nies demanding both management and financial skills

from members;

� from the discussions held, it emerged that the scheme

has a significant effect on those involved. It enables

them to acquire skills (quarrying, stonecutting and lay-

ing); it makes them comply with standards and dead-

lines, and lastly, it encourages them to manage their

part of the work in accordance with precise and clear

financial and accounting rules. So it includes both

apprenticeship in a trade and apprenticeship in the

basic concepts of business management.

The young people interviewed showed an in-depth knowl-

edge of the entire process of production and marketing and

confirmed that it was a valuable learning experience.

Several were motivated to organise themselves further, and

were able to develop their work into other areas and func-

tions.

There is no doubt that the Dire Dawa REMSEDA scheme,

spanning the creation of associations and co-operatives

promoting integration into the world of work through to their

consolidation into micro- and small production and service

enterprises, serves as model for development aid. It com-

bines public intervention with job creation, promotes social

and vocational integration and the acquisition of financial



and entrepreneurial independence, and, finally, helps sup-

port activities and the creation of enterprises capable of

developing in such a way as to help lift people out of pover-

ty.

The field survey was to have highlighted the training activi-

ties benefiting Addis Ababa MSEs. However, as the person

responsible was absent at the time of the interview, this was

not possible. According to the experts met, there would

seem to be some training aimed at job creation, in particu-

lar for young people in the capital, with these youngsters

undertaking to cascade what they learn to members of their

association or co-operative.

4.2.3. The Addis Ababa weavers’ training pro-

ject (ILO)

As part of the survey, the meeting with the ILO established

a close concurrence of opinion between the aims of the

study on training in the informal sector and the ILO’s poli-

cies in the field. Thus the “Resolution concerning decent

work and the informal economy” passed at the 90th session

of the ILO’s general meeting emphasised that “many peo-

ple working in the informal economy have real business

acumen, creativity, dynamism and innovation and such

potential could flourish if certain obstacles were removed.”

Similarly, an internal document on how to raise the level of

the informal economy47 emphasises that any such efforts

cannot happen without raising the skills level of workers in

the informal economy.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to learn about the

means which the ILO was making available to Ethiopians

working in the weaving sector.

Project objectives: accessing the international market

The project formed part of a co-operative arrangement

between the ILO and the Ethiopian Government within the

national programme for promoting decent jobs. Given that

the programme aimed to promote sustainable development

and reduce poverty, the ILO identified cotton, textiles and

more broadly clothes-making as priority sectors, following

the end of the 1974 multi-fibre agreement. Specific studies

had in fact demonstrated the benefits of incorporating this

sub-sector into the national value chain48 and identified that

this integration required improved technical skills in weav-

ing and in management capabilities as a pre-requisite for

greater market access and increased financing.

In concrete terms, the aim of the current project is to train

weaving MSEs with a view to enabling them to achieve the

following objectives:

� gain access to improved means of finance;

� acquire suitable premises and new-generation looms;

� open production to the international market by exploiting

new niches in the national market;

� improve working conditions;

� update products and the production process.

Project stages: training at all skill levels

The project aims to train sector workers at various levels.

� Basic level: acquisition of elementary weaving skills.

This training is for people who want to work in the weav-

ing trade but who have not had the opportunity to learn

the skills through traditional apprenticeship schemes.

� Intermediate level: improving existing skills. For people

who already work in the weaving trade, this is designed

to give them the ability to produce goods of the neces-

sary quality and quantity required by the international

market. This training lies at the heart of the project, to

the extent that its purpose is to integrate home workers

into standardised production processes at global level

and to make them able to respond to the specifications

of international buyers.

� Specialised level: training in the design of new products.

There is no doubt that the Ethiopian weaving and

clothes-making sector will not be able to develop unless

it produces clothes that conform to the demands of

international fashion, which requires the radical updat-

ing of existing products and usual production methods.

This training is aimed at a limited number of designers



47 The document aims to define routes for the gradual formalisation of the informal economyand sets as an objective for the next ten years the elimination of all legislative, economicand administrative factors that foster the existence of the informal economy.

48 In the internal project presentation document (Technical Cooperation Summary ProjectOutline), the ILO defines the value chain as all the activities required for creating a prod-uct or service from its design to delivery. It stresses that the challenge in this particularcase is to improve the competitiveness and effectiveness of the entire value chain, with theaim of supporting jobs creation and boosting economic growth.

and clothes-makers who will act as the link with interna-

tional market aspirations and specialise in the ranges

demanded by this market.

� Specialised level: training in the design of new woven

products. This is to train clothes-makers to produce the

new ranges created by the designers, in accordance

with standards, and to adopt the new weaving and

clothes-making techniques demanded by this market.

The purpose of these various training courses is not to

replace existing training but to support what already exists

by complementing and improving it. They will be run in

association with FEMSEDA, the priority being to support

both enterprises and private providers, in particular NGOs.

It is all about using training to foster the growth of sustain-

able production capable of providing jobs, while at the same

time accessing international market outlets.

Fees will be payable for the training, although the ILO pro-

vides financial support, particularly in the acquisition of

basic skills, to people who cannot afford their training.

Expected results: integration of the informal economy into

a buoyant market

The overall aim of the project is to encourage job creation

in the informal sector, refocus public and especially private

training on demand and on the issues facing the weaving

and clothes-making sector, facilitate access for all enter-

prises to invitations to tender and market opportunities, and

develop a favourable legislative and administrative environ-

ment in the informal sector for creating decent jobs.

More concretely, it aims to achieve the following results:

� evaluate the training currently available in Addis Ababa

in the field of basic skills and, depending on the gaps

identified, improve the content, the training of trainers

and apprenticeship methods;

� carry out a similar evaluation at intermediate level, in

design training and in the use of new techniques, and

create and test, where necessary and in association

with professionals in the sector, curricula and training

methods appropriate to the objectives set and the meth-

ods of certification required.

The overall project proposes to run dual-type training and

entails major educational work on vocational apprentice-

ships and on upgrading host enterprises with regard to the

quality and production standards demanded by internation-

al competition. This means that the project will succeed

only if all the partners involved (sector professionals, train-

ing providers, exporters, weaving, clothes-making and

design technology experts, and so on) work together for the

success of the operation.

The current project has the great advantage of combining

elements likely to stimulate training in the informal sector:

intervention targeted specifically at people in MSEs, skills

development linked to the production of goods and servic-

es complying with international standards, the involvement

of professionals and training providers in the process of

skills development and, lastly, a sustainable development

project that will gradually equip MSEs in the informal sector

with recognised skills and a real capacity to access nation-

al and international markets.

All these elements suggest that it will be worthwhile and

indeed important to evaluate the results obtained as the

project progresses. This will provide matter for reflection

and analysis regarding the contribution training can make to

the economic success of the informal sector.

4.2.4. On-site training for MSEs in the building

sector (GTZ)

Germany, or more precisely the GTZ, assumed project

ownership of the construction by the Ethiopian Government

of the university of Dire Dawa. The university is to admit its

first students in autumn 2006 and, when completed, will

have the capacity to accept about 10,000 students. A fea-

ture of the site is that it is a sort of “on-site school” for many

MSE sub-contractors involved and for young people from

TVET colleges who are on vocational placement there.

Training combined with on-site experience

Every day, employees of small enterprises working on the

building site receive training given at the end of the day by

the German person in charge. This trainer is specifically

charged with raising skill levels among the many MSEs

involved, with the support of an Ethiopian manager who



acts as interpreter when necessary, and ensures that

everyone understands the information conveyed. The train-

er starts from the work done every day, takes concrete

examples from the moulding and drying of bricks, the pour-

ing of concrete screed or the erection of partitions or walls.

From such working situations, he goes back over measure-

ment-taking, shuttering techniques, new concrete finishing

standards and, using these examples, he tries to gradually

improve the quality of the work and the techniques used.

The entire process of alternating between theory and prac-

tical application is in keeping with the experience of build-

ing construction. The various training sessions give rise to

evaluations and, in the end, are incorporated into a certified

training curriculum. Workers trained in this way can improve

their vocational qualifications while working on the job, and

they emerge finally with a higher level of vocational skills.

The difficult link between training, cultural tradition and

innovation

The site visit enabled discussion with the project owners on

the limits of this training initiative as a form of apprentice-

ship in modern construction techniques. One of the prob-

lems encountered is the resistance of the enterprises on

site to the application of present day construction proce-

dures. This resistance concerns the concrete shuttering

and is evidenced by the workers’ refusal to discontinue the

widespread Ethiopian practice of using oil to obtain smooth

concrete (using it means that paint cannot be applied direct-

ly to the surfaces underneath the shuttering) and of scratch-

ing the surfaces with a view to applying a roughcast onto

which the paint will be applied. It also concerns shuttering

techniques (single-use wooden shuttering, as opposed to

reusable shuttering) and the transportation of cement or

mortar (strong resistance to using wheelbarrows instead of

traditional carrying methods).

The reasons for keeping to tradition at all costs are low-

budget contracts that do not specify technical constraints,

but perhaps, at an even deeper level, there is the weight of

tradition: “we’ve always done it like that, so why change

something that works?” This poses the problem not only of

the relationship between training, tradition and technologi-

cal innovation, but also of how to implement the means and

methodologies for acquiring skills that integrate resistance

to cultural change as an inevitable dimension in the qualifi-

cation process. Whatever the answers to these problems,

the solutions cannot ignore the fact that training on its own

cannot overcome the resistance to change and that specif-

ic approaches to taking innovation on board in a cultural

context have to be designed and implemented.

The field survey’s pinpointing of the actions taken to bene-

fit informal MSEs is inevitably limited. It suffices, however,

to highlight the importance given by the federal and region-

al authorities (FEMSEDA and REMSEDA) and internation-

al organisations (ILO and GTZ) to developing such enter-

prises. They are actually alone in being able to integrate

very many young people and adults into the world of work

and, more fundamental still, to foster the dynamics of effec-

tive local development. The examples recorded demon-

strate that well-structured integration and training can lead

to job creation and stable employment and thus help the

population to rise above mere survival level and give hope

for a standard of living that is above the poverty threshold.

They also emphasise the fact that there are buoyant sec-

tors in which job creation and employment can go beyond

the local market and access production and service levels

suited to the national and international markets. But this is

possible only on the condition (achieved by the Dire Dawa

region) that support for income-generating job creation and

the fight against poverty is incorporated into a sustainable

economic and social growth strategy and, in the medium

term, clearly defined together with all the stakeholders

involved.



The field study made it possible to widen the scope of the

initiatives launched in the informal sector to include training

and start-up activities promoted by women’s associations.

There is no doubt that Ethiopian women’s associations play

a significant role in the informal sector. This has been evi-

denced by PASDEP, which stresses not only the strategic

role women play in the development of the country, but also

the need to improve labour market access for women in

order to achieve this development. The initiatives are all

funded or supported by donors and international develop-

ment aid and support agencies.

4.3.1. The ILO survey and the profile of women

entrepreneurs

The ILO study (2003) entitled “Ethiopian Women

Entrepreneurs: Going for Growth” also showed women’s

positive impact on development in the country. From the

sample studied, it found that 123 women entrepreneurs had

created 852 jobs for their immediate families and relatives.

This included 596 full-time jobs, with an average 4.8 jobs

per enterprise. Previously, about 70% of these women had

been either employed in the informal sector or simply

housewives. Most of the women had to draw on personal or

family resources to launch their enterprises. These are in a

wide variety of sectors, such as services, commerce, pro-

duction and handicrafts. One of the characteristics of these

activities is that they all address the local market, and more

specifically the local community market. Another is that

almost 90% of the women interviewed said they found

working on their own account immensely satisfying, while

75% said they would not want to leave their current work for

a permanent job.

4.3.2. Dire Dawa Women Entrepreneurs

Association (DDWEA)

This association was created in 2000. It has today 250

members, most of whom are MSEs. The executive commit-

tee meets once a month to determine members’ training

needs. About 300 women entrepreneurs are trained each

year, and the number of requests for training is on the

increase.

DDWEA aims to provide training both in technical skills and

in those related to enterprise management and develop-

ment. Training programmes thus cover a wide variety of

areas including: textiles, clothes-making, food processing,

urban agriculture, business management and entrepre-

neurship, financial management, communication and mar-

keting. Training sessions last about eight days and are run

by an outside consultant specialising in the relevant field.

While the majority of requests for training focus on entre-

preneurship (three sessions are organised during the year),

the types of training that have the most immediate impact

are those in clothes-making, food processing and vegetable

growing.

DDWEA operates in the informal sector in the sense that its

members are micro-enterprises working in the local market

essentially for local customers. There is a membership fee

of 5 birrs (or 0.45 euros) per month. DDWEA is financed

largely through member contributions, although it also

attracts financial aid from the European Union, USAID, the

Friedrich Ebert Foundation and other international donors.

The total annual budget is 151,946 birrs (or 13,700 euros).

The cost of training per person is in the region of 1,000 birrs

(or 90 euros).

DDWEA does not appear to make a very detailed analysis

of its members’ training needs or of the impact of its work.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Dire Dawa women entrepre-

neurs have decided to join forces to provide skills training

relevant to their expanding activities gives an indication of

the success of the action plan.

4.3.3. Dire Dawa Women’s Association (DDWA)

DDWA, which was founded in 2004, has 5000 members

and 9 local groups. Its financial resources come from mem-

bership fees and the financial support given by Pathfinders

International. The aim of the association is to help HIV-pos-

itive women and prostitutes develop income-generating

activities. To this end, it has set up “Singer workshops” (so

named after the German sewing machines), which are

workshops for producing items of clothing. The women

receive practical training in making clothes specifically for



4.3. The strategic role of women in the informal sector

the local market, and other training in sales, accounting and

business management. All the training is provided by the

TVET College visited during the survey.

The second strand of the action plan takes the form of an

awareness campaign designed to help the women involved

in the income-generating activities both to come to terms

with their condition and change their behaviour. Members of

DDWA thus go from home to home and urge women who

have AIDS to accept the fact and agree to treatment. They

give the women instruction in bottle-feeding to prevent the

children from contracting the disease through their mother’s

milk, and put the women in contact with organisations spe-

cialised in treating AIDS so that they have better access to

medical care. The women are also taught to respect certain

rules of hygiene when carrying out domestic tasks.

DDWA has 20 social care workers who have been trained

to assist women in need. A principle central to DDWA’s

mode of operation is mutual training: in other words, a

woman trained by the association agrees either to pass on

to another what she has learned, or to take part in an

awareness-raising campaign for women needing assis-

tance or support. The action plan is an excellent example of

how social and economic integration can be achieved.

4.3.4. A training programme for empowering

women

The Integrated Programme for the Empowerment of

Women, a pilot programme developed by the Institute for

International Co-operation under the aegis of the German

Institute for Adult Education (IIZ/DW),49 is an integral part of

the country’s overall development strategy. It aims to pro-

vide capacity-building support for poor women and their

families by combining three types of action:

� adult literacy programmes;

� training to promote income-generating activities;

� training in entrepreneurship focusing on management

skills and funding opportunities for starting up a manu-

facturing or service enterprise.

The project, which began in July 2006, is planned to last for

five years and funded by the Dutch Embassy in Ethiopia. Its

main target groups are poor women and their families

(including husbands), women trainers in existing training

centres, key persons in administrative departments and

NGOs directly involved in support programmes for women,

persons in regional offices with special responsibility for

education and women’s affairs, and trainers in TVET

Colleges.

Women in key positions or responsible for the operational

delivery of support programmes for poor women will be

given introductory briefings on the contents and methods of

the different types of training delivered. Special emphasis

will be put on the conditions necessary for successfully

completing action plans aimed at helping women to devel-

op income-generating activities.

The contents of the training programmes will be based on

both the educational level of the women concerned and an

assessment of the economic potential of the local market.

All the programmes will offer training in enterprise develop-

ment, group training on opportunities and procedures for

starting up income-generating activities, and access to

micro-credit.

The complete training course will last a minimum 360 hours

spread over three years. It will be organised to take into

account the women’s particular circumstances: work-load,

the seasonal character of their work, and their family

responsibilities. The three basic components of the action

programme (functional literacy, the acquisition of practical

skills for career development in a given sector, and facilitat-

ing the transition from learning to working situations through

access to micro-credit) will be tailored to the women’s spe-

cific needs. Financial aid for start-up operations will be

available through a special fund but subject to certain con-

ditions: the women should be able to read, write and count,

and demonstrate that they are capable of managing an

income-generating enterprise and keeping accounts.

The action plan will be closely monitored. A national steer-

ing committee will be set up and have special responsibili-

ty for co-ordinating the umbrella project at the regional and

local level. It will keep a particular watch on programmes at



49 Institut für internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes,which aims to promote education in the informal sector in East Africa.

the local level to make sure that these work with rather than

simply add to other projects initiated by government organ-

isations, NGOs, local or regional women’s associations,

and other local community or religious groups. The project

will also benefit from the assistance of a panel of experts

who will evaluate the actions and their results and provide

relevant support for achieving overall aims.

The total budget (8,215 euros) should enable the project

to achieve its objectives.



4.4. Varied experiences from the world of agriculture

The field survey failed to identify exhaustively what training

had been carried out in the agricultural sector. However, the

PASDEP presentation did shed light on the official reports

produced by the Ministry for Finance and Economic

Development. Secondly, and thanks to the German devel-

opment agencies, it was possible to pinpoint the difficulties

encountered by rural area training centres in providing

training tailored to the needs of local people. Lastly, it pro-

vided an opportunity to visit a technical and vocational body

that is developing innovative co-operative training

approaches among farmers.

4.4.1. The highly informal nature of employment

in rural areas

86% of Ethiopia’s working population lives in rural areas,

although not all of them are employed in agriculture.

Breaking down the working population into job categories50

actually reveals that qualified workers in agriculture and

fishing account for 44.5% of the working population, while

those in services and crafts total 10%. The remainder are

identified under the term “elementary jobs”, a term that

refers to day labourers in the construction or mining indus-

tries and agriculture. It is therefore impossible to establish

how many of the working population are employed exclu-

sively in agriculture or related activities, with the exception

of skilled workers.

Comparative analysis of workers in rural and urban areas

by job type reveals a very homogeneous labour market

structure as regards freelance or self-employed workers,

who represent 40.3% and 41% of the overall labour force

respectively. It indicates that domestic jobs are much high-

er in rural areas (54.6%) than in urban areas (15%). Given

that such jobs are very characteristic of a non-structured

economy, it can be concluded that statistical analyses car-

ried out on the informal urban sector take only very partial

account of informal economic activity in Ethiopia. Moreover,

any action taken to foster the creation of income-generating

activities, as well as MSEs, must take account of not only

agricultural and rural production and services units, but also

urban production and services units.

4.4.2. Training farmers and agricultural deve-

lopment officials

According to the report drawn up by PASDEP, the policy

implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture consisted of a

programme (still in progress) of intensive training for farm-

ers and rural development officials. It has led to the net-

working of agricultural training centres and then to the deliv-

ery of training curricula designed for practical use in these

centres. Thus, depending on the type of local crop and

activity, the various centres provide information and day-to-

day help to farmers in the surrounding area, and serve as

demonstration sites for certain types of crop-growing or ani-

mal husbandry (such as bee-keeping or vegetable produc-

tion).

In more concrete terms, the centres run 2- or 3-month train-

ing modules to help farmers adopt technologies and spe-

cialist techniques, such as cultivation using irrigation or silk-

worm breeding. At a broader level, the various education

and training establishments are currently training 55,000

development agents. 45,000 are to be placed in agricultur-

al training centres to provide direct support to farmers,

5,000 will operate in the veterinary field and 5,000 will pro-

vide support to existing co-operatives. At the end of 2005,

23,000 of these agents had obtained their qualification and

were placed in centres.

50 Labour Force Survey (2005), Op.cit.

During the course of the survey, it was impossible to evalu-

ate the results of the entire programme. Some of the peo-

ple met expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the

training, because it focused more on transferring knowl-

edge to farmers than really helping them acquire opera-

tional skills.

4.4.3. Training the rural population in communi-

ty skills training centres (CSTC)51

Agricultural training centres are not the only training facili-

ties available in agricultural areas. An analysis of training

facilities in the Oromiya52 region, one of the largest in

Ethiopia, indicates that it has 38 training establishments

offering technical education and vocational training at level

10+1 and 10+2 in 20 different trades, 11 agricultural train-

ing centres, 6 health training centres and 154 CSTCs. The

latter, offering informal type training, are aimed primarily at

young people excluded from the school system and adults

from rural areas. They are currently being reformed and

should eventually be better integrated into the overall voca-

tional training provision.

What are CSTCs?

At present, it is difficult to understand the role of CSTCs

without knowing their history. The first community centres

were created in 1976, when the public authorities first

launched a massive literacy campaign. Initially, CSTCs

were set up at woreda53 level in order to foster integrated

rural development. The objectives may be defined as fol-

lows:

� to introduce and disseminate technology suited to the

needs of the rural community, particularly farmers;

� to improve backward agricultural practices through

appropriate training schemes;

� to train members of the local community and enable

them to acquire the skills they need in order to do their

job;

� to operate as a resource centre for the population con-

cerned.

The initial plan had been to create a CSTC in each woreda.

According to available data, 404 were operational at the

beginning of the 90s. Under the administrative responsibili-

ty of the district, the centres were run jointly by the various

sectoral managers, namely for education, health and agri-

culture, with the education office running the establishment.

However, it very soon became apparent that co-operation

among the various administrations was not producing the

anticipated results, and the CSTCs gradually became

directly dependent on the financial and human resources of

the woredas.

It is in this context that the CSTCs delivered training to peo-

ple in rural areas. According to the data gathered, training

provision was either very limited (for example, 25 people

trained per year in the Oromiya region) or unsuited to the

needs of the local job market. According to Ministry of

Education data, the CSTCs trained 100,000 adults between

1978 and 1991, with the majority being farmers in rural

areas.

The EXPRO project or the setting up of model CSTCs

focussing on job creation training

In 2002, the Institute for International Co-operation of the

German Adult Education Association (Institut für

Internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen

Volkshochschulverbandes - IIZ-DVV) decided, with special

funding from the German Ministry for Economic Co-opera-

tion and Development (Bundesministerium für

wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit - BMZ), to set up a non-for-

mal training project, entitled EXPRO,54 which focuses on

the creation of subsistence activities. The aim of the project

was to breathe new life into the CSTCs in various geo-

graphical and socio-economic contexts and to develop a

new centre model based on vocational training able to

encourage the people trained, especially in rural areas, to

create income-generating jobs. EXPRO was involved in the

2015 Action Programme set up by the German Government

in 2001 with a view to helping Ethiopia combat poverty and



51 Information on CSTCs or Community Skills Training Centres is taken from the IIZ-DVVpaper (2005), Poverty Reduction and Capacity Building through Livelihood Skill Training atCSTCs and VTCs, Internal Paper No.33.

52 Oromiya Regional State, TVET Commission (2003), Regional Technical and VocationalEducation and Training (TVET) Policy.

53 A woreda is an administrative sub-division in Ethiopia equivalent to a district. A woreda isitself divided into kebeles which correspond in size to an urban area or a delimited ruralarea.

54 Bernd Sandhaas, IIZ/DVV, (2004), Community Based Non-formal Livelihood SkillsTraining for Youth and. Adults in Selected Regions of Ethiopia.

achieve the Millennium Goals. It was also in line with the

second Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP

II) run by the public authorities for the 2002-2005 period,

the aim of which was to deliver basic training in 43 new

CSTCs to 65,000 young people and adults who did not

have the ten years of schooling required to access TVET, or

who often had no education at all.

The current project has the following objectives:

� to raise awareness among decision-makers, involved

NGOs and national, regional and district level commu-

nity organisations as to the need and opportunities for

training young people and adults through non-formal

education;

� to develop and/or modify non-formal training pro-

grammes delivered by the CSTCs, functional literacy

programmes for adults and similar initiatives, with a

view to effectively meeting the needs of the target pop-

ulations;

� to provide training for CSTC trainers and administrative

staff to help them to plan, implement and evaluate adult

education programmes and projects focusing on

demand and income generation;

� to select a small number of community centres, voca-

tional training centres and agricultural centres in specif-

ic regions in order to make them service delivery mod-

els with acknowledged non-formal training programmes

focusing on demand and income generation for young

people and adults;

� to set up, in various public, private or community centres

in rural areas especially, model functional adult literacy

(FAL) projects and strengthen co-operation between

regional and local governments/administrations on the

one hand, and the public authorities and NGOs on the

other.

The project also set up a work programme based on aware-

ness-raising among decision-makers and managers on

non-formal training issues, on their involvement in the vari-

ous district and establishment councils, and on the involve-

ment of target groups and their communities in the design

and delivery of the training. It promoted working method-

ologies and assumptions, such as the use of participative

rural problem identification, participative project planning

and market analysis prior to training needs assessment.

Training was targeted at subsistence jobs and the people

keen on doing them. At the same time, the project advocat-

ed access for these people to sufficient loans to support the

creation of income-generating jobs, as well as strengthen-

ing analytical capacity, training and dialogue among the

stakeholders responsible for implementing the entire

scheme.

The project also defined the conditions under which a cen-

tre had the opportunity to develop and deliver job creation

training. It also defined ten criteria or conditions for effective

delivery: the need to complete a prior analysis of the cen-

tre’s situation, the surrounding job market, training needs

and available human and technical resources; rooting the

training in an annual training programme and establishing

clear selection procedures and criteria for the target group

and qualified trainers for these people; drawing up simple

curricula based on detailed frames of reference, and failing

that, on practical skills, effective and qualitative monitoring

of training delivery and putting in place tools to evaluate the

results of the training and its impact.

EXPRO is still running today. The results for the end of

2004 in the 17 model centres (some of which started oper-

ating only in 2005) are as follows: 2,013 people trained,

including 541 men and 1,472 women. None of the people

trained were landowners and all were unemployed.

Although there is no accurate assessment of the impact of

the training delivered, two thirds of the centres operating

indicated that the training had improved the situation of the

people trained. Although they did not all obtain work imme-

diately, they all acquired skills that enabled them to com-

pete effectively on the local job market, and they were moti-

vated to create, either alone or in collaboration with others,

income-generating work.

The upshot of these results is that many CSTCs are cur-

rently asking to set up the same type of training and to be

able to benefit from project funds to deliver training aimed

at job creation.



4.4.4. The innovative activities of the Harar

technical and agricultural training centre

The centre was set up and continues to be funded by a

German foundation.55 Its strategy is to work with farmers

committed to rural development. It initially organised train-

ing lasting nine months, but subsequently reduced this to

three months and then to three weeks, depending on the

requests and availability of farmers. It intervenes in various

areas, including the preservation of natural resources, agri-

cultural production, dairy farming, household economics

and care of animals. The centre has moved from quantita-

tive training to training in specialist areas. It works in partic-

ular with research centres, and improves animal breeding

(crossbreeding cows to adapt them to local conditions,

importing poultry from Egypt, and so on).

From model farmer to “copy” farmer: training of

professionals by professionals

The centre established a training model based on mutual

training among farmers. In this respect, it classified farms or

farmers into two categories: model farmers and “copy” or

contact farmers.56 The distinction is not based on education

level since some model farmers have eight years of basic

education while others are quite simply illiterate. It is based

exclusively on people’s motivation and keenness to devel-

op.

A farmer is a model farmer when he has a sense of and a

desire for progress, develops relationships with other farm-

ers and is capable of evaluating different approaches nec-

essary for introducing new cultivation or animal husbandry

methods. A hundred days after he begins his own experi-

ment, he then becomes responsible for transferring his new

skills to the farmers he is in charge of. The model farmer

maintains close contact with the training centre. The “copy”

or contact farmer implements what his mentor transmits to

him. He has no direct relationship with the training centre,

except in the event of serious problems that the model

farmer is unable to resolve.

The process operates as follows: the centre experiments

with new methods of cultivation or animal husbandry. It then

transfers the experiment to the model farmer, who contin-

ues it and tests it until the experiment is complete. Once the

experiment is validated, the model farmer cascades the

process to his contact farmer, who in turn reaps the bene-

fit.

The centre also trained two development officials who in

turn have trained farmers in their area. Furthermore, the

centre received prior accreditation from the Ministry of

Higher Education to train 50 people per year to degree level

in agricultural disciplines.

Example one: creating model farms in the field of milk

production

Main aims of the project:

To help farmers expand their milk herds and achieve a daily

level of milk production enabling them to substantially

improve their subsistence income. To this end, the centre

helps the farmer to attain optimum milk production levels

and management without using grazing pasture.

The experiment is run on the model farm and then trans-

ferred to the copy farm, provided that farm is able to buy or

own a herd genetically suited to gradually increasing milk

production.

The model farmers selected are trained at the centre once

the project is set up. The aim of the training is to facilitate

cascading the experiment to copy farms. Experience

demonstrates that farmer-to-farmer transfer is quicker than

trainer to farmer. Model farms serve as case studies for

training in the centre and for studies into improving milk pro-

duction.

Project implementation methods

Model farmers must have a farm and be prepared to cover

25% of the set-up costs. They must have access to running

water or have land where they can sink a well. They must

undertake not to allow their herd to graze on pasture and to

carry out the project with the help of the centre until they are

economically independent. The centre provides participat-



55 It is the Menschen für Menschen foundation established by the German actor, Karl HeinzBoehm, at the time of the 1981 drought.

56 The centre uses the “model farm” and “copy farm” concepts.

ing farmers with a heifer in calf, either free of charge, on

credit or through a savings or rebate plan, whichever finan-

cial incentive method best suits their particular circum-

stances. The cost of treatments, vaccinations and assis-

tance is free for the first year. If the milk producer already

has a dairy, he receives the amount of money required to

update or maintain it.

A contractual agreement lays down the responsibilities to

be shared between the centre and the farmers selected.

The estimated overall cost per farmer is 4,365 birrs (about

400 euros).

An operational plan lays down what has to be done to

launch each operation. Short-term training is given during

the set-up stage and successful farmers are certified as

“milk producers”. This certification allows each farmer to

cascade his know-how to copy farmers. Farmers also

receive specifications laying down standards regarding

quality, production times and hygiene.

Example two: creating model farms in the field of poultry-

rearing

Project objectives

The aim is to introduce poultry rearing, which is considered

to be one of the most productive activities in terms of the

creation of income-generating jobs. Small poultry-rearing

units can be set up with a minimum of investment and cost

to farmers and can very soon cover daily expenses and

provide a minimum income. Gradual growth in production

levels can later raise the farmer’s standard of living.

The poultry is genetically improved. The farmers selected

benefit from these improvements, as do the other farmers

who meet defined rearing criteria. The aim is to compare

domestically reared poultry with imported poultry.

The farmers selected receive short-term training on how to

organise the hen houses, feed the poultry and avoid dis-

eases through prevention and control. The aim is to enable

them to cascade their know-how to copy farmers. Both

model and copy farms and farmers will serve as demon-

stration and experimental locations.

The project itself

Since it is not so easy to introduce new ideas and new farm-

ing practices, launching the project requires some incen-

tives from the centre to the farmers involved.

As with the milk production project, farmers must have a

plot of land and cover 25% of the set-up costs. They must

have access to running water and agree to keep all brood-

ers away from the hen- house. As with the preceding proj-

ect, they sign an agreement regarding responsibilities

shared with the centre and undertake to continue until they

are self-sufficient.

The centre provides farmers with hens of a certain age for

a fixed period free of charge. They can also buy them at low

prices from the centre’s breeding unit or buy fertilised eggs.

As with the preceding project, all treatment costs, vaccina-

tion and other support are paid by the centre for the first

year. The estimated cost for setting up a poultry-rearing unit

is 2030 birrs per unit, or about 180 euros.

There is a detailed plan for setting up each hen-house.

Model farmers are certified as “poultry producers”, which

allows each farmer to cascade his know-how to copy farm-

ers. They also receive specifications laying down standards

regarding quality, production times and hygiene.

4.4.5. NGO actions

The field survey could be no more than limited and selec-

tive. There was no possibility of contact with other experi-

ments such as those run by NGOs. It had only documentary

access to very interesting experiments run by FARM Africa.

This NGO, which has been working in Ethiopia since 1988,

is developing innovative solutions through partnerships with

local communities and farmers themselves.57 Following the

example of the Harar centre, it intervenes in the animal hus-

bandry field and thereby helps women in the Afar and

Oromiya areas to combat poverty. It provided training for

these women, enabled them to buy goats in order to set up

a goat-herding activity and thereby earn a minimum income

for themselves and their families. The NGO highlights the



57 Information is available on Farm Africa’s web site. This NGO is developing several projectsin Ethiopia with help from the European Union and CORDAID.

example of Abebech, who received two goats on credit, was

trained in providing elementary veterinary care and is now

able to treat up to 70 animals per month.

A project launched and run jointly by various NGOs includ-

ing, Farm Africa, Care Ethiopia, SOS Sahel, Action for

Development and the Afar animal husbandry development

association, aims to assist and train farmers to deal with

drought, respond to emergencies in the case of enforced

slaughtering, set up meat drying procedures and manage

model Prosopis plantations that resist severe drought con-

ditions.

There is therefore no doubt that numerous initiatives, which

are too many to list, are under way in Ethiopia’s vast rural

areas, although they do not all reach the critical mass

required to significantly reduce the extreme poverty affect-

ing over 30% of the people living there.




5. Future developments and actions

The current TVET reform aims to focus vocational training

on the country’s economic development needs, and notably

to provide access to such training for those working in the

informal sector. The priority target groups are clearly listed

in the official paper on the national strategy in this area:

school dropouts, illiterate people, persons with no formal

training, entrepreneurs and employees in the informal sec-

tor needing skills recognition or further skills training, farm-

ers and their families, the unemployed and the underem-

ployed who need improved access to the labour market,

and those categories of persons who have difficulty finding

work due to their family situation (single women), their eth-

nic origins, or handicap.58 All of these target groups work

outside of the formally structured sector.

However, studies carried out in different Sub-Saharan

countries show that re-focusing the formal training system

to address the needs of craftworkers, the self-employed or

owners of informal production units in industrial, trade or

service activities will not in itself be enough to encourage

their interest in training. Rather, the uptake of training can

only come from initiatives within the informal sector itself, if

those working in the sector take on responsibility for organ-

ising, at an occupational level, the actors involved, and also

raise awareness about the benefits of training and skills

development.

In this respect the TVET reform in Ethiopia marks a step for-

ward. Yet there are also certain weaknesses that need to be

taken into account if the objectives are to be achieved.

5.1.1. Training institutions can ensure that trai-

ning becomes an effective aspect of social and

economic development

The Ethiopian TVET reform puts informal sector objectives

and target groups at the heart of the vocational education

and training system. Thus the strategy paper published in

Summer 2006,59 which clearly emphasises the need to pro-

mote self-employment and the development of MSEs, also

includes basic training in entrepreneurship and manage-

ment skills in informal, non-formal and formal training

schemes. The changes in training programme content and

organisation will undoubtedly give informal sector players

improved access to training and thus enhance their employ-

ment prospects.

Linking training schemes to economic strategy and labour

market needs

One of the most significant aspects of the reform is that it

allows training institutions to tailor their training provision to

the local economic development and labour market. The

field study at Dire Dawa and the interviews with key per-

sons at the TVET College there provided interesting infor-

mation on what has been done in this respect.

In order to link training with local priorities in economic

development and employment, the Dire Dawa College

takes part in three-monthly meetings with the city Mayor,

the director of the offices of the Ministry for Capacity

Building, the REMSEDA director and other key persons.

Through these meetings, at which local policy, strategy and

5.1. TVET reform and the opportunities for the informal sector

58 Ministry of Education (2006), Op.cit.

59 Op.cit.

action plans are defined, the College, in partnership with

REMSEDA and the real-estate and public works sectors,

plays an active part in helping young people to find work

and start up their own enterprise. By the same token, it con-

tributes to the local authorities’ effort to reduce the number

of unemployed persons in the city by 10%. It also assists in

analysing the training needs of MSEs and, on the basis of

the results, develops training curricula for sectors with job-

creating potential, such as food processing, stone masonry

and sewing. As a result of this direct involvement with other

local players, there are now 1,192 pupils in formal educa-

tion at the centre and 2,500 other persons in training

schemes more specifically designed to meet the develop-

ment and employment needs in the non-formal and informal

sectors.

The TVET reform also gives the College authority to

change the internal training process, even as regards for-

mal education. In the majority of the countries studied, train-

ing institutions have nationally determined teaching obliga-

tions, and any modification of the qualification or certifica-

tion systems to suit local needs is a lengthy process. The

reform in Ethiopia offers an effective means of combining

the move towards national occupational standards with the

freedom to adapt these standards to locally defined course

content and curricula. The Dire Dawa TVET College thus

opens up or closes down formal training sections (10+1,

10+2, 10+3) according to market needs. It is also changing

existing training provision: this can be in the light of local

policy changes, or further to an analysis carried out by each

department into skills shortages that need to be catered for,

which means that they can make the most appropriate

changes to course content.

Training can be adapted to the needs and circumstances

of the informal sector

The reform has also introduced the concept of flexible,

modular courses aimed at giving young persons and adult

MSE entrepreneurs in the informal sector improved access

to training. This is a pre-requisite for encouraging these tar-

get groups to take up the training available. Indeed, studies

in Benin and South Africa show that only those training

schemes adapted to the work pattern of craftworkers,

traders and various service sector workers have any

chance of arousing interest and of being taken up. Flexible

scheduling, however, is not the only consideration.

Flexibility should also be an essential component of teach-

ing methodology and follow-up: training will thus be deliv-

ered as close as possible to the place of work, and the con-

straints of work should be reflected in the teaching

approach. Training modules should also be flexible enough

to allow sufficient time for those attending courses after a

day’s work to assimilate new skills learning at an appropri-

ate rhythm.

The Dire Dawa College has taken full measure of the local

environment and now provides a wide variety of customised

training schemes for workers in the building construction,

road construction and food processing sectors. For exam-

ple, there are one- to two-week sessions and evening or

weekend courses according to demand or trainee availabil-

ity, and real on-the-job training. As a result, the College is

now working in direct contact with 75 associations or co-

operative groups with 15 or so members each. In addition

to delivering relevant skills training, the College provides

post-training support and advisory services designed to

help users find work and obtain funding for starting up a

new enterprise. The current TVET reform clearly not only

encourages training providers to introduce more flexibility

and modularity into existing training schemes, but also

gives them real opportunities for re-directing their training

efforts according to target group needs.

More flexible budgetary control for better investment and

training

The reform also explicitly reinforces the power of public

sector training centres to act and take decisions. Ministerial

directives on the reform show that the authorities aim to del-

egate maximum responsibility to the directors of these

establishments: delegation is seen as the best way of

ensuring that training provision is tailored to local market

requirements. According to the same directives, in the

longer term, training institutions will be accountable for their

actions, and funding will be performance-related.

The decision-makers at Dire Dawa College have already

shown that they are making full use of their authority to act

by closing training programmes offering few or no employ-



ment prospects, and by preparing curricula and modules

totally in line with local economic development and jobs

strategies. However, such authority is not truly meaningful

unless coupled with the authority for financial and budget-

ary decision-making. The College has developed income-

generating activities to finance its activities: re-upholstering

seats in a cinema nearby not only provides income, but also

serves as a vehicle for apprenticeship arrangements;

organising the plumbing in the College brings financial

rewards as well as giving trainees hands-on experience.

These activities are but two examples of the latitude the

College has for creating “training-production” opportuni-

ties.60 The profits generated by these activities are included

in the College budget, and are allocated by the College for

upgrading equipment to maintain quality, needs-related

training.61 Public funding accounts for 50% of the College

budget, the other 50% come from non-formal training

sources.

The power to take financial decisions necessarily condi-

tions the response a training institution will give to requests

for training from the informal sector. Field studies show,

especially in West African countries, that institutions work-

ing with the formal education system would have had no

chance of getting craftworkers or MSE entrepreneurs to

enrol in classes, had the course content and equipment

provided not been tailored to their conditions of work and

production. While the financial policy adopted by the Dire

Dawa College shows that budgetary control is one of the

ingredients of reform, it has yet to be seen whether it will be

more generally applied. Indeed, the Director of Education

for the Addis Ababa region interprets the texts in a more

restrictive way, deploring the fact that the institutions under

his authority have too little control over their budget.

5.1.2. The TVET system: skills assessment and

certification for informal sector workers

One of the basic characteristics of the current reform is the

emphasis laid on training outcomes, notably the acquisition

of vocational skills. The foremost criterion for assessing the

relevance of the system is no longer the level of certification

or of the diploma obtained, but rather the level of qualifica-

tion recognised for a given occupation. Qualifications will be

defined within the national qualification system, recognised

by the professions in a given sector, and reflect the ability

to carry on a trade at a certain level of responsibility and

with the relevant skills. With this change in approach, It is

expected that the TVET reform will have positive effects in

the informal sector.

The decisive choice of assessing educational outcomes

and skills acquisition

The new emphasis on assessment and certification proce-

dures as defined by the National Qualifications Standards

changes the very nature of the training system: it marks a

radical move away from content-based learning to skills

assessment either through trade testing or through formal,

non-formal or informal educational channels. This change

in perspective is of fundamental importance to workers in

MSEs.

� It shows that the quality to be certified is not knowledge

acquired at school, but the capacity to do a job accord-

ing to nationally defined standards and performance cri-

teria. The informal sector is included in this process of

skills enhancement, and can claim recognition and cer-

tification for what it is and what it does.

� It creates opportunities for workers to take up training.

This does not mean that workers will be required to start

all over again or re-learn in a formal context what they

already know. Rather, with recognition of previous skills

and learning, they will build on what they know to

acquire new improved skills for work.

The decision to bring the informal sector within the com-

pass of the new assessment and certification process has

undoubtedly created the right environment for promoting

the development of the informal economy in Ethiopia

through new skills acquisition and training. However, it

remains to be seen whether the reform will actually lead to

the recognition of skills in the sector.



60 This is an Algerian, not Ethiopian, term. It refers to a system whereby a training institu-tion agrees to release trainees for paid outside work, thus linking training and production,and increasing the general budget.

61 According to the College staff interviewed, a Federal law gives the College decision-mak-ers authority for taking decisions on the allocation of resources. The survey was not ableto take this law into account. The Draft TVET Financing Framework (October 2006) cur-rently being prepared with the support of ECBP foresees various modes of “cost sharing”in TVET.

The importance of truly recognising acquired skills in the

informal sector

The informal sector certainly constitutes a reservoir of skills

and aptitudes, and this partly explains why its contribution

to the national economy is so huge in all the countries sur-

veyed. As is stated in the resolution of the ILO’s 90th ses-

sion on work and the informal sector: “Many people work-

ing in the informal economy have real business acumen,

creativity, dynamism and innovation, and such potential

could flourish if certain obstacles could be removed. The

informal economy could also serve as an incubator for busi-

ness potential and an opportunity for on-the-job skills acqui-

sition.”62

By focusing on vocational skills, the Ethiopian TVET reform

should encourage recognition of this reservoir of skills and

thus give added value to the skills of those now working in

the informal economy. The strategic document on the

choices of the reform specifically states that access to

assessment and certification procedures will be open to all

those who have been trained informally, that is to say, on

the job, through traditional apprenticeship or through self-

learning. However, this principle of skills recognition for all

those working in the informal sector is not so obvious. It

implies that all the trades in the sector be subject to qualifi-

cation standards analysis and then brought into the nation-

al qualification system, otherwise workers in the sector will

not be able to seek recognition for the work they do. With

the new system, the skills recognition process must be

completed before, and not after, the start of training. This

means that training schemes can then be designed to focus

either on consolidating identified skills or on meeting new

skills needs, rather on skills already acquired. Otherwise, it

would not only represent a waste of time and money but,

more importantly, it would be tantamount to a non-recogni-

tion of acquired skills.

Official texts and the interviews available do indeed confirm

the change in approach brought about by the reform. On

the other hand, they do not seem to indicate that the insti-

gators of the reform fully understood the implications of the

recognition/certification process or that they were aware of

the immensity of the task ahead.



5.2. The outreach of reform in the informal sector

The current TVET reform may have a positive effect on

stimulating activities in the informal sector, but certain

aspects may very likely reduce both its effectiveness and its

relevance to the sector. A comparison with the situation in

the other countries studied reveals certain weaknesses and

problems in Ethiopia: the low impact of the existing training

system on the country’s economic situation, the lack of

plans to structure or improve training schemes in the infor-

mal sector, and the continued poor image of vocational

training in relation to the overall education system.

5.2.1. The low impact of the training system on

the informal sector

The TVET system as it stands today concerns approxi-

mately 3% of young people in any age group. This is equiv-

alent to the number of young people in traditional appren-

ticeship (106,300 young people at school in 2004/2005

compared with 94,305 in apprenticeship in the informal sec-

tor). In terms of impact on skills in the informal sector, the

TVET system trained a mere 0.0009% of persons working

in the sector in 2003.63 Self-training accounted for 30% of

new skills acquisition and skills acquisition through on-the-

job training in family enterprise accounted for the remaining

69%.

These figures show clearly how little the current technical

and vocational training impacts the informal sector. This is

not in itself a reason for rejecting the reform, but it does

nevertheless raise three important questions.

� Given the current scale of vocational training, it is

impossible for training institutions to attract a significant

proportion of the 99% of workers who have never been

in formal training simply on the basis of the reform. It is

62 ILO, op.cit

63 Central Statistical Agency (2003) op.cit.

only by working with enterprises in the field and by writ-

ing training action plans into local strategies and devel-

opment plans (such as at Dire Dawa) that the informal

sector and training institutions will be brought closer

together.

� In addition to private and public-sector TVET Colleges,

there are many community training centres (CTCs) and

farming institutions that are in direct contact with the

local population. It is difficult to imagine that the reform

could have a determining effect in the informal sector if

all or most of these institutions and their trainers are not

involved in implementing it. The Benin study demon-

strates that only plans worked out by all the institution-

al, economic, social and professional key players will

successfully drive implementation of reform. This will

only happen in Ethiopia if national policy encourages

the training institutions and key players to work togeth-

er. Otherwise, the reform will not produce the desired

effects, and will have very little impact on the target

groups.

� The TVET Colleges will need to have more than an

open-door policy. In other words, they should be capa-

ble of delivering training away from the centre and

analysing the local market. They should also define

teaching approaches tailored to the particular situation

and work patterns of workers in the informal sector,

develop new forms of cognitive learning, and construct

technical and management training schemes that lead

progressively from technical skills acquisition to enter-

prise development and management. Given the low

impact they have on the informal sector and their lack of

expertise in this domain, if the Colleges are to succeed

in the venture, they will need to work in partnership with

other training institutions and in close collaboration with

trainers already in contact with MSEs in the informal

sector.

5.2.2. TVET reform and the lack of recognition

of skills development processes in the

informal economy

One of the problem areas of the reform is the lack of con-

sideration given to training potential within the informal sec-

tor, in spite of the fact that provision is made for recognis-

ing skills acquired in the sector.

Nowhere does the reform mention traditional apprentice-

ship as an environment for training and skills development.

Apprenticeship is approached from the angle of employers

and employees who have gone through the apprenticeship

system and who now need to raise their level of recognised

skills and qualifications. While apprenticeship in Ethiopia

does not have the same dimension or innovative strengths

as in Benin, Senegal or Cameroon, it is nonetheless the

major source of acquired skills for young people entering

the job market, alongside self-training and on-the-job train-

ing in a family environment. As in West African countries,

this raises the question not only of how to raise the level of

skills variously acquired in the informal sector, but also of

how to improve the ways of acquiring skills and know-how

for people who have no other way of acquiring job-related

skills and finding work. Rather than focus on the reform of

the education system and its capacity to re-train or qualify

groups with no experience of formal education, would it not

be more constructive to concentrate on a large-scale proj-

ect aimed at helping craftworkers and producers of goods

and services sectors to improve the skills and trade know-

how of the young people they are responsible for?

Such a project implies that TVET reform should focus on

working adults and make a considerable effort to raise the

skills levels of all MSE entrepreneurs who provide appren-

ticeship or on-the-job training. The benefits of the project

would be threefold:

� similarly to what is planned for the weaving and clothes-

making sectors (ILO project), it would raise the quality

level of producers and products in the informal sector;

� it would create opportunities for helping apprenticeship

masters better structure the training paths for their

apprentices, and thereby provide improved training;

� it would enable some players to work towards extending

co-operative forms of training as proposed by the

reform, and others towards encouraging MSEs to fulfil

their role as on-the-job training providers for young peo-

ple.

These remarks and observations raise the question of

whether TVET reform can invest both in a quality-oriented

organisation of existing modes of apprenticeship in the



informal sector and in the re-organisation of the modes of

intervention of training institutions aimed at target groups in

this sector.

5.2.3. A paradigm shift with limited effects

In terms of the options for the informal economy, TVET

reform targets specific groups: entrepreneurs, the self-

employed, independent traders, and domestic workers who

engage in profit or income-generating activities. These

groups may be illiterate, poorly educated or trained, fre-

quently unemployed or underemployed, and are often

seeking ways to improve their social and professional inte-

gration into the job market. These choices reflect the high

priority given to the reform of the TVET system in the fight

against poverty and, more generally, the belief that recog-

nising and raising the skills level of all people in work,

including informal sector workers, is a necessary condition

for achieving the Millennium Objectives and for ensuring

that the Ethiopian economy moves from survival and sub-

sistence to development and growth.

The analysis of the different components of the reform and

of the field studies show that there are doubts that TVET will

be able to act as significant dynamo for change. The rea-

sons given are:

� the attitudes of the vocational training institutions in the

education system seem to have changed, and now

more attention is paid to the choice of pupils going into

secondary school. Entrance to TVET institutions is no

longer on the basis of negative selection, which meant

that pupils with the lowest grades in the class were

automatically sent there. Today, pupils can choose the

technical and vocational path of studies if that is what

they want to do. Similarly, TVET training no longer leads

to a dead-end: pupils who obtain their diploma at 10+3

level can now go to university and continue their stud-

ies. However, TVET is still perceived as being reserved

for those who do not have the aptitude for going into the

general studies section in secondary school. This is

reinforced by the fact that vocational training is limited to

jobs or posts for labourers and technicians. On the other

hand, the analysis of TVET’s role in developing and

emerging countries shows that vocational training has

an attraction, and thus an effectiveness, in direct pro-

portion to the level of social integration of those young

men and women who have chosen that path;

� for the moment, the reform does not take into account in

any explicit or structured way the situation of young

people who drop out of school before the legal working

age. As a result, like most of their fellow Africans, in the

streets, they forget the little knowledge they acquired at

school. The absence of any thinking on pre-vocational

training for under-achieving young people in the context

of TVET reform, will most probably have a dampening

effect on plans to make these young people a priority

category of the target groups. It also means that com-

plementary training schemes targeting these young

people may well be introduced when they have already

lost the basic schooling skills that would allow them to

acquire new knowledge and skills in the best possible

conditions.

These observations are not intended to pass a negative

judgement on the current reform. They merely aim, by a

comparative analysis of the situation in Ethiopia and in the

other countries studied, to encourage a debate about the

best possible ways of ensuring the successful implementa-

tion and optimal impact of this reform, which has complete-

ly pertinent objectives.



The analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of TVET

reform in relation to the informal economy, with emphasis

on ongoing training trends, provides an opportunity to make

a number of proposals for constructive thinking and action

in order to optimise the means made available by the

Ethiopian authorities, with support from German develop-

ment aid agencies, for raising skills and training levels in

MSEs. She are based on the initial conclusions of the

reports on the other countries studied, but remain firmly

rooted in Ethiopia’s specific context.

5.3. The challenge of revitalising the informal sector

5.3.1. Looking closely at the real potential of

traditional apprenticeship and self-lear-

ning methods

The field study highlighted how difficult it is for key persons

in TVET to perceive the reality, or even the existence of tra-

ditional apprenticeship. Through the statistical analysis of

the skills sources in the informal sector,64 it also showed

that the same key persons had a very vague notion not only

of the types and level of the vocational skills of MSE

employees and entrepreneurs, but also of the way in which

these had been acquired.

At present, it would seem difficult for the artisans of TVET

reform to develop relevant training for groups in the non-

structured economy without first knowing exactly how train-

ing in all its forms, be it on the job, apprenticeship, or self-

learning, is provided. A good builder knows the type of soil

on which he lays his foundations to support his walls.

The proposal made by the Director of the Ministry of

Employment and Social Affairs to launch a comprehensive

survey on apprenticeship is more than timely. This should

contribute towards a better understanding of the different

activities in the sector, the various trades, and the nature of

the training and contractual linkages between master-

craftsmen and their apprentices. It will serve to identify the

cornerstones that could underpin not only more effective

development of ways of passing on or cascading know-how

and skills, but also the inclusion of improved apprenticeship

within the overall reform process. The study should howev-

er widen the scope of its remit to include the different forms

of skills transfer in the informal sector. It should also extend

its approach to apprenticeship to forms of self- and family-

based ways of learning.

5.3.2. The need for a qualitative analysis of

informal economy occupations

The implementation of the vocational accreditation and cer-

tification process on the basis of occupational standards

applies to both the informal and formal sectors. However,

given the current status of the project for identifying the

standards and establishing Centres of Competence, this

assumes that experience acquired in the informal sector will

be validated on the basis of trades that are common to the

two sectors. It is not clear that this assumption is really

valid, and it might be useful, as in Benin, to consider having

progressive skills development stages, or, as in Cameroon

and South Africa, to adopt a descriptive approach for spe-

cific informal sector trades and activities.

Whatever the case may be, the research departments in

the future Centres of Competence research departments

need to think about different forms of accreditation and cer-

tification that take account of a combination of factors.

These include the concrete relationship that informal sector

workers have with their knowledge and skills, the degree to

which their activities are similar to or different from occupa-

tional standards and the eventual need to identify the occu-

pations that are unique to the world of MSEs and self-

employment.

5.3.3. The need to go through with plans to

recognise skills acquired in the informal

sector

The reform acknowledges that the sector offers a great pool

of skills or, as the ILO puts it, an opportunity to acquire skills

on the job. It thus constitutes something of cultural revolu-

tion because it takes into account both the relative limits of

formal training schemes and the cognitive and experiential

value provided by the workplace, whether this be an

income-generating activity or a micro-enterprise focused on

an exclusively local market. All the conditions are therefore

in place to give the informal economy its rightful role in the

development of human resources.

However, the certification of skills acquired in the workplace

is not self-evident. It can be neither successfully introduced

simply by passing legislation, nor exclusively reserved for

participants in TVET system training courses. It must be

able to work as a tool for motivating people to train more,

and thus be included in any activities that aim to enhance

the role effectively played by MSEs in production and serv-

ices in order to provide incentives for their skills develop-

ment. The Benin precedent, with the setting up of occupa-

tional centres, may serve as a point of reference, especial-

ly given that both FEMSEDA and the REMSEDAs are



64 Central Statistical Agency (2003), op.cit.

already acting as places for enhancing and promoting

MSEs. Certification schemes for informal sector workers

will only be effective if they are included in an action plan

that acknowledges the informal economy’s contribution to

development and employment policies, its capacity for ini-

tiative, creativity and innovation, as the ILO puts it, and thus

also the skills development of its workers and the skills

shortages that prevent it from making full use of its capaci-

ties. In the absence of such an overarching plan, it is high-

ly unlikely that informal sector workers will seek certification

in the Centres of Competence.

5.3.4. The need to strengthen sectoral, territo-

rial and institutional dynamics

The current reform is creating multi-partner TVET advisory

boards at federal, regional and local levels, alongside the

training centres. It also provides for the creation of working

committees with the same partners, which will be active in

the strategic planning and funding of the national qualifica-

tions framework, non-formal training, co-operative training,

apprenticeship, guidance, curriculum development, etc. All

of these boards and committees include at least ten mem-

bers representing the authorities, the economic and social

partners, users (parents and students), training providers

and so on. The field survey made it possible to go beyond

this rather formal and established approach to representa-

tion and to identify the territorial partnerships that are work-

ing on the definition of local development policies and the

organisation of training centres’ training provision.

However, neither the documentary analysis nor the numer-

ous meetings in the capital and provinces brought to light

any Ethiopian sectoral/trade organisations sufficiently influ-

ential to defend their members’ interests and their repre-

sentative participation in defining the specifics of given pro-

fessions along with their skills and training needs.

The employers’ federation emphasised both its wish to

encourage the development of sectoral bodies and its prob-

lems in bringing them together, given that the public author-

ities have attributed this task to the Chamber of Commerce.

The Ethiopian trade union confederation spoke of the prob-

lems it has in getting informal economy workers to join a

union due to their lack of organisation and the instability of

their work. Accordingly, they also find it difficult to represent

these workers’ interests as far as their skills and training

needs are concerned.

The meeting with the Chamber of Commerce shed light on

the existence of Directive No.341/2002, which authorises

the creation of sectoral associations at national, regional

and woreda level. These, however, have to be affiliated to

the chambers of commerce. They also have a legal status

that sets them more on a level of authorised and supervised

organisations, rather than on a level of real trade associa-

tions able to act as a driving force for analysis, initiative and

decision-making in fields such as skills and training needs.

In comparison to the other countries surveyed, Ethiopia

lacks the sectoral dynamics that have inspired and under-

pinned the national TVET reform in Benin, which is enhanc-

ing and developing traditional apprenticeship. The same

dynamics inspired South Africa’s sectoral skills funds to

invest in the MSEs’ priority skill needs, and also motivated

Benin craftworkers to design and develop forms and for-

mats for youth apprenticeship suited to initial educational

levels and the specific nature of the trades to be acquired.

Such sectoral dynamics would make a vital contribution to

enabling MSEs to take on responsibility for the reform that

is being launched in their interest.

5.3.5. How to have informal sector workers take

on responsibility for their own training and

skills

The information provided on training schemes outside the

TVET area reveals the extent to which skills development in

the informal sector is based on learning processes that dif-

fer from those in the established training system, whether

formal or non-formal. The example of schemes for women

shows how important it is to run awareness-raising activi-

ties prior to training. REMSEDA’s training scheme, although

run by TVET College trainers, proves how useful it is to link

training activities to business development, which increas-

ingly requires new technical knowledge and new manage-

ment skills. The agricultural training model, which brings

together model farmers and copy farmers by cascading



experiences and activities, clearly emphasises that peer-to-

peer relationships are much more effective than those

between trainers and trainees.

This small selection of examples offers just a glimpse of

what is really happening when it comes to cascading and

transferring experience in the informal sector. However,

there is no analysis of self-learning routes, such as the

apprentices’ “seeing, listening and acting” approach in their

relationship with the apprenticeship master, or the stone-

cutters route, where learning and doing are closely linked,

as well as the experiments of profit-making centres.

All of these examples show that training in the informal sec-

tor is truly effective when it develops and rolls out training

models that have been instigated in the informal sector

itself, and when it gives those working in the sector the

opportunity to become stakeholders in their own skills

development.




In conclusion: the need to refocus the reform on grassroots initiatives

Ethiopia is presently transforming its whole TVET model.

The current reform has provided a structured basis for all

the conditions needed to give informal economy workers

access to the benefits of training and qualifications. It has

effectively established a virtual right for such people to ben-

efit from all the advantages that were previously reserved

for students in formal training establishments. They can

now effectively access certification and qualifications. They

are totally free to take part in flexible and modular training

tailored to their initial educational level and working circum-

stances. They even have the possibility of choosing options

that will lead to training in business creation, as well as

financial and technical support. Everything is therefore in

place to ensure that the reform of the system contributes to

efforts to reduce poverty. This process will help the informal

sector to move away from being a subsistence economy

towards growth and development.

However, as the survey demonstrated, there is a lack of

synergy between the legislators’ intentions and people

working at grassroots level. Such synergy is possible, as

the Dire Dawa region has proved by setting the example of

the various ways and means that can be used.

Nonetheless, it will only be effective if the reform integrates

into its own priorities and policies the potential contribution

of existing training schemes, pilot projects, and innovative

approaches being developed in the informal sector, and if it

accepts the need to refocus its institutional vision by

empowering informal sector workers to improve their own

skills and qualification levels.


Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action

Having analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the

TVET reform, it is important now to make some recommen-

dations and proposals for action in order to maximise the

effectiveness of the objectives and measures introduced by

the reform. The following recommendations and proposals

could be implemented in a three-step programme.

Step 1: Draw up an inventory of existing skills

in the informal sector

A statistical analysis of the training routes for informal sec-

tor workers shows that more than 99% of them are trained

in family situations, through traditional apprenticeship

schemes or on-the-job training. However, we have no clear

picture of the skills that actually exist in the informal sector

in Ethiopia today.

� There is no real understanding of the role and place of

traditional apprenticeship.

� No assessment has been made of existing skills or skills

that need to be developed by informal sector workers in

those sectors identified by the PASDEP as having

potential for employment growth (certain agricultural

occupations, clothes-making, metal-working, the con-

struction industry, intra-urban services, etc.). The devel-

opment of skills in these sectors would improve occu-

pational profitability and enhance the marketing quality

of the products produced and services provided.

� There is no job description of the occupations that are

predominant in the informal sector or analysis of the

way in which such descriptions could be recognised

under the national qualifications system.

All these elements are prerequisites for the certification and

skills enhancement of informal sector workers. It is difficult

to see, however, how they could be taken into consideration

if the authorities do not decide to draw up a precise inven-

tory of existing skills on which to base a priority action plan.

1. Gain a better understanding of current practice in tradi-

tional apprenticeship schemes, and improve the organi-

sation of such schemes, in particular to help apprentice-

ship mentors improve the training they provide for young

apprentices.

2. Identify occupations in the informal economy that have

high employment potential and include them, if they are

not already listed, in the proposed national standardised

directory of skills.

3. Introduce a methodology for accrediting prior skills,

which is adapted to the illiteracy or low level of educa-

tion of the majority of those working in the informal sec-

tor.

4. Define the concrete measures needed to increase these

workers’ employment skills: what types of training, in

what fields, and aiming at what outcomes?

Step 2: Help informal sector workers to plan

their own skills development

Overall, the country surveys have shown that initiatives in

the informal sector are only really effective if those working

in the sector are involved in their own skills development.

Consequently, the success of the reform as far as the infor-

mal sector is concerned will depend on a certain number of

prerequisites.

� If the reform is to reach the set target group, it would

appear desirable, if not indispensable, that the profes-

sional organisations of informal sector workers be

involved in the implementation of the reform. The survey

has shown, however, that the consultation bodies,

whether at national, regional or local level, do not suffi-

ciently involve representatives from the different cate-

gories of craft workers, MSE associations (manufactur-

ing and services) or women who create income-gener-

ating activities. This makes it difficult for these bodies to

take into consideration the actual skills demands of the

90% of informal sector workers who make up the

Ethiopian labour market.

� A comparative analysis between Ethiopia and other

countries such as Benin or South Africa shows that rais-

ing the level of skills of those working in micro-enter-

prises or small production or service units requires the

introduction of specific training measures entailing on-

the-job skills development, while progressively ensuring

that such skills development is brought into line with

more structured and effective methods of apprentice-

ship. Although the reform intends to recognise skills

acquired in this way, it still does not explicitly envisage

any means for designing and developing training con-

tent that would enable traditional apprenticeship to

evolve into a real dual-type training system in which the-

ory and practice are combined, or which would help the

various methods of peer-to-peer training in order to

progress towards a more structured form of tutored

learning or mentorship.

The fact that informal sector workers have in a sense been

left outside the current reform process has led the instiga-

tors of the reform to question whether this sector will in fact

be able to move from a paradigm of survival to an econom-

ic paradigm of growth and development. If they do want to

achieve this, they will need to implement the following pri-

orities:

1. support the informal sector’s professional associations

by actively involving them in the definition of their own

skills needs;

2. compile a compendium of good practice in the acquisi-

tion of knowledge and skills outside the TVET system

and look at how such practice could be applied to other

workers in the informal economy;

3. give thought to training schemes for managers of micro-

enterprises and SMEs enabling them to enhance their

own professional skills while providing the best possible

training for the young trainees under their responsibility.

Step 3: Foster synergies between stakeholders

and initiatives in the informal sector

The field survey has highlighted the existence in Ethiopia of

a great many initiatives aimed at informal sector workers.

However, information about the actions carried out is insuf-

ficiently shared among their instigators, and there is even

less interaction between them concerning the outcomes

and impacts. This dispersal of efforts and means poses a

problem; the analysis of the situation in the various coun-

tries shows that a shared vision based on a partnership

between public and private players in the field of training in

the informal sector is needed if skills are to be improved

and profitability increased. Those in charge of the TVET

reform would be well advised to take the following steps:

1. make an inventory of all initiatives aimed at upgrading

skills in the informal sector and improving quality in pro-

duction and services, and analyse the possibilities for

synergies and complementarities;

2. set up a co-ordination and study group bringing togeth-

er the national authorities, bilateral and multilateral

donors, national and international government agencies

and NGOs in order to establish a minimum of co-opera-

tion in the implementation of the various different proj-

ects and programmes;

3. draw on the conclusions of this report and, in particular,

on the partnership it has established between the

German and French co-operation agencies, and invite

this partnership to work together in moving on from a

stage of analysis and observation to one of co-ordinated

and effective action.

We recommend that the GTZ and AFD give a joint presen-

tation, in Addis Ababa, of the conclusions of the study on

training in the informal sector in the seven African countries

(South Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Morocco

and Senegal), and that this lead to a debate, under the

responsibility of the Ethiopian authorities in charge of edu-

cation and training, on the ways and means of stimulating

the informal sector in Ethiopia through a reform of TVET. In

this perspective, it would be useful to organise a joint work-

shop between GTZ andAFD, in the framework of the ECBP,

to be held during the first six months of 2007, to discuss the

results of this report and the recommendations it makes.

Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action



List of acronyms and abbreviations

AFD Agence Française de Développement

French Development Agency

BMZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung

German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development

CIM Center für Internationale Migration

Centre for International Migration

CSTC Community Skills Training Centre

DED Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst

German Development Service

ECBP Engineering Capacity Building Program

ESDP Education Sector Development Program

FAL Functional Adult Literacy

FEMSEDA Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agency enterprises

GDP Gross domestic product

GNI Gross National Income

GTZ Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit

German Agency for Technical Co-operation

HDI Human Development Indicator

IIZ/DW OrganizationInstitut für internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes

Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult Education Association

ILO International Labour Organisation

LFS Labour Force Survey

MSEs Micro and small enterprises

NGOs Non-governmental organisation

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PASDEP Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty

REMSEDA Regional Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agencies

SES Senior Expert Service

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNESCO United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture


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034 document-travail-va

Documents

informal sector report

informal sector report

vocational training

cameroon field survey

benin field survey

angola field survey

morocco field survey

senegal field survey