Ethiopian Rural Household Survey

Availability

The data and information on this website is made available by Stefan Dercon and the Centre for the Study of African Economics at the University of Oxford. Permission for use of the data for academic research is given by them and its collaborating institutions on the different rounds of the survey. We would ask that the use of the data and its source be acknowledged.

In particular, the 1989 survey was collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The 1994-1995 survey rounds (round 1 to 3) were collected by the Economics Department, Addis Ababa University and the Centre for the Study of African Economies. The 1997 survey round (round 4) was collected by the Economics Department, Addis Ababa University and the International Food Policy Research Institute, with limited input by the Centre for the Study of African Economies. The 1999 survey round was collected by the Economics Department, Addis Ababa University with input from the Centre for the Study of African Economies. The 2004 round was collected by the Economics Department, Addis Ababa University, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Centre for the Study of African Economies.

Users should understand that, from 1994, the ERHS data collection occurred as part of a capacity-building project financed by SIDA. Users are therefore encouraged to conduct their research on the ERHS in collaboration with researchers of the Economics Department of Addis Ababa University. For further information on this, please contact Stefan Dercon (stefan.dercon@economics.ox.ac.uk) for details.

We would also ask that the financing for the surveys be acknowledged from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

For any queries, please contact me (stefan.dercon@economics.ox.ac.uk) but please understand that I cannot provide technical support in using these data. Access to the subsequent rounds will materialise in the future pending further discussions with our collaborating partners.

Abstract

The Ethiopia Rural Household Survey is a unique panel data set covering households in a number of villages in rural Ethiopia. Data collection started in 1989, when a team visited 6 farming villages in Central and Southern Ethiopia to conduct a household survey with a focus on the crisis and recovery in the 1980s. In 1994, the survey was expanded to cover 15 villages across the country. From the sample in 1989, about 360 households were successfully traced – implying an attrition rate of less than 5 percent. From 1994, the sample was expanded to about 1470 households. Data were subsequently collected in during further rounds in 1994 (later in the year), 1995, 1997 and 1999. A sixth round of data collection is taking place in 2004, in collaboration with IFPRI. Data are currently available on the web for 1989, 1994 (two rounds) and 1995. Other rounds will become available. A strong commitment to first use by Ethiopian researchers at the University of Addis Ababa and a serious backlog in manpower and documentation has meant that further data cannot be released yet, but this will happen in the future.

 

The Data

You can access and download all of the data and surveys via the International Food Policy Research Institute's website here.