sustainability Review The Role of Agriculture and Non-Farm Economy in Addressing Food Insecurity in Ethiopia: A Review Komikouma Apelike Wobuibe Neglo 1 , Tnsue Gebrekidan 2 and Kaiyu Lyu 1, *   Citation: Neglo, K.A.W.; Gebrekidan, T.; Lyu, K. The Role of Agriculture and Non-Farm Economy in Addressing Food Insecurity in Ethiopia: A Review. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3874. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073874 Academic Editors: Michael S. Carolan and Marc A. Rosen Received: 25 January 2021 Accepted: 25 March 2021 Published: 1 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100081, China; nestadcaascn@gmail.com; 2 Training and Consultancy Division, Ethiopian Civil Service University, P.O. Box 5648, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; g.tnsue@yahoo.com * Correspondence: lyukaiyu@caas.cn; Tel.: +86-158-1128-1808 Abstract: In Ethiopia, famine and extreme poverty are a result of insufficient food relief, poor macroe- conomic factors, climate shocks, undiversified livelihoods based on low productivity in rain-fed agriculture, coupled with institutional incapacity. To serve as a context, this paper provides a com- prehensive review of the conceptual framework of human development and capability paradigm to food security. In addition, it highlights evidence and a comparative analysis of the Asian green revolution experience, and places emphasis on sustainable and intersectoral growth through agri- cultural transformation and promotion of rural non-farm economy agenda to reverse the trends of protracted food crises in Ethiopia. Rapid, science-led, and employment-intensive agricultural growth, accompanied by the promotion of the rural non-farm sector, is of great importance to the rural econ- omy. These will bring about farm sector competitiveness and enhanced productivity, environmental outcomes, acceleration of human development, new opportunities provided to the small-scale food producers, and desirable changes to the rural landscape. The study further introduces a brief analysis of the prominent role of social protection instruments in strengthening food entitlements and basic capabilities, including individual agencies. It suggests that actualizing sustainable food security and hastening human development under Ethiopia’s exclusive settings require the recognition of the rural economic heterogeneity as well as holistic and pragmatic policies, which promote sustainable and inclusive growth. Keywords: agricultural transformation; non-farm economy; food entitlement; poverty alleviation; sustainable human development; Ethiopia 1. Introduction Food security remains a core dimension of the human development and capability paradigm, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the development agenda of the African Union [1–4]. The concept of food security has been subjected to multiple evolutions, hence, its first definition in the Hot Springs of United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture in 1943. The development of the doctrine concludes with the concepts of availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability in all dimensions, which shape the four pillars of food security [5–7]. The Committee on World Food Security defined food security as “a condition that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” [7]. Strengthening food availability and entitlement underpins basic human capabilities and sustainable human development, namely, “well-nourished people exercise their free- doms and capabilities in different domains-the essence of human development” [8,9]. The food security agenda reflects the understanding and interpretation frameworks of key stakeholders. Such discourses or frameworks shape the governance and development pathway [10]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3874. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073874 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability