Linking humanitarian and development action in Ethiopia

The purpose of this doctoral research has been to analyse the integration of humanitarian and development action during the 2011-12 food crisis in Ethiopia. Historically, the two types of action have evolved as two different, yet intertwined, domains, with separate objectives and guiding principles. Yet, particularly since the 1990s, there have been debates on how to better integrate them, in consideration of the fact that they often operate in the same context, as was the case in the Ethiopian casestudy. Following a neo-institutionalist approach, this study has analysed what hinders the bridging of the humanitarian-development divide, and what supports it, by analysing the interplay of institutional forces in the regulative, normative, and culturalcognitive domains in the Ethiopian case. Grounded in critical realism and in neo-institutional theory, this research has adopted a novel theoretical approach to the issue of linking humanitarian and development action, and has been based on original empirical material. A key finding of this study is that, in the context of Ethiopia, integrating the two modes of action is possible and even encouraged at some levels, despite a broader funding architecture that hinders such linkages. By shedding light on practices of humanitarian relief and development in Ethiopia, this study contributes to scholarship in the broader fields of International Development and African Studies.