Abstract: The findings of our new book on population and development in the second larg- est country, Ethiopia, are presented. We highlight its uniqueness in demographic transitions among countries in sub-Saharan African. Ethiopia has the largest rural-urban fertility gap (with below replacement fertility for Addis Ababa), the lowest maternal health service coverage by far, the highest percentage of illiterate mothers, the largest number of food insecure people, and 83% of the population concentrated mainly in densely populated rural areas. We present a new frame- work for the study of both poverty and development-driven causes and demo- graphic responses to frequent hazards common in the fragile Horn of Africa. Multiple vulnerabilities and responses are rigorously documented, with migration and off-farm labor mobility, female education, delayed marriage, and lower family size norms predisposing a predicted acceleration of the rural fertility decline. We propose numerous policy and research implications to evaluate progress on what may now be reachable 2015 population policy targets in TFR and CPR, and to prepare for a potential demographic dividend.
Key Words: Demographic transition; demographic dividend; population policy; socio-economic development; migration/urbanization