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The country covers a total area of 17,364 km² and is landlocked. It is surrounded to the north, west and south by its much larger neighbour, South Africa. To the east, Swaziland shares a border with Mozambique. The country is mainly mountainous and hilly, and is divided into four distinct regions corresponding to ecological zones that run from north to south and are known as the Highveld, the Middleveld, the Lowveld and the Lubombo Range. These four zones are determined by altitude, with the highest part, the Highveld, situated along the western border of the country. The country's climate varies from temperate to tropical.

The Kingdom of Swaziland is one of the world's oldest and last remaining absolute monarchies. Since the 1990s, when civil unrest pressured the monarchy to introduce political reforms and greater democracy, political stability has improved. Most of the population of 1.1 million are members of the same tribe and live in rural areas, following traditional ways of life. The population is expanding rapidly, at a rate of 2.9 per cent yearly. Swaziland is one of the countries in Africa most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. More than 40 per cent of the population is believed to be infected with HIV. Many workers and farmers have been killed by the virus and thousands of children have been orphaned.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the mainstay of Swaziland 's economy, with cash crop production dominating agricultural output. The production of sugar cane alone contributes about 60 per cent of agricultural output and represents 37 per cent of wage employment. The processing of agricultural products accounts for more than 70 per cent of manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP). Other major crops include maize, cotton, beans and groundnuts. Ten per cent of the land area is arable farmland, of which 37 per cent is under irrigation. The livestock sector is small and is largely concentrated in the mountain range along the eastern border with Mozambique .

Growth in the agricultural sector has been generally low over the last two decades, mainly because of drought. But there has been some improvement over the last ten years. Productivity varies widely according to the ecological zones and their differing conditions of rainfall, and the smallholder sector is particularly vulnerable to climatic variations. The introduction of irrigation for sugar cane, cotton and citrus has been highly successful. Currently about 67,000 ha are irrigated, most of which are under large-scale farming operations.

Economy

Swaziland's major exports are sugar and wood pulp. The processing of agricultural products such as sugar and fruits accounts for a large portion of GDP in the manufacturing sector. Throughout the 1980s the country's economy expanded, reaching an average growth rate of 6.6 per cent per year. By the mid-1990s this growth rate had begun to fall dramatically and has been low ever since.

There are a number of reasons for this economic decline. From 1991 to 1995 drought had a devastating effect on the two main sectors of the economy: agriculture and manufacturing. The demand for sugar exports is declining and consequently the country has lost a significant amount of income earned by the sugar cane processing industry. Mining, too, has declined in importance since the mid-1990s.

Swaziland's economy is heavily dependent on South Africa, which is a market for almost half of the country's exports and supplies nine tenths of its imports. The political changes that have taken place in South Africa since the early 1990s have directly affected Swaziland's economy. Global trade sanctions in effect against South Africa from 1986 to 1992 helped strengthen Swaziland's economy because trade to and from South Africa was rerouted through the country. Once the sanctions were lifted, Swaziland lost many investors.

Remittances from Swazis working in South Africa have traditionally been an important supplement to domestic income. But recent changes in labour regulations in South Africa have limited employment opportunities for Swazi migrants.

Source: IFAD