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Rural poverty in Ethiopia

Over the past two decades the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has carried out far-reaching institutional and policy reforms to transform itself from a centrally planned, Marxist regime to a stable market economy. These reforms have underpinned efforts to reduce poverty and increase spending on agriculture, education, health, water, transport and telecommunications.

Since 2007, Ethiopia has achieved strong economic growth, making it one of the highest performing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet it remains one of the world’s poorest countries. About 29 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line. Ethiopia ranks 169th out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index, and average per capita incomes are one-third the current sub-Saharan average.

Poverty is significantly more widespread and severe in rural areas than in urban ones. Major shifts in the political climate, upheavals and migration caused by civil conflict, and the increased frequency and severity of drought since 2001 have all taken their toll on the country’s poor rural households and continue to affect them. The majority of the rural population lives far below the internationally recognized absolute poverty threshold of less than a dollar a day, and most of these people are chronically, or at least periodically, food insecure. In order to survive, most households resort to seasonal or permanent migration to urban areas in search of wage employment.

Poverty is uniformly distributed throughout rural areas. An exception is the region of Oromiya, which stretches from the western border of Ethiopia to the south-western corner, where the level and intensity of poverty is significantly lower, and where cultivation of enset, a banana-like plant, provides a buffer against famine.

Ethiopia has enormous potential for agricultural development. At present only about 25 per cent of the country’s arable land is cultivated, and agriculture is dominated by subsistence rainfed farming, using few inputs and characterized by low productivity. The vast majority of farmers are smallholders. About 12.7 million smallholders produce 95 per cent of agricultural GDP. These farmers are extremely vulnerable to external shocks such as volatile global markets and drought and other natural disasters.

Smallholder farmers form the largest group of poor people in Ethiopia. More than half cultivate plots of 1 hectare or less and struggle to produce enough food to feed their households. A large number of poor households face a prolonged hunger season during the pre-harvest period. Herders, like farmers, are vulnerable to increasingly frequent drought, which can wipe out their livestock and assets and bring on severe poverty.

The persistent lack of rainfall is a major factor in rural poverty. Since 2001 drought has become more frequent and severe throughout the country, and the trend shows signs of worsening. Drought-induced famines devastate the more vulnerable households living in the pastoral areas of lowlands and the high-density parts of highlands. Limited coping mechanisms and inadequate planning for drought mitigation make farmers more vulnerable to its devastating effects.

Drought and/or crop failures can easily result in widespread food shortages, household food insecurity and famine. On average, some 5 million people are chronically food insecure even in years of good weather. This figure climbs dramatically in the event of severe or prolonged drought.

In addition to their vulnerability to climatic conditions, poor rural people lack basic social and economic infrastructure such as health and educational facilities, veterinary services and access to safe drinking water. Among the more specific causes of rural poverty in Ethiopia are:

• An ineffective and inefficient agricultural marketing system;
• Underdeveloped transport and communications networks;
• Underdeveloped production technologies;
• Limited access of rural households to support services;
• Environmental degradation;
• Lack of participation by rural poor people in decisions that affect their livelihoods.

The intensity of poverty varies at the household level in relation to the land’s size, quality and productivity, climate conditions and production technologies. Households headed by women are particularly vulnerable. Women are much less likely than men to receive an education or health benefits, or to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives. For women, poverty means more infant deaths, undernourished families, lack of education for children and other deprivations.

Ethiopia has an estimated 1.1 million people suffering from HIV/AIDS, making it one of the largest populations affected in the world. Rural areas have low prevalence rates, but available data suggest that the incidence will increase in these areas. The pandemic is driving life expectancy even lower than the 2003 average of 42 years, and it constitutes a major threat to sustained economic growth. About 6 per cent of adults are estimated to be HIV positive. Combined with malaria, the pandemic poses a serious challenge to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Source: IFAD