AGRICULTURE AND POVERTY IN ETHIOPIA

Agriculture and Poverty in Ethiopia

Linda Getnet

Hult International Business School

Design Thinking for Social Impact

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CONTENTS
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................3
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Problem Background...................................................................................................................................4
Solutions......................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
Glossary.......................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................8

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Overview
In the highlands of Ethiopia today, most farmers suffer at the hands of drought and poverty.
Being reliant on irregular seasonal rains, they consequently have a problem in finding a
sustainable means of income in times of no rain. All this requires our attention, where we can
find a sustainable system to feed the Ethiopian farmers and their families while bringing a lasting
solution.
As seasonal rains get more irregular with increasing climate change, the case of the Ethiopian
farmer remains worsening. With most of the Ethiopian population depending on an agricultural
means of life that use irregular rain, a sustainable means of water is required to lead them out of
drought and hunger. To aid this, in this paper, I have come with a solution that brings innovation
to the agricultural sector of Ethiopia to feed the farmers on the onslaught of hunger and poverty.
As these farmers’ crops are reliant on a stable water supply, their problems can be alleviated
using drip irrigation.
Objectives
The long-term objective is to bring the Ethiopian farmers, that make up around 80% of the
population, to a better means of farming. With rain dependent agriculture in Ethiopia leaving
farmers at a loss, through drip irrigation they would find a way to help themselves and their
agricultural ways of living. Through drip irrigation, I am to better the livelihoods of these
farmers in a lasting manner, instead of offering temporary draught-relief. The aim is to bring to
the farmer more usable means of water so that the farmers can help reap the fruits of their
agricultural works for generations to come and to feed those reliant on them with ease.

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INTRODUCTION
In Ethiopia, agriculture accounts for the source of income for 80% of the population where most
of the people, being farmers, reside in the rural areas of Ethiopia. To these hundred of millions
Ethiopian farmers, agriculture heavily depends on the weather. In any of these agriculture-
dependent families, what determines whether they will have food for that year or not, remains
reliant on the amount of rainfall of that year. Consequently, the heavy reliance on a rain-based
agriculture, that remains unreliable, has left millions in the nation at the heart of poverty,
suffering against increasingly difficult circumstances, out of which most which involve drought
and famine.

PROBLEM BACKGROUND
Ethiopia is a country in the horn of Africa, populated with an average of a 100 million people.
Out of these hundred million people, more than 70% of the population are found in rural regions,
where they undergo life performing mixed agriculture, with an emphasis on food collection.
Today, over a third of Ethiopia’s GDP is generated by means of agriculture.
Agriculture is a historical means of income in Ethiopia and as a means of living can be dated
back several centuries. As the agriculture can be traced back centuries, most of the agricultural
styles observed in the Ethiopian rural regions are traditional, ones that have been inherited from
the past generations. These traditional means of agriculture can be seen in visual manifestations
such as through ox-drown ploughs used to cultivate the planted crop and are ingrained in the
lives of the farmers in their agricultural ways. Dating back hundreds of years, along with these
traditional farming styles, Ethiopia’s agricultural way of life is one of the oldest agricultural
styles in Africa. However, being one the oldest agricultural systems in continental Africa, how
has Ethiopian Agriculture seemed to fail at feeding the masses of families that depend on it?
The weather that farmers of the Ethiopian rural regions so solely rely on can be divided into
two seasons—dry and hot season being one and the other being the wet and rainy seasons.
Farmers are fully dependent on the wet and rainy season, in both the animal and crop aspect of
their agriculture. The rainy seasons, classified as the spring rains and the summer rains, remain
incapable of lasting a full year, with the rain stretching out for a mere few weeks or months per
season. This inherent lack of rain for most of the year brings farmers at a disadvantage, as they
remain unable to continue working on their farms whenever the rains stop. Families dependent
on agriculture, remaining unprepared, suffer economically. With their primary means of living
an unavailable option in the longer dry seasons, they are unable to bring food to their tables,
amongst other means of sustenance. Besides the challenges of the dryer seasons of the year, the
rainy seasons that come during spring and summer themselves, remain mostly unpredictable, as
long awaited rains can end up never coming, ruining the whole agricultural plans of months, and
in the long run, leave children, families, and animals of the farmers to deal with high case
starvation.
With global climate change becoming more prevalent, the rains of the country have become
increasingly unpredictable and problematic for farmers, causing more lasting cases of drought
and famines. Draught strikes the lives of farmers of the northern and central Ethiopian highlands,

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that are more heavily reliant on rainy seasons, as they are central to growing their primary grains.
Yearly, these farmers hope for the best produce that can be used and sold to help them gain
enough income for the rest of the year, and remain providing for their families. But as the global
climate change continues, it affects these farmers severely as the seasonal rains they have relied
on to feed their families comes to fail them.
Irregular rain caused by climate change has become a common occurrence of the past decades,
and farmers that have taken up the traditional agricultural ways of their forefathers remain
ignorant on options that can assist their means of living. While some farmers closer to urban
cities have taken up skills newer and unfamiliar to the agricultural ways of the more rural
highlands, with a few of these newer skills ranging from making hay for cattle that could last
drier seasons to producing more drought resistant plants, more of the agricultural work still
remains dominant on the rain, and as the rain stays irregular, it remains problematic for the
Ethiopian farmer. Farmers of the northern and central highland in particular, with their diets
highly consistent of the grain called teff, have farmed the water-needing teff for over the course
of generations. These farmers, being the main providers of teff, not only to Ethiopia but to a
global market, remain hesitant to switch to other drought-resistant crop variations. However,
with rains becoming increasingly irregular, farmers of teff are clueless to additional options, and
continue to suffer the full brunt force of drought.
With unpredictably decreasing rain or sudden heavy rain, problems are heightened for most of
the dwellers in Ethiopian rural areas. Diminishing rain can cause starvation for people and
animals alike where agricultural animals remain unable to tend or feed their young and are left to
die. Seeds and other plants, being without water, die out, as the soil grows dry, becoming
ungrowable and hard to work with. All this leaves the Ethiopian farmer without food or income.
As the summer rain fails, it is not just the central and northern Ethiopian farmers but 80% of the
Ethiopian population, that can be prone to facing cases of hunger. These droughts and hungers
cause farmers and families alike to resort to simpler means of living such as selling their
possessions, which forces them into a cycle of increasing poverty. As families starve, other
problems arise, especially for the people with more nutritional needs and brings about health
problems, only worsening this cycle of poverty. All these circumstances leave farmers and the
people dependent on them, at a loss.

SOLUTIONS
Considering grains such as teff are the main produce of the Central and Northern highlander
farmers of Ethiopia, with teff making up most of their diet, these farmers remain hesitant to
changing the crops most of the fields yield. Grains are usually heavily reliant on water and are
not drought resistant. Teff being a grain, is no exception, making the quest to avoid drought for
farmers a bit difficult, with options being a bit more limited, but not unmanageable. Henceforth,
helping farmers reliant on water needing grains for a living, would mean putting more
sustainable means of water in use in the stead of the seasonal rains.
Improving conditions for the Ethiopian farmers, and getting them out of cycles of poverty,
draught, and hunger, would involve offering more sustainable solutions. While offering drought-
easing efforts such giving out food may temporarily aid their ailment and hunger, it doesn’t

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alleviate their issues permanently, where they can manage to avoid the drought and pull
themselves out of poverty without third party involvement. The right move in improving the
lives of Ethiopian farmers is finding more reliant means of water for their grains and agricultural
systems. Since Ethiopia is a country full of several water bodies, it is not an option that can be
hard to come by or across. Many forms of water bodies, such as lakes, rivers and underground
streams are common in the highlands of Ethiopia, with a total area of wetlands being estimated at
1.4 to 1.8 million ha in 2010. Consequently, investing in irrigational systems in farmers’
agricultural systems would work seamlessly. Implementing irrigational systems streaming from
the numerous nearby water bodies would make an accessible and sustainable means of watering
crops for Ethiopian farmers.
The reliable and sustainable irrigational system would improve agricultural systems used by
most families of Ethiopia. Drip irrigation in particular, would be an effective option to prevent
drought for Ethiopian farmers as Drip irrigational system refers to an irrigational system that
efficiently uses water by letting it drip in places where it is most needed. This irrigational system
would be based off a 5 meter or so tank placed around 1 meter above ground where it lets gravity
pull and drip the water in areas necessary. Drip irrigation has been used in around 5% of
Ethiopian farmers, an example being the Miyo district of Ethiopia. This drip irrigation has
brough about change for the farmers with more personnel finding jobs and being able to adapt to
climate change. Ethiopian Farmers will therefore get out of the habit of relying on irregular
seasonal rains. This irrigation system would also increase yearly agricultural produce and
revenue, aiding farmers economically. Through these irrigational system farmers would avoid
hunger and would break away from their cycle of poverty for the long run.

CONCLUSION
The Ethiopian population consists of rural farmers reliant on rain for crop produce and income
generation. Of these farmers, the central and western highlanders particularly tend to focus their
agricultural works to water-needing grains. However, being reliant on increasingly seasonal rains
has made them suffer droughts over the years. Instead of suffering through this during
insufficient rainy seasons, Ethiopian farmers can be given a chance to maintain their lives and
economy through sustainable water use. A great option to provide this lasting and reliable means
of water would be through means of drip irrigation that would maintain crops over the course of
the year by using nearest ponds. These lasting irrigational systems can bring sustainable change
to the poverty of Ethiopian farmers, where the farmers can prevent drought and hunger without
additional relief efforts. To quote a common proverb for summary; “give a man a fish and you
feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. And as such, we must
equip Ethiopian farmers with means to help themselves.

GLOSSARY
Teff: is a fine grain around the size of a poppy seed which comes in different colors ranging
from white and red to dark brown. It is an ancient grain that comes from Ethiopia and Eritrea,
and also comprising the staple grain of their cuisines.

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Drip Irrigation: can sometimes be called trickle irrigation and involves dripping water onto the
soil at very low rates (2-20 liters/hour) due to gravity from a system of small diameter plastic
pipes fitted with outlets called emitters or drippers.
GDP: also known as Gross Domestic Product, is the monetary value of all finished goods in a
country during a specific period.

REFERENCES
Nenko M., Mekonnen H. (2014). Drip Irrigation Practices by Pastoralists in Miyo District,
Ethiopia. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from
https://climatecentre.org/downloads/modules/casestudies/RCCC_CS_ETH8%20v3.pdf

Haase J. (Jan. 21, 2020). Adapting Production to Drought. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from
https://cid-inc.com/blog/adapting-production-to-drought/

Regassa S., Givey C., Castillo E. (Apr. 22, 2010). The Rain Doesn’t Come On Time Anymore.
Poverty, Vulnerability, and Climate Variability in Ethiopia. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from
https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/rain-poverty-vulnerability-climate-ethiopia-
2010-04-22_3.pdf

Baye T. (Sept. 2017). Annals of Agrarian Science. Poverty, Peasantry and Agriculture in
Ethiopia (Volume 15, Pages 420-430). Retrieved July 17, 2020, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1512188716301208

Facts: How We’re Fighting Hunger in Ethiopia (June 27, 2019). Retrieved July 17, 2020 from
https://www.mercycorps.org/blog/fighting-hunger-ethiopia#why-hunger-happening-ethiopia

Water Supply and Sanitation in Ethiopia (July 9, 2020). Retrieved July 19, 2020
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Ethiopia

Ethiopia – AQUASTAT – FAO’s Information System on Water (2016). Retrieved July 19, 2020
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/eth/print1.stm

Teff (July 15, 2020). Retrieved July 19, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teff

Chappelow J. (Jun. 1, 2020). Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Definition. Retrieved July 19, 2020
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gdp.asp

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Making Irrigational Technology More Affordable in Ethiopia (July 4, 2019).
https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/2019/07/making-irrigation-technology-more-affordable-in-ethiopia/

Walter W.R. (1989). FAO Irrigation and Damage Paper 45. Logan: Utah State University.

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8 Ethiopian Facts: Poverty, Progress and What You Should Know (July 3, 2019).
https://lifewater.org/blog/8-ethiopia-facts-poverty-progress-and-what-you-should-know/

Agriculture in Ethiopia (Apr. 2015).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Ethiopia

Drip Irrigation Boosts Food Production in West Africa (Nov. 02, 2009).
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