Ethiopia’s current challenges cross all sectors and the development, relief and aid community have been working passionately to address all issues. The case for an integrated approach is strong for Ethiopia. Below is a snapshot of figures taken from CIPHE’s concept paper written by Professor Zerihun Woldu of Addis Ababa University. Please remember that these are not comprehensive statsistics and more information on Ethiopia.

» Population

» 77 million people with 2 million annual growth rate (Encyclopedia of Nations)

» 47% of Ethiopians are younger than 15 yrs, 50% are between 15 yrs and 64 yrs

» In Ethiopia, large family size, with its high dependency ratio, is closely associated with poverty. In particular, those families with higher numbers of children under the age of 15 years and older persons above the age of 65 yrs seem to be vulnerable to falling into poverty. This is indicative of the severity of dependency on the active labor force and the value of adult labor for the survival of rural households.

» Health

» Environment

» 2 of the world’s biodiversity hot spots which provide habitat to over 1500 species exit in Ethiopia

» Population density in 2002 was 61 people per sq/km

» People are less likely to exercise adequate stewardship over their natural resources unless their basic needs for health, nutrition and economic well being are adequately addressed

» History of less than positive relationships between communities and environmental organizations as most conservation work results in “protection by exclusion” or setting aside protected area (forest, grazing area, lakes, etc) and cutting communities off from their traditional practices.

» Soil erosion is extensive with an estimated 2 billion tons of soil washed away from agricultural land every year.

» Observed effects of natural filtration of water which have led to floods and droughts. Many traditional water sources are “drying up” or in poor condition.

These disruptions are also reducing soil fertility.
» Ethiopia is 1 of 12 Vavilov centers of crop genetic diversity.

» The natural resource base of Ethiopia is predicted to shrink by 10 to 15% in the next 50 years if current rates of consumption are not altered.