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The Drought in Ethiopia Deters Conflict

Drought in Ethiopia
The Oromo Liberation Army and Tigray Defense Forces in Ethiopia are actively in conflict with the Ethiopian government and have received labels as terror groups in the country. However, due to the ongoing drought in Ethiopia, the groups have been working to establish a nationwide truce to allow humanitarian groups to provide aid to the affected areas of Ethiopia where people do not have access to food and resources. The drought is the worst the nation has seen in the past 40 years and has contributed to more than 20 million people needing dire assistance this year. The impact of the drought on the already impoverished country has been so drastic that the role of the military structures in Ethiopia is changing with the idea of a potential truce to improve the impoverished conditions during an ongoing conflict.

Ethiopia’s Conflict

Millions of Ethiopians have been displaced due to the conflict between rebel groups, including Oromo Liberation Army, Tigray Defense Forces and the Ethiopian National Defense Force which has been ongoing since November 2020. The war has political roots, such as an election, power struggle and claims of marginalization of certain minorities. Both sides have engaged in war crimes resulting in genocide, sexual violence and widespread looting and destruction of property. In addition to these direct results of war, humanitarian crises and famine have also come to light due to environmental and economic factors.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, ordered offensive forces to fight the rebel forces. The government intervention and blockades in Tigray have limited access to 9.4 million people across northern Ethiopia in need of humanitarian aid. Road access for supply trucks with medicine, nutritional supplies and general aid has had its limitations due to such blockages, further exacerbating the famine.

The Impact of the Drought in Ethiopia

In addition to the ongoing Ethiopian conflict, the drought has played a part in increasing humanitarian needs across Ethiopia. The worst Ethiopian drought in decades has led to widespread harvest failures and livestock deaths decreasing food insecurity, increasing famine and increasing acute malnutrition in the country.

Required humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia will be 40% higher in 2022 than in 2016 as a consequence of the El Nino drought. The ongoing Ethiopian conflict in northern Ethiopia is further increasing the severity of the situation, as it is currently affecting more than 8 million people. As the drought in Ethiopia continues to ravage more parts of Ethiopia, this number will likely increase.

The Ceasefire

In March 2022, the Tigray Defense Forces and the Ethiopian government established a humanitarian truce to prevent mass starvation in the northeast region of the country – almost 40% of Tigray’s 6 million people are victims of famine. The purpose of the ceasefire was also to allow emergency humanitarian aid the opportunity to relieve the pressure of the refugee crises, mass displacement and critical environmental issues. U.N. fuel shortages have added to the issue as aid workers had to travel by foot to deliver supplies. However, the added safety of a ceasefire has enabled aid workers to make unrestricted deliveries, presenting a semblance of hope for faster recovery in the region.

Recent Developments

In August 2022, the U.N. called for another ceasefire after the northern region of Tigray saw more bouts of violence during the attempted ceasefire. Peace talks between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front will likely begin soon, but may now be pushed back or indefinitely postponed. Neither side will admit to commencing the attack, but the fighting has nonetheless increased tension between the groups. As a result, political negotiations and unrestricted access to those in need have halted with the return of fighting, as both sides have released opposing statements regarding further steps in the conflict.

– Nethya Samarakkodige
Photo: Flickr

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The Organization Addressing Poverty in Ethiopia

Tackling Poverty Barriers in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, a country in East Africa, is one of the world’s least developed countries. Despite improvements in recent years, the country’s economic progress is declining due to the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread conflict throughout the country. The current Human Development Index (HDI) ranks Ethiopia at 173 out of the 189 countries on factors including life expectancy, literacy, poverty and many other dimensions. Although Ethiopia is struggling with a lack of housing, education and family stability, one organization is addressing poverty in Ethiopia: the Wegene Ethiopian Foundation.

The Current State of Poverty in Ethiopia

Nearly one-third of the 108 million people in Ethiopia are living in poverty, both in rural and urban regions. There is very limited work in the country, with 75% of the workforce in Ethiopia working in the agriculture sector. This is an unstable sector because of regular periods of floods and droughts, which can lead to loss of income and food supply.

In Ethiopia, 72% of people live without proper sanitation and only 42% of the population has access to clean water. Almost 80% of the deaths in the country come from preventable communicable and nutritional diseases. 

There is the regular production of general medical practitioners and (some) specialists, but the production is not meeting the high demand for health professionals and equipment and drug shortages are an ongoing issue assisting in further health care difficulties.

Quality education is not prevalent in the country as only 85% make it past grade five and 54% make it past grade eight. Only half of the total population has the ability to read and write. Matters are even worse for females since traditional practices lead to early marriages and female genital mutilation, with little opportunity for women to advance and grow out of poverty.

Conflict in Ethiopia

Since 2020, Ethiopia has been addressing the government conflict with the Tigray region of the country. In November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offense against Tigray forces after there was an attack on an Ethiopian military base. This came from months of disagreement and conflict over human rights issues between the government and Tigray’s dominant political party, which has turned into a severe humanitarian crisis all over Ethiopia.

Thousands of people have died in this ongoing civil war and around 400,000 people are undergoing famine-like conditions, according to German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). As this war continues, it could push Ethiopia into worse conditions.

The Wegene Ethiopian Foundation: Addressing Poverty in Ethiopia

The Wegene Ethiopian Foundation is a nonprofit NGO that a group of friends started with the goal of changing one person’s life at a time, hence their slogan “One child at a time.” Wegene is dedicated to improving the lives of struggling children and families in Ethiopia. The approach is simple and community-based, with a special focus on improving local impoverished lives: friends, neighbors and others part of the community

The organization has multiple programs in place to address what it sees as the “critical barriers” of poor education, poor housing and family instability:

  • Education: Academic scholarships, tutoring, laptops and a Knowledge Center: a multipurpose center with a variety of resources (books, school supplies, computers, etc.) and college and job preparation services.
  • Housing: Home repair or family relocation, provision of basic day-to-day necessities and clothing drives.
  • Family instability: Career development, small business grants and mother and child relocation from “toxic households.”

“Wegene” in Ethiopia’s official language Amharic, means ’empowering my community or my people’.” As of 2019, Wegene supported 90 families, 36 of which became self-sufficient. Poverty is still present in Ethiopia, but the Wegene Ethiopian Foundation is addressing poverty in Ethiopia and is actively giving families opportunities and resources to have a successful life.

– Dylan Olive
Photo: Flickr

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How Ethnic Violence in Ethiopia Deepens Poverty

How Ethnic Violence in Ethiopia Deepens PovertyOver the past two decades, Ethiopia has experienced explosive economic growth, lifting millions out of poverty in the process. Between 2000 and 2016, the share of citizens living in absolute poverty dropped from 40%, the highest in Africa, to 24%. Under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who was appointed in 2018, the nation has also opened up politically. However, a persistent scourge for the country that has continued under Ahmed is ethnic violence.

Ethiopia is a melting pot of more than 80 ethnolinguistic groups all living under one multi-ethnic federation. Long-simmering conflicts over access to land and political power have frequently boiled over into violence. While ethnic conflict is tragic, it also has tangible and concrete impacts on the economic prospects of impoverished Ethiopians. Ethnic violence in Ethiopia is endemic in Oromia, the country’s most populated region, and the Amhara region, home to some of the most impoverished people on the planet.

Ethnic Strife in Oromia

Oromia makes up approximately one-third of Ethiopia’s total area and is home to 37 million people. The region has achieved significant food insecurity reductions in recent years. Still, an astonishingly high number of people, especially children, face impoverishment. In Oromia, 90% of children younger than 18 experience multidimensional poverty. This high number of vulnerable residents pairs poorly with the area’s history of ethnic tensions.

Despite being the largest Ethiopian ethnic group, the Oromos have not held power in modern Ethiopia. Consequently, Oromos have banded together within ethnic-nationalist movements, such as the Oromo Liberation Front, in order to push for political empowerment. The narratives promoted by such outfits have often been accusatory and hostile toward other ethnic groups. Ethnic resentment is baked into the Oromia region’s identity.

In 2018, the outlook in Oromia became particularly fraught. In the spring of that year, a scarcity of productive farmland led to an intense conflict between Gedeos and Gujis, two smaller ethnic groups. In the fall, Oromos clashed with other communities in two neighboring provinces. Just in the first seven months of the year, more than 800,000 Oromian residents had been forced to flee their homes due to conflict and become internally displaced.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) is a label that covers far too many Ethiopians in Oromia and beyond. Ethiopia was home to 2.9 million IDPs in 2018, the most in any country. Unfortunately, becoming internally displaced is often a precursor to falling into poverty. Farmers who fled Oromia in 2018 left their land behind, abandoning their entire livelihoods and becoming entirely dependent on outside humanitarian support. A World Bank report on the world’s forcibly displaced observed that displacement-induced poverty “condemns generations — mostly women and children — to a life on the margins.”

Luckily, Ahmed’s government has managed to break through some of the major fault lines, including between Oromos and southern Somali groups. The thousands of Gedeos facing displacement within Oromia two years ago have mostly been able to return. Yet to the north, the struggle of one ethnic group demonstrates that a steady home is no guarantee of prosperity.

The Plight of the Amhara

Under the Ethiopian monarchy, Amharas dominated the country’s government. However, since the overthrow of the emperor in 1974, the community has suffered a steep fall from grace. Similar to Oromia, poverty is inescapable for many in the Amhara region with 26% of the population living below the poverty line and 91% of children suffering multi-dimensional deprivation.

Due to poverty’s catastrophic toll, the Amharans lead the world in one undesirable area: The prevalence of trachoma, a disease that blinds millions of the world’s impoverished. Spread by flies and poor hygiene, the disease thrives in Amhara, where 84% of the population lives in rural areas and 47% of households lack access to safe drinking water. Entire villages complain of poor eyesight and intense pain that, without treatment, leads to blindness.

Adding to their misfortune, other ethnic groups demonize the Amharas for their involvement in the country’s imperial history, inspiring a sense of victimhood among Amharas that only creates new waves of conflict. In 2018, authorities of the neighboring Benishangul-Gumuz region accused ethnic Amharas of killing 200 people over a land dispute. One year later, Amhara’s regional president was murdered by the region’s own security chief, who had links to Amharan ethnic-nationalist groups, in a suspected coup attempt. This shocking development vastly destabilized the region and emboldened radical ethnic armed groups.

The aftermath of the assassination demonstrates another upshot of ethnic violence in Ethiopia that can worsen poverty: Profound instability. Following the coup attempt, a harsh crackdown on Amhara ensued, including the arrest of 250 people and, dismayingly, a total internet shutdown. Growing internet access across Ethiopia and other African nations is hailed as a major step forward developmentally, but internet shutdowns reverse this progress and exact millions of dollars in economic losses.

A More Inclusive Future

While the government’s efforts to quell ethnic violence in Ethiopia and its resulting human impacts have not always been successful, Ahmed has inspired hope that peace is achievable. The creation of a national commission focused on ethnic reconciliation is a step forward, as is the prime minister’s promise to reform the country’s federal system. In Amhara, the distribution of antibiotics has led to a major decrease in trachoma prevalence. Hopefully, Amharans who had their vision saved can soon open their eyes to a brighter future ahead— for them and all Ethiopians.

– Jack Silvers
Photo: Flickr

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Ethiopia Turns to Privatization to Further Economic Growth

Ethiopian PM Turns to Privatization to Further Economic Growth

In a move atypical of his political alignment with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced in June 2018 that the government will begin procedures to implement privatization in Ethiopia of various state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in telecommunications, energy and transportation.

Already one of the fastest growing economies in the world, Ethiopia hopes to continue this trend by selling shares in some of the country’s most profitable and promising industries. In this announcement, Ahmed proposed that privatization of these booming enterprises will aim to increase foreign direct investment (FDI), lessen the unemployment rate and reduce poverty.

Ethiopia’s Recent Improvements

The second largest country in Africa and home to more than 100 million people, Ethiopia has been experiencing tremendous economic growth in recent years. Unemployment has dropped from more than 26 percent in 1999 to less than 17 percent in 2015. The poverty rate has decreased from nearly 46 percent in 1995 to less than 30 percent in 2010.

While Ahmed has only been in office since April of 2018, his vows to reform Ethiopia economically and socially have surprised many. Since their coming to power in 1991, the EPRDF’s has had a history of complete state-ownership of the majority of the industry. The state, however, will remain in control of the majority of shares in the industries being opened up to foreign investment.

His promises of calming social tension and revamping the economy have been met with some skepticism, but Ahmed fervently retains that his intentions are to restore Ethiopia to a place of social stability, economic prosperity and peace. Ahmed has even gone as far as to reach out to Ethiopia’s long-term enemy, Eritrea, to find common ground.

The Prime Minister’s Plans

Although the government has yet to release detailed plans as to how they intend to implement privatization in Ethiopia, they have been working with consulting agencies abroad such as PwC and McKinsey to determine a practical and sustainable way to carry out an economic overhaul of such magnitude.

Among the SOEs the government plans to privatize, the introduction of Ethiopian Airlines to the private sector, in particular, represents a key component in Ahmed’s economic plan; Ethiopia will experience a shift from an agrarian society to a modern, competitive, industrial society. As the country’s national flag carrier and a symbol of state pride, Ethiopian Airlines has garnered an intake of hard currency (currency unlikely to be affected by inflation) three times that of coffee, a long-standing staple of Ethiopia’s economy.

Increasing Foreign Investment

The privatization of Ethiopian Airlines also indicates Ahmed’s desire to transform Ethiopia into a major air travel hub, similar to Emirates’ position in the United Arab Emirates. This will serve as a way to bring in foreign investors and to present Ethiopia as a modern contender in the world economy. By selling shares of Ethiopian Airlines and other rapidly-growing SOEs such as Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power and Railway Corporation, Ahmed hopes to draw foreign investment since Ethiopia has experienced an alarming shortage of foreign exchange in recent years.

While privatization in Ethiopia is sure to be a slow transition, and the government will most likely remain majority shareholders in the enterprises they are selling, the country appears to be heading in a positive direction. Between 2004 and 2014, Ethiopia averaged annual economic growth of 10.9 percent and is projected to grow another 8.7 percent in the next two years.

With a goal of reaching lower-middle income national status by 2025 and a government promising major social and economic reform, Ethiopia has established itself as a nation in the midst of a true revival. Hopefully, Ahmed’s plan of privatization in Ethiopia will prove to be a positive step for the country’s future economic growth.

– Rob Lee

Photo: Flickr