Traditionally the Economy of Ethiopia

Economy of Ethiopia

The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of gross domestic product , 43% of exports, and 85% of total employment....

 was based on subsistence agriculture

Subsistence agriculture

Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...

, with an aristocracy

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

 that consumed the surplus. Due to a number of causes, the peasants lacked incentives to either improve production or to store their excess harvest

Harvest

Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...

; as a result, they lived from harvest to harvest.

Despite the extensive modernization of Ethiopia in the last 120 years, the overwhelming majority of the population are peasants who still live from harvest to harvest, and are vulnerable to crop failures. This is exacerbated by a very high population growth

Population growth

Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....

 rate, which is among the top 10 countries in the world.

Year	Description
First half of 9th century	Followed by epidemic
1535	Famine and epidemic in Tigray Tigray Province Tigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it... . As described in the Futuh al-Habasha, this took a heavy toll on Imam Ahmad Gragn's army: "When they entered Tigray each Muslim had fifty mules; some of them even one-hundred. When they left, each one of them had only one or two mules." (Paul Lester Stenhouse translator, The Conquest of Abyssinia [Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003], p. 367) Amongst the dead was the Imam's young son Ahmad al-Nagasi. (p. 373)
1540	Contemporary accounts describe this famine as "worse than that which occurred at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple Second Temple The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon... " (Pankhurst).
1543	Pankhurst provides no details
1567–1570	Famine in Harar, combined with plague and Oromo expanstion. Nur ibn Mujahid Nur ibn Mujahid Nur ibn Mujahid ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah al Dhuhi Suha , of the Ahl Suhawyan division of the Marehan branch of the Somali Darod clan, was Emir of Harar in the 16th century... , Emir of Harrar died. As J. Spencer Trimingham describes, "The Amir Nur exerted every effort to help his people to recover, but after every respite the Oromo would again descend like locusts and scourge the country, and Nur himself died (975/1567-8) of the pestilence which spread during the famine." (Islam in Ethiopia, p. 94)
1611	The heavy rains that fell this year and extreme cold caused extenisve crop failures in the northern provinces. This same year a plague called mentita also afflicted Ethiopia.
1623	Jesuit sources
1634/1635	Reports of locust Locust Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory... s in Tigray 1633-1635. An epidemic of kantara or fangul (cholera Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces... ) also afflicted Dembiya Dembiya Dembiya is a historic region of Ethiopia, intimately linked with Lake Tana. According to the account of Manuel de Almeida, Dembiya was "bounded on East by Begemder, on South by Gojjam, on West by Agaws of Achefer and Tangha... , spreading into Tigray.
1650	Pankhurst supplies no details
1653	Epidemic of kabab
1678	Cost of grain inflated; this led to the death of many mules, horses, and donkeys.
1700	This may have been the famine that struck Shewa Shewa Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...  between the reigns of Negasi Krestos Negasi Krestos Negassie or Negasi Krestos was the ruling prince of Shewa , an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. Although the official account is that his father Lesba Qal was a male-line great-grandson of Prince Yaqob, son of Emperor Lebna Dengel, and thus descended in male line from the Solomonic dynasty...  and Sebestyanos Sebestyanos Sebestyanos was a ruler of Shewa, an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. He was one of the sons of Negasi Krestos. Abir states that he ruled for 15 years, although noting that Harris claims he ruled for 25 years, and d'Hericourt 33....  mentioned by Donald Levine (Wax and Gold, p. 32).
1702	Starving peasants appealed to Emperor Iyasus I, crying that if he did not feed them they would die. In response the Emperor and his nobles fed an uncountable number of the destitute for two months.
1747/1748	Famine attributed to locusts in Royal Chronicle. There was also an epidemic of fever (gunfan), possibly influenza Influenza Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals... , in 1747.
1752	According to Pankhurst. A European visitor to Gondar Gondar Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar... , Remedius Prutky, is silent about this disaster.
1783	Famine called "my sickness" (həmame) in Royal Chronicle.
1789	According to Royal Chronicle, "there was a famine over all the provinces" Dejazmach Hailu Eshte, who was then living in Este Este (woreda) Este is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Debub Gondar Zone, Este is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it from the Misraq Gojjam Zone, on the west by Dera, on the northwest by Fogera, on the north by Farta, on the northeast by Lay Gayint, and... , settled many "needy people" in his villages as guards. "And hearing of this report... many commanders who acted as he did adopted his example for themselves." (Herbert Weld Blundell, The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769-1840 [Cambridge: University Press, 1922], p. 411)
1796	This famine was particularly serious at Gondar, and blamed on an infestation of locusts.
1797	From the Royal Chronicle
1800	Soldiers died on campaign due to famine.
1829	Famine in Shewa, followed by a cholera outbreak 1830-1.
1835	Rains failed, leading to famine and "great mortality" throughout Shewa.
1880–1881	Cattle plague (1879) spreads from Adal Adal Sultanate The Adal Sultanate or the Kingdom of Adal was a medieval multi-ethnic Muslim state located in the Horn of Africa.-Overview:...  region, causing famine as far west as Begemder Begemder Begemder was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. There are several proposed etymologies for this name... .
1888–1892	Rinderpest Rinderpest Rinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...  introduced from India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...  kill approximately 90% of cattle. Lack of rainfall as early as 16 November 1888 led to famine in all but southernmost provinces; locusts and caterpillar Caterpillar Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...  infestations destroy crops in Akele Guzay, Begemder, Shewa and around Harrar. Conditions worsen with cholera outbreaks (1889-92), a typhus epidemic, and a major smallpox epidemic (1889-90). Conditions forced the coronation of Menelik II to be a subdued event.
1913–1914	Famine in northern provinces
c.1929	Famine amongst Yejju Oromo Yejju Oromo Yejju Oromo is a tribe of the Barentu branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost tribes of the Oromo people, which is the second largest ethnicity in Ethiopia.... , which led to local revolt when tax collectors refused to reduce taxes accordingly.
1958	Famine in Tigray claimed 100,000 lives. (Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia: 1855-1974 [London: James Currey, 1991], p. 196.)
1966	Famine in Wollo Wollo Wollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...  affects a number of districts. (Bahru Zewde, p. 196.)
1973	Famine returns to Wollo, spreads through northern provinces; failure to adequately handle this crisis contributed to the fall of the Imperial government and led to Derg Derg The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...  rule.
1984–1985	See 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia.

External links

• Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA) of Ethiopia Home page