Ethiopia Overview

Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country, after Nigeria. Ethiopia is landlocked and extremely poor. Almost 80% of all Ethiopians live on less than 2 US$ per day, and over 7 million people are at risk of hunger every year.  Land degradation and population density combined with vulnerability to unpredictable weather patterns and global economic developments combine to exert pressure on already precarious livelihoods. 

Despite undoubted challenges, it is important to note that Ethiopia has made significant progress in reducing poverty and improving the living standards of its citizens over the last decade. It has enjoyed recent economic growth, the highest of any non-oil producing economy in Africa. The average Ethiopian income is now over 40% higher than 1999, albeit from a very low base. 

Irish Aid’s programme in Ethiopia aims to achieve the following results:
• Reduce widespread poverty
• Improve health care and education
• Reduce HIV infections and provide care for those living with HIV and AIDS
• Improve agricultural practises to reduce hunger and make farming more profitable

How does Irish Aid contribute to achieving these results?
The overall goal of Irish Aid’s programme in Ethiopia is to reduce the vulnerability of the poorest sections of society so as to protect families from destitution. People are especially vulnerable if they are unable to take up economic and social opportunities and need support to avoid living in extreme poverty.  Typically the poorest and most marginalized people live in remote rural areas, where chronic food insecurity is rampant; they may be old and with disabilities; or females managing a household alone with a high number of dependents; or perhaps they come from ethnic groups on the margins.  Regardless of their social or cultural characteristics, they have one thing in common: their livelihoods are fragile and their poverty is chronic. In order to reduce the vulnerability of the poorest, the Irish Aid programme in Ethiopia focuses on two key areas: food and livelihood security; and social services and accountability.

Food and Livelihood Security
Food insecurity is a defining feature of rural poverty in Ethiopia, particularly in drought-prone areas.  Irish Aid aims to increase the resilience of the poorest households to cope with and recover from shocks, such as droughts or high food prices, whilst maintaining livelihood security. 

Under this pillar, Irish Aid contributes to providing a social ‘safety net’ for those who are chronically food insecure.  The Productive Safety Net Programme provides cash or food for over 7 million women, men and their families who are unable to produce enough food or have insufficient resources to live on. It allows the poorest to survive periods of food shortages without having to sell off their belongings (such as their tools, livestock, land or house). The majority of people who benefit, work in exchange for the cash or food they receive. Even in years when droughts are less severe and commodity prices are stable, these 7 million beneficiaries cannot fend for themselves for a full twelve months of the year, often because they don’t own enough land, there are no jobs in their area or nobody in the family is strong enough to work.  In addition to protecting these vulnerable people from destitution, the ‘safety net’ programme has a strong environmental dividend, as some 80% of the public works carried out contribute to rehabilitation of the environment.

Irish Aid supports strongly other initiatives that help smallholder farmers to produce more food. In Tigray, for example, Irish Aid has worked in partnership with the regional authorities to develop ‘watershed management’ projects. These projects take an integrated approach to increasing agricultural productivity and environmental rehabilitation through a combination of soil and water conservation techniques.  The labour for the development of new watershed sites and the maintenance of existing sites is largely provided under the ‘safety net’ programme.  Irish Aid is also supporting agricultural research in Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regions which involves researchers and farmers working together in farmers’ fields to increase productivity and become food sufficient. 

Social services and accountability
Another negative consequence of vulnerability is low levels of access to basic public services, such as health and education, by the poorest.  There are various reasons for this, including the cost of drugs, text books, poor quality of services, distance from households, as well as gender, social and cultural obstacles. 

Irish Aid seeks to address these limitations and increase the use of health, education and HIV and AIDS services.  It does so by joining other development partners in contributing to a joint donor fund which supports the expansion of health, education, water and sanitation and agriculture programmes to local communities around the country.   With these funds, more staff and equipment can be provided, and the services can be monitored so as to ensure that the most marginalised sections of society are receiving the entitlements to which they are entitled.

In addition, Irish Aid works with the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region in developing and delivering a HIV and AIDS schools programme. The emphasis is on targeting young girls and orphans. Previous experience has taught us that young girls and orphans are especially vulnerable to HIV infection. Irish Aid will share this and other experiences at a National level, and push for a National strategy on HIV and AIDS education in schools.

Irish Aid also supports improved quality of services, including through assisting civil society groups and citizens to exercise their rights and entitlements to improved services.  Irish Aid jointly funds a programme which aims to improve the workings of a number of Government-established Institutions of Oversight and Redress such as the National Human Rights Commission.

Gender
Many of the above activities have a strong gender focus; throughout its programme Irish Aid puts a lot of emphasis on ensuring that the most vulnerable and excluded (often women and children) become empowered to make better use of social services, are included in the safety net programme and are given every chance to improve their ability to cope during and after periods of food shortages.