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==The problem of poverty and deforestation in Ethiopia== | ==The problem of poverty and deforestation in Ethiopia== | ||
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its poverty and land and resource degradation seem to be part and parcel of the same vicious circle. The supreme irony is that Ethiopia is actually a country with a very diverse environment and rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems (the [[wikipedia:en:Ethiopian_Highlands|Ethiopian Highlands]], for example, elevate the country, which lies close the equator, to give an unexpectedly temperate climate, so although it lies in tropical altitudes, its climate varies between cool in the highlands and warm in the lowlands). "Ethiopia relies on its diverse biological resources for its socio-economic development, and these resources are now under severe pressure."<ref>Bishaw, B., & Abdelkadir, A. (2003). Agroforestry and Community Forestry for Rehabilitiation of Degraded Watersheds on the Ethiopian Highlands. Available at http://etff.org/Articles/Agroforestry_and_Community_forestry_Bishaw_and_Abdelkadir.pdf</ref> | Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its poverty and land and resource degradation seem to be part and parcel of the same vicious circle. The supreme irony is that Ethiopia is actually a country with a very diverse environment and rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems (the [[wikipedia:en:Ethiopian_Highlands|Ethiopian Highlands]], for example, elevate the country, which lies close the equator, to give an unexpectedly temperate climate, so although it lies in tropical altitudes, its climate varies between cool in the highlands and warm in the lowlands). "Ethiopia relies on its diverse biological resources for its socio-economic development, and these resources are now under severe pressure."<ref>Bishaw, B., & Abdelkadir, A. (2003). Agroforestry and Community Forestry for Rehabilitiation of Degraded Watersheds on the Ethiopian Highlands. Available at http://etff.org/Articles/Agroforestry_and_Community_forestry_Bishaw_and_Abdelkadir.pdf</ref> [[File:Ethiopian highlands 01 mod.jpg|thumb|The Ethiopian Highlands]] | ||
Thirty-nine percent of the population lives below the poverty line, only 34% of the rural population has access to an adequate water source, and the average life expectancy is a low 59 years (although these figures have been improving in recent years thanks in part to a relatively high GDP growth rate of 7.5%). Agriculture accounts for about 46% percent of GDP, of which forestry plays a part, although some estimates put direct losses of productivity from deforestation and land degradation at at least 3 percent of agriculture GDP.<ref>Berry, L. (2003). Land Degradation in Ethiopia. Its Extent and Impact. FAO</ref> With a population estimated in 2012 at over 84 million<ref>http://data.worldbank.org/country/ethiopia</ref> (making it the 14th largest country in the world) and a growth rate of 2.1 percent this is a critically important figure. | Thirty-nine percent of the population lives below the poverty line, only 34% of the rural population has access to an adequate water source, and the average life expectancy is a low 59 years (although these figures have been improving in recent years thanks in part to a relatively high GDP growth rate of 7.5%). Agriculture accounts for about 46% percent of GDP, of which forestry plays a part, although some estimates put direct losses of productivity from deforestation and land degradation at at least 3 percent of agriculture GDP.<ref>Berry, L. (2003). Land Degradation in Ethiopia. Its Extent and Impact. FAO</ref> With a population estimated in 2012 at over 84 million<ref>http://data.worldbank.org/country/ethiopia</ref> (making it the 14th largest country in the world) and a growth rate of 2.1 percent this is a critically important figure. | ||
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[[File:Ethiopia in its region.svg|thumb|Ethiopia in its region]] | [[File:Ethiopia in its region.svg|thumb|Ethiopia in its region]] | ||
[[File:Ethiopia shaded relief map 1999, CIA.jpg|thumb|Map of Ethiopia]] | [[File:Ethiopia shaded relief map 1999, CIA.jpg|thumb|Map of Ethiopia]] | ||
==Why are forests so important?== | ==Why are forests so important?== | ||
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Ethiopia has a rich and varied history, but its modern history which arguably laid the foundations of its long and bloody conflict in the late 20th century and its current position as one of the poorest nations on the planet began with the first overt European interference in the country’s affairs in the mid-19th century. Until 1936, Ethiopia had avoided the fate of most other African nations during the Europeans’ [[wikipedia:en:Scramble_for_Africa|scramble for African colonies]], although it was subject to military attacks, first by the British during an 1868 expedition to Abyssinia to rescue British nationals imprisoned by [[wikipedia:en:Tewodros_II|King Tewodros II]], and then the Italians, who were desperate to keep up with the British, French, Belgians by carving out their own little piece of empire on the continent. Italian companies acquired land in [[wikipedia:en:Eritrea|Eritrea]] on the [[wikipedia:en:Red_Sea|Red Sea]] board of Ethiopia in the 1870s and 1880s and then occupied it with Italian soldiers in 1888. Under [[wikipedia:en:Menelik_II|Emperor Menelik II]], the Ethiopians signed the [[wikipedia:en:Treaty_of_Wuchale|Treaty of Wuchale]] with the Italians in 1889, granting them part of Northern Ethiopia in return for guns and ammunition to help fight the [[wikipedia:en:Egyptian_Sudan|Egyptian Sudanese]]. Eritrea was effectively recognised by Ethiopia as an [[wikipedia:en:Italian_Colonial_Empire|Italian colony]] from this date (and up until [[wikipedia:en:Mussolini|Mussolini]] assumed power in Italy in 1922, when the new administration stressed the racial and political superiority of Italians, "[t]he local population shared in the benefits conferred under Italian colonial administration, especially through newly created medical services, agricultural improvements, and the provision of urban amenities..."). <ref>Ofcansky, T., & LaVerle Berry, eds. (1991) Ethiopia: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Available from http://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/</ref> However, the Italians said this also gave them power over all Ethiopia, but Menelik demurred, saying the native Amharic language version of the treaty said no such thing. Tensions came to a head in 1896 when the two nations went to war and the Italians were completely defeated at the [[wikipedia:en:Battle_of_Adowa|Battle of Adowa]] – the first time a European army had ever been beaten by an African military force. The Italians recognised the full independence of Ethiopia as a result, although they never forgot their humiliation and returned to militarily intervene in Ethiopia again in 1936 under Mussolini. | Ethiopia has a rich and varied history, but its modern history which arguably laid the foundations of its long and bloody conflict in the late 20th century and its current position as one of the poorest nations on the planet began with the first overt European interference in the country’s affairs in the mid-19th century. Until 1936, Ethiopia had avoided the fate of most other African nations during the Europeans’ [[wikipedia:en:Scramble_for_Africa|scramble for African colonies]], although it was subject to military attacks, first by the British during an 1868 expedition to Abyssinia to rescue British nationals imprisoned by [[wikipedia:en:Tewodros_II|King Tewodros II]], and then the Italians, who were desperate to keep up with the British, French, Belgians by carving out their own little piece of empire on the continent. Italian companies acquired land in [[wikipedia:en:Eritrea|Eritrea]] on the [[wikipedia:en:Red_Sea|Red Sea]] board of Ethiopia in the 1870s and 1880s and then occupied it with Italian soldiers in 1888. Under [[wikipedia:en:Menelik_II|Emperor Menelik II]], the Ethiopians signed the [[wikipedia:en:Treaty_of_Wuchale|Treaty of Wuchale]] with the Italians in 1889, granting them part of Northern Ethiopia in return for guns and ammunition to help fight the [[wikipedia:en:Egyptian_Sudan|Egyptian Sudanese]]. Eritrea was effectively recognised by Ethiopia as an [[wikipedia:en:Italian_Colonial_Empire|Italian colony]] from this date (and up until [[wikipedia:en:Mussolini|Mussolini]] assumed power in Italy in 1922, when the new administration stressed the racial and political superiority of Italians, "[t]he local population shared in the benefits conferred under Italian colonial administration, especially through newly created medical services, agricultural improvements, and the provision of urban amenities..."). <ref>Ofcansky, T., & LaVerle Berry, eds. (1991) Ethiopia: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Available from http://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/</ref> However, the Italians said this also gave them power over all Ethiopia, but Menelik demurred, saying the native Amharic language version of the treaty said no such thing. Tensions came to a head in 1896 when the two nations went to war and the Italians were completely defeated at the [[wikipedia:en:Battle_of_Adowa|Battle of Adowa]] – the first time a European army had ever been beaten by an African military force. The Italians recognised the full independence of Ethiopia as a result, although they never forgot their humiliation and returned to militarily intervene in Ethiopia again in 1936 under Mussolini. | ||
Menelik was followed in quick succession by his grandson Lyasu V in 1913, who was deposed by the Ethiopian Christian nobility three years later because of his Muslim ties, and then Menelik’s daughter Zauditu, while her cousin, Ras Tafari Makonnen, was made regent and heir apparent. After the death of Empress Zauditu in 1930, Ras Tafari succeeded to the throne as [[wikipedia:en:Haile_Selassie_I|Emperor Haile Selassie I]] (Haile Selassie is worshipped as the reincarnation of Jesus by adherents of [[wikipedia:en:Rastafari_movement|Rastafarianism]]). | Menelik was followed in quick succession by his grandson Lyasu V in 1913, who was deposed by the Ethiopian Christian nobility three years later because of his Muslim ties, and then Menelik’s daughter Zauditu, while her cousin, Ras Tafari Makonnen, was made regent and heir apparent. After the death of Empress Zauditu in 1930, Ras Tafari succeeded to the throne as [[wikipedia:en:Haile_Selassie_I|Emperor Haile Selassie I]] (Haile Selassie is worshipped as the reincarnation of Jesus by adherents of [[wikipedia:en:Rastafari_movement|Rastafarianism]]). [[File:Selassie.jpg|thumb|left|Emperor Haile Selassie]] | ||
In 1935, the Italians, who had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge for Adowa, invaded. Haile Selassie, as the only independent black monarch in Africa, appealed to the [[wikipedia:en:League_of_Nations|League of Nations]] for aid, but the western powers failed to help and Ethiopia was formerly annexed by Italy in 1936, with Selassie going into exile. He returned in 1941 after the British defeated Italian forces in Africa during World War Two. | In 1935, the Italians, who had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge for Adowa, invaded. Haile Selassie, as the only independent black monarch in Africa, appealed to the [[wikipedia:en:League_of_Nations|League of Nations]] for aid, but the western powers failed to help and Ethiopia was formerly annexed by Italy in 1936, with Selassie going into exile. He returned in 1941 after the British defeated Italian forces in Africa during World War Two. | ||