Economic Activities and Ethiopian Agriculture

• Economic activities involve the production, distribution, and exchange of goods and services
• Examples of economic activities include hunting, fishing, farming, grazing, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and trade
• The various economic activities worldwide are grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary sectors
• Each type of economic activity is important for a society

Primary Economic Activities

• Focus on the extraction of resources from the environment
• Involve the production of foodstuffs and raw materials
• Consist of activities like agriculture, fishing, forestry, and mining
• Heavily dependent on the natural environment
• Relate to the production of food and raw materials through resource exploitation
• Influenced by physical environment conditions

Ethiopian Agriculture

• Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating soil and rearing livestock for consumption or commercial use
• It has been practiced in Ethiopia since 4000 BC
• Ethiopia is recognized as one of the original centers for cultivated crops
• Most agricultural production occurs in the Dega and WeynaDega zones
• These zones feature high land productivity along with dense rural populations
• Divided into crop production (arable farming) and livestock raising
• Arable farming involves cultivating plants for food, feed, fiber, medicinal ingredients, or ornamental products

Seed (Grain) Production

• Common in WeinaDega and Dega zones
• Seed/grain production includes cereals, pulses, and oilseeds
• Principal cereal crops include teff, barley, wheat, maize, sorghum, millet, and oats
• Pulses include horse beans, chickpeas, haricot beans, field peas, lentils, and vetch
• Oilseeds include oilniger, linseed, fenugreek, rapeseed, sunflower, groundnuts, and sesame

Perennial Crop Cultivation

• Perennial crops like enset, coffee, and cotton are major crops in the WoinaDega areas
• Areas are in the southern and southwestern parts of the country
• Enset is a staple food for people in those areas
• Shifting cultivation: A cut-and-burn system in western and southwestern fringes of Ethiopian highlands and lowlands where population density is low with limited livestock rearing
• Plantation agriculture: Focuses on cash or industrial crops like sugarcane, cotton, coffee, tea, and rubber in areas with abundant rainfall or irrigation

Livestock Raising

• Livestock includes animals kept on farms for food, power, raw materials, or sale
• Ethiopia has a large livestock population, including cattle, goats, sheep, camels, and poultry
• Ethiopia ranks first in Africa and tenth globally in cattle stocks
• The livestock sector supports the nation's economy through agricultural income and domestic production growth

Forestry

• Forests are wooded areas with trees as the main feature
• Forestry involves the extraction of forest products for various purposes

Economic Significance of Ethiopian Forests

• Forests contribute about 6.10% of Ethiopia's GDP
• Trees cut in Ethiopia are mainly used domestically for fuel wood, timber for household furniture, and construction

Fishing

• Fishing involves the catching and harvesting of fish and other marine creatures
• The Ethiopian water bodies consist of rivers, lakes and ponds
• Ethiopian water bodies are classified as Lakes and Rivers

Mining

• Mining extracts mineral-bearing substances from the earth's crust
• The earth's crust contains rocks containing minerals
• A mineral is an inorganic chemical element or compound from the earth's crust
• Mining contributes only 1.5% of Ethiopia's GDP

Secondary Economic Activities

• Include manufacturing, construction, and power production
• Manufacturing occurs in factories, converting raw materials into finished products using labor, energy, and equipment
• Secondary activities consist of metalworking, automobile production, textile production, chemical and engineering industries, aerospace manufacturing, energy utilities, construction, and shipbuilding

Types of Manufacturing Industries in Ethiopia

Classified into two categories:

• Cottage (traditional) industries, such as weaving, wood carving, pottery, and metal works
• Modern manufacturing industries involve light industries producing consumer goods

Tertiary Economic Activities

• Mainly provides services to other businesses and consumers
• Activities include legal services, medical services, trade, transportation, tourism, etc.

Quaternary Economic Activities

• It may be realistically seen as an advanced service sector activity involving specialized knowledge, technical skills, communication, or administrative competence
• Relates to research, financial services, and government-related services
• Involves activities performed in office buildings, classrooms, hospitals, and theatres
• Largely concentrated in urban areas and require higher education levels

Quinary Economic Activities

• Considered a subset of quaternary activities
• Activities involve high-level decision-making and scientific research skills
• Specialized skills for top business executives, government officials, research scientists, and legal consultants
• Involves jobs in major metropolitan centers, near major universities, and research centers

Subsistence Farming in Ethiopia

• Method in which nearly all crops or livestock are used to maintain the farmer's family
• Little surplus remains for sale or trade
• It is a common feature of developing countries like Ethiopia
• Products are primarily for family needs, leaving little surplus for the market
• It is characterized by crops such as teff, wheat, barley, sorghum, enset, pulses, and oilseeds
• Agriculture is typically on smallholdings that depend on rainfall
• Can reduce the vulnerability of rural food-insecure households and improve livelihoods

Cash Crop Production's Contribution

• Cash crop production is commercial farming with the main objective of producing crops for sale
• Ethiopian farmers produce cash crops such as coffee, oilseeds, pulses, chat, sugar cane, cotton, and fruit

Agriculture's Role in the Ethiopian Economy

• It is a primary source of food and raw materials
• It provides food grains, dairy, and meat products
• It supplies raw materials to agro-industries
• Cash crops stimulate innovation and build institutions that enable further commercialization
• Cash crop production provides funds for capital formation through agricultural taxation and export of agricultural products
• Approximately 80% of the Ethiopian population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods
• Cash crops create employment opportunities in rural areas

Problems of Agriculture in Ethiopia

• Challenges include land degradation and soil erosion, affecting 50% of cultivable land, thus reducing soil fertility, and water-holding efficiencies
• Unreliable rainfall and its untimely nature impact productivity and food security
• The continuous division of farmland reduces size holdings over time
• Smallholder farming relies on traditional tools and farming practices
• Manual planting hampers weeding and spraying
• Manual harvesting is also performed

Poor rural infrastructure

• Includes services like irrigation, transport, and agricultural markets
• The Ethiopian economy has poorly developed transport and communication systems
• Bad road conditions in rural areas increase transportation costs for agricultural products, reducing farmers' income

Trade and Transport in Ethiopia

• Trade is the buying and selling of goods and services
• Compensation is paid to a buyer from a seller
• It can take place between producers and consumers within an economy
• Internal (Domestic) trade: Exchange of goods and services within a country
• Internal trade is the base for foreign trade
• External (Foreign) trade: The exchange of commodities with other countries
• A very important, unaviodable sector

Ethiopian Export Sector

• Raw materials mainly come from agriculture
• The national export items include coffee, oilseeds, flowers, chat, pulses, and textile products
• Coffee accounts for about 28.6% of the value of all exports
• Major export items for the country include coffee, oilseeds, flower, chat, and pulses
• They account for 11.5%, 7.9%, and 10.9% of the total value of all exports
• The most dominant import item of the country is fuel

Ethiopian Imports

• Ethiopia mainly imports finished goods like machinery, transport equipment, electrical and electronic goods, and fuel
• Total merchandise import bill: $15.1 billion (USD)
• The import bill decreased by 8.1% due to lower import bills of fuel, capital goods and consumer goods
• Payments for semifinished goods, increased

Transportation in Ethiopia

• The movement of materials, goods, or people from one place to another with a specified objective
• Transportation is fundamental to the functioning of any society
• Modes of transport can be broadly divided into two types

Traditional Modes

• Pack animals
• Human porterage

Modern Modes

• Road transport using buses, cars, and trucks, which is widespread and flexible
• The most vital mode for Ethiopia

Road Network in Ethiopia

• Total network in 2005/06 was 39,477 km that then reached 138,127 kms during 2018/19
• Total network consisted of 55,808 km (40.4%) Woreda road, 30,924 kms (22%) rural road, 28,699 km (20.8%) federal road, and 22,697 km (16.4%) urban road
• An asphalt road network is 11.5% of the entire network

Railways

• Help transport bulky products
• Railway built from 1897-1917
• Railroad for exports and imports
• New railway line officially inaugurated in Djibouti in 2018: the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, which connects Addis Ababa to Djibouti
• The Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AA-LRT) is the first light rail and rapid transit in eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa

Inland Waterways

• Water transport is cheap and convenient for transporting bulky goods
• Ethiopia has limits due to topography and rainfall
• Navigable river in Ethiopia is Baro
• Small-scale transportation over lakes Tana, Abbaya, and Ziway

Air transport

• Has special significance due to Ethiopia’s difficult topography
• Fastest mode
• Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) founded in 1945
• It began an International airline network, Star Alliance Network in 2011
• It is the largest cargo network operator in Africa

Road Safety in Ethiopia

• Accidents and safety using roads for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians
• Fatal accident: When one or more individuals die after a accident
• Serious injury requires hospitalization
• Slight injury: Victims require small cuts, scratches, and other small damages
• Property damage: Only vehicle damage

Road Traffic Accidents in Ethiopia

• Global problem, and traffic is increasing due to lack of attention at national and regional levels
• 1.3 million die each year on the world's roads
• Ethiopian road traffic deaths doubled between 2007 and 2018,
• Size of vehicle fleet in 2018: 1,071,345
• 43 people that were killed per 10,000 vehicles
• Ethiopia loses 13 people per day in road traffic crashes

Main Safety Actors in Ethiopia

• National Road Safety Council (NRSC) of Ethiopia: Overseen by ministries and private stakeholders
• Council led by Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Federal Police Commission, and the Ethiopian Roads Authority
• There has been an increase in fatalities and injuries

Road Traffic Injuries in Ethiopia

• Affect passengers; and pedestrians
• Uneven distributions
• A more integrated database is needed

Factors Influencing Road Accidents

• Four major factors occur
  • Vehicle-related
  • Road-related
  • Environmental-related
  • Road user-related

Causes of Road Traffic Accidents

• Distraction, talking with passengers, eating, or grooming
• Distraction or Impairment by Tiredness like alcohol, illness,
• Mechanical failure like tires blowing out, brake failure
• Road conditions like road damage including potholes.
• Fast speeds

Cultural Landscapes in Ethiopia

• A geographic area (cultural and natural resources) is associated with a historic event, activity, person or values
• Cultural landscapes show of “combined works of nature and man”
• One prominent example is Konso

The Konso Landscape

• Located in dry, hilly environment at Rift Valley
• Landscape is characterized by dry stone terrace agriculture and walled town settlement
• Could have been around for the last 400 years
• They retain soil erosion and are contoured by dry stone
• It was recognized by the UNESCO during 2011

Tourism and its Benefits

• Tourism: An activity that delivers a travel experience due to facilities, services and industries
• Can source job opportunities and income such as accommodations, food, transportation
• Known as a ‘smokeless industry'
• Consists of natural and human-made components