Abstract:
The Ethiopian economy is largely dependent on agriculture which is largely a
"low-input and low-output" subsistence production system. Despite the over
3,000 years of application by the overwhelming majority of the country's
population, agriculture has changed only marginally from its original form.
The overwhelming majority of the country's farmers and herders still rely on
age-old technologies and agricultural management practices that invariably
result in low productivity and production. This state of affairs has resulted
in consistent agricultural production failures to meet the food and feed
needs of a significant proportion of the human and animal population of
the country. This is in direct contrast to what is expected, considering the
country's endowment of abundant agricultural and natural resource potential
and marketing opportunities both within and outside the country. Needless
to say, there are serious bottlenecks/challenges in exploiting the abundant
natural resources related to agriculture. A brief summary of the potentials
and challenges in relation to Ethiopian agriculture will help in assessing the
future prospects of agricultural development in the face of impending climate
variability (CV) and climate change (CC).
1.1.1. Natural agricultural resource base potentials
Ethiopia's abundant agricultural and natural resource base can be described
under the following categories:
Land resources: the total area of the country is said to be about 1.17 million
km2 or 117 million hectares, over 60% of which can be used for some form
of agricultural production activities. However, according to CSA's annual
survey of land under crops by small-scale farmers over many years show that
it has been in the range of 13-14 million hectares in any given year (FDRE/
CSA 2013/14-a). The overwhelming proportion (95 %) of the cropped area
is under small-scale rain-fed farming that accounts for 95 % of the national
annual crop production.
