Ethiopia - Introduction

Ethiopia is an empire state. It consists of the core Abyssinian state, which was first founded by the Tigreans and then consolidated over centuries by the two ethnic groups of Abyssinia — Amhara and Tigreans. The government is largely led by ethnic Tigreans. This is in contrast to the Imperial regime, and the Derg which replaced it, which were both dominated by the Amhara.

The crowning of Ras Tefari Makonen as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 solidified the “Myth of Greater Ethiopia” as the dominant historical ideology in the country. He took the name Haile Selassie, an Amharic term meaning “power of the trinity.” The term “Greater Ethiopia” is used to describe the version of history held by Amhara/Tigrayan elites to justify their claims to history, and claims to rule. What, in Western academia, has been presented as “Ethiopian” actually draws from a historical relationship to ancient kingdoms claimed by particular ethnic groups. With the Amhara and Tigray ethnic groups having secured the greatest power in the region, their history was to dominate the concept of “Ethiopia” even to this day.

Ethiopia has long been praised for its rapid, double-digit economic growth, for its efficient use of international donor funds and for its success in keeping Somalia’s al-Shabab extremist group at bay. Al-Shabab strikes often in its home country of Somalia, and has also hit targets in neighboring Kenya and as far afield as Uganda. But Ethiopia, which shares a long border with Somalia, has managed to stave off attacks. This security often comes at the expense of their civil liberties and human rights.

The Defence Force has proud history concerning peacekeeping around the world. It provides necessary support for the implementation of ceasefire agreements and peace process. It also protects United Nations staff, facilities and civilians, support humanitarian and human rights activities as well as assist in national security reform. Ethiopian troops were deployed in Somalia to help peace and stability efforts and provide support for AMISOM. In this regard, the operation has been successful as it managed to annihilate Al Shebaab from strategic areas of Somalia including big cities. In November 2007, nearly 1,800 Ethiopian troops serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) were presented with UN Peacekeeping Medals for their "invaluable contribution to the peace process."

The US State Department’s 2014 human rights report on Ethiopia reads like a laundry list of violations, starting with “restrictions on freedom of expression … restrictions on freedom of association, including through arrests; politically motivated trials; and harassment and intimidation of opposition members and journalists,” and progressing to more severe crimes like “alleged arbitrary killings; alleged torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; reports of harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; a weak, overburdened judiciary subject to political influence.”

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 158th out of 162 countries in the UNDP Human Development Report 2001. In May 2014, Alexander Rondos, the EU's special representative for the Horn of Africa, had reportedly said that "The Ethiopian [troops] scare the hell out of everybody... because they deliver". His remark was made during a conference organized by the European Security Roundtable under the auspices of the Presidency of the EU Council.

Ethiopia takes pride in being the oldest independent country in Africa. The modern political landscape of Ethiopia has been shaped by the 1998-2000 border conflict with Eritrea (70,000 Ethiopians and Eritreans killed) and the aftermath of the May 2005 elections, which was marked by civil disobedience, killings of protesters, and the imprisonment of opposition party members. Opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, party chairman of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party, was sentenced to a life sentence in prison. Five members of diaspora opposition party Ginbot 7 received death sentences in December 2009 upon being convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government after a trial lacking in basic elements of due process. The political space for opposition parties, the media, and civil society was being progressively restricted.

Economically, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with an annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 340. Eighty-five percent of the population works in the agriculture sector. Chronic cycles of drought, high population growth, state and ruling party dominance in numerous commercial sectors, inefficient agricultural markets, and regular power outages all act to limit Ethiopia's economic development. Foreign investment restrictions are widespread, including key sectors such as banking, insurance, and telecommunications. Ethiopia suffers a significant trade deficit, resulting in a severe foreign exchange crisis.

Various attempts were made to gain a better understanding of the food security situation of the country, quite apart from the annual exercise of counting the number of people receiving food assistance. Most analyses seemed to concur that the food-insecure population can be estimated as approximately 50% of the population and that about 15 million people (22% of the total population) received food aid, although not on a regular basis. Of that total, around 5-6 million people were considered as chronically food-insecure (according to the proxy indicators identified by the Government as households constantly under food aid) while the others are increasingly vulnerable to shocks and subjectto transitory or acute food insecurity at times of drought.

Despite massive quantities of emergency food aid delivered annually (yearly average of 742,000 tons between 1993 and 2002), the consumption needs of the Ethiopian population were not fully covered. In fact, notwithstanding the fact that food security was a key priority of the Government and donors, results had been disappointing owing to poor co-ordination and the fact that food insecurity, essentially a structural problem for a large share of the population, was mainly addressed through short-term measures. More recent initiatives however (e.g. Food Security Coalition and the Strategic Framework for Safety Nets) seemed to provide an adequate framework for enhanced partnership and for the adoption and implementation of more structural and long-term approaches to food security.

In such a context, given the Ethiopian food balance sheet deficit and existing market failures, there is a widely recognised role and scope for food-aid-based interventions - at least over the medium term - to mitigate short-term transient food insecurity and to provide support to specific vulnerable groups. This would, however, call for the definition of a food policy that clearly establishes when and how food is required and helps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of existing programs.

Abyssinia is often confounded with Ethiopia. Historically, Ethiopia was commonly referred to as Abyssinia, derived from the Arabic name "Al-Habesh". The word "Ethiopia" is actually derived from Greek words meaning "people of burned faces". In classical times the word "Ethiopia" was used to refer to the African landmass to the south of Egypt.

In the 19th Century it appeared that "Ethiopia", more ancient, and comprising more especially the blacks of African origin, whose monarchs were the antagonists of the Pharaohs, extended from Upper Egypt over the provinces of Sennaar and Nubia, and those vast plains between Sennaar and the Bed Sea, now inhabited by roving Arabs, and Shankalla or blacks of African tribes, and perhaps reached the mountains inhabited by the Abyssinians.

Abyssinia, or at least the northern portion of it, was included in the tract of country known to the ancients as Ethiopia, the northern limits of which reached at one time to about Syene. In the 19th Century, possessing the Christian faith, the Empire of Abyssinia, properly speaking, commenced to the southward, where the other ended, from the time of Solomon; the infusion of Jewish institutions being still strongly apparent, however difficult it may be to separate truth from falsehood, in the tales connecting them with that nation.

The natural distinction of the two empires, often loosely confounded, is that the Empire of Ethiopia entirely extended over plains and level countries, whereas that of Abyssmia is a high plateau from 4,000 to 14,000 feet above the sea, well and sharply denned on eveiy border, and which was only quitted when a temporary strength tempted the inhabitants to overrun the neighboring low countries.

Although nationals of Ethiopia are now officially identified as Ethiopians, it is also very common for Ethiopians to use the term 'Habesha' (Abyssinians) as a reference to peoples of Ethiopian origin, though this mostly refers to the Amhara and Tigrayan people.

Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered on the north and northeast by Eritrea, on the east by Djibouti and Somalia, on the south by Kenya, and on the west and southwest by Sudan. The country has a high central plateau that varies from 1,800 to 3,000 meters (6,000 ft.-10,000 ft.) above sea level, with some mountains reaching 4,620 meters (15,158 ft.). Elevation is generally highest just before the point of descent to the Great Rift Valley, which splits the plateau diagonally.

A number of rivers cross the plateau--notably the Blue Nile flowing from Lake Tana. The plateau gradually slopes to the lowlands of the Sudan on the west and the Somali-inhabited plains to the southeast. The climate is temperate on the plateau and hot in the lowlands. At Addis Ababa, which ranges from 2,200 to 2,600 meters (7,000 ft.-8,500 ft.), maximum temperature is 26o C (80o F) and minimum 4o C (40o F). The weather is usually sunny and dry with the short (belg) rains occurring February-April and the big (meher) rains beginning in mid-June and ending in mid-September.