Scarcity and Surfeitof the rural population (made up of resource-poor farmers, landless, land-
poor and pastoralists) have a consumption level equal to that of only one
tenth of the richest 20% of the populati~n.~~
The lowland areas are traditionally dominated by less extensive agricul-
tural practices such as pastoralism. Indeed, it is estimated that there are
between 3.4 and seven million pastorali~ts~~ in the country who occupy
approximately 60% of Ethiopia's land mass.37 The highest population of pas-
toralists is found in the regions of Somali (53%), Afar (29%) and Oromiya
(10%).38
Pastoral lands, in general, experience low annual precipitation averaging
400-700 millimetres and in many areas drought can occur on a regular basis.j9
As a result, pastoralism as a land use depends upon scarce water supply from
the rivers that flow through the lowlands from the highlands. Access to water
has been severely curtailed in recent years due to changing land use practices
and attempts to develop large-scale agriculture and irrigation schemes.
Agriculture
In 1995, the Ethiopian agricultural sector (dominated by smallholder agri-
culture) contributed approximately 55% of GDP. It accounted for 85% of
export and 80% of total empl~yment.~~ This suggests a very low labour
return. The country's export market is highly dependent on coffee, which
generates 60% of foreign exchange earning^.^' In 1994-95, five crops
accounted for the majority of cereal production: maize (15.75%), teff
(25.78%), barley (12.29%), sorghum (12.39%) and wheat (10.76%).42
However, the remaining production is made up of a wide variety of crops.
Ethiopia is one of twelve world centres of outstanding biodiversity. Many
crops and plants are suspected to have originated in Ethiopia, such as coffee,
okra, mustard, varieties of peas, millets, sorghum, yam, watermelon and ori-
ental sesame.
The growth rate of agricultural production is small. From 1992-93 to
1998-99, for example, it was only 2%. Though some attribute this to a lack
of fertilisers and high-yielding crop varieties, there are many political, eco-
nomic, environmental and social reasons for this slow growth. These include
a continued lack of investment in small-scale production methods, little sup-
port for the peasant economy and rural development, civil war and social dis-
order, regime change and ineffectual government.
The lack of support given to rural areas can be attributed to an historical
bias towards the development of urban centres. This development approach
was based on a core-periphery mentality. Indeed, it is suggested that the gov-
ernment supported and continues to support the urban elite at the expense
of the underprivileged and less politically powerful rural populations. As a