Spilling Blood over Water? The Cose of Ethiopia 255
European Union representative explained, there continues to be a lack of
investment and innovation in the agricultural sector. Instead, rural farmers
continue to farm using customary methods, cultivating the same crops, using
the same techniques, with similar unwanted environmental effects?
In addition, the lack of basic infrastructure, including transportation sys-
tems and telecommunication facilities, hampers agricultural production and
food distribution. Approximately 20% of the national highway network is
paved - a total of 4 000 kilometres - with few interconnecting linkages
between adjacent regions. As a result nearly three-quarters of the country's
farmlands are more than half a day's walk from all-weather roadsM.
Climate and Water Resources
The most limiting factor in the agricultural sector is climate variability and
uncertainty. The impact of climate variability is aggravated by a lack of
investment in the agricultural sector and low state and local capacity to mit-
igate adverse conditions. Climatic changes directly influence the distribution
of natural resources throughout Ethiopia and influence the agricultural suit-
ability of many lands. Annual rainfall varies from less than 100 millimetres
along the border with Somalia and Djibouti to 2 400 millimetres in the south-
western highlands. The national rainfall average is 744 millimetres. Rainfall
generally occurs in a five-monthly unimodal rainy season from May to
September in the western part of the country. However, in the southern and
eastern highlands, there is a pronounced bimodal rainfall distribution, with
the first and generally smaller rains (be&) peaking in April, and the second,
more intense rains (keremt) peaking in August/September. The main dry sea-
son extends from October to February, being longer and drier in the north.45
Recurrence of drought is a common phenomenon in Ethiopia and affects
large numbers of the population (see Table I), particularly in the lowlands,
where rainfall varies from less than 200 millimetres to 800 millimetres. Most
recently, the 2000-2001 drought in Ethiopia affected approximately 10.5 mil-
lion people, mainly in the southern part of the country.46
However, from a national perspective, and despite recurrent drought and
variable rainfall, Ethiopia has abundant inland water supplies totalling 8 800
square kil~metres.~ At current levels of potential fresh water resources per
capita of 1 924 cubic metres per year, Ethiopia is endowed with one of the
largest fresh surface water resources in sub-Saharan Africa. It has 11 large
lakes and is the source of 14 major rivers. Rvelve rivers are trans-boundary,
flowing outside the country. The Awash (though this may in fact supply
Djibouti's lakes with water under ground) and the Omo River that fills Lake
Turkana on the Ethiopia-Kenya border are the only rivers that do not flow
outside Ethiopia.