ETHIOPIA

The central objective of the WeD research in Ethiopia is to contribute to an improved understanding of the dynamics of poverty, inequality and quality of life and the interlinkages between them.

Within the Ethiopian context, the WeD team is seeking to analyse the production, reproduction and reduction of poverty within inequality dynamics and in relation to the cultural constructions of subjective wellbeing. This will be achieved through an in-depth study of six sites, four rural and two urban. The rural sites are in the two largest regions, and in each case one site is close to market and state influences and the other more remote and less integrated. One of the urban sites is a key town for step migration from one of the selected rural sites to the capital city. The other site is located in Sakech, a market area on the outskirts of the capital city Addis Ababa in which a range of manifestations of poverty and destitution are apparent.

Given considerable diversity in terms of ecology, livelihoods, cultures and societies, and in order to locate the selected sites meaningfully within the broader Ethiopian context, the country-wide analysis is based on grounding research in 20 sites conducted in the summer of 2003. This wider coverage enables the WeD project to situate the sites selected for in-depth study through both longitudinal panel data as well as comparative spatial analysis covering much of the country's diversity.

North Shewa site

Dessu

Located in Amhara Region, North Shewa Zone, Dessu is a small lowland site producing mainly tef¸ maize and sorghum, with some fruit around the river. The site is vulnerable to famine.

Gojjam site

Yelem

Located in Amhara Region, East Gojjam Zone, Yelem is a mid-altitude site producing cereals, especially tef and wheat. Cereals, livestock and their products are the main sources of cash as well as some trade and migration. The site is fairly rich.

Arssi site

Kedada

Located in Oromia Region, Arssi Zone, Kedada is a lowland area by the Awash river. The main crops are maize and tef, as well as pulses. The main source of cash are livestock and firewood sales. The Oromo population is only partly settled, and the site is vulnerable to drought despite some irrigation, and malaria poses a major problem.

South Shewa site

Tirfe

Located close to the town of Shashemene in Oromia Region, Eastern Shewa Zone, Tirfe is on the edge of the Rift Valley. The main products are cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables. The site produces cereals and vegetables, notably potatoes which are sold as cash crops as are livestock. The site has become rich due to its linkages with Shashemene and involvement in the market economy.

Addis Ababa

Sakech

This market area on the outskirts of Addis Ababa is well known for the sale of secondhand clothes. It is an area of in-migration and mixed populations from varied backgrounds with many very poor inhabitants, many involved in petty trade. Many of the features of urban poverty are clearly visible. There is a dynamic group of burial associations that is working to improve conditions for particular poor people including AIDS orphans, the elderly, and the unemployed.

Shabet

Located on the edge of the Rift Valley in the Oromia Region but close to the border with the Southern Region, this town is at the cross-roads of southern Ethiopia, and is an important trade centre inhabited by migrants from all over the country. There is a dynamic market with a range of local and imported agricultural produce, craftwork and manufactured goods. Major aspects of urban poverty are visible, and social exclusion and occupational and ethnic hieracrchies are in evidence.