Ethiopia
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Canada’s commitment
Results
Country profile
Canada’s commitment
Ethiopia is one of the 25 development partners in which the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will concentrate the bulk of its bilateral or country-to-country assistance.
CIDA’s bilateral programming in Ethiopia focuses on food security/agriculture and governance/capacity building. CIDA is committed to supporting Ethiopia’s national strategy of poverty reduction, sustainable food security, and long-term development. Chronic food insecurity is the single greatest barrier to sustainable development in Ethiopia, affecting over eight million people annually.
CIDA supports farmers in famine
prevention by increasing agricultural
production in communities at risk.
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The food security program aims to prevent food insecurity for the most vulnerable people and to build the capacity of Ethiopian institutions to address food security in a sustainable and gender-sensitive manner. This involves improving water collection, conservation, and small-scale irrigation; strengthening Ethiopian famine early-warning and disaster-prevention systems; and increasing agricultural production in communities at risk.
CIDA’s governance programming in Ethiopia supports increased accountability, greater democratization, greater respect for the rule of law, and improved public sector capacity. Towards this end, CIDA works with Canadian and Ethiopian partners to strengthen the justice system, improve parliamentary oversight, and build the capacity of the federal and regional auditors general.
Canada’s official development assistance (ODA) to Ethiopia comprises bilateral assistance and support to the work of Canada’s partners, including international organizations such as the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and Canada’s many non-governmental development organizations. Canada’s total ODA to Ethiopia totalled $87.6 million in 2003-2004.
 Results
In the area of food security and agriculture, results are promising. For instance, the Water Harvesting and Institutional Strengthening in Tigray Project has helped the region build its capacity to manage water for agricultural development, the areas’s major constraint to improved production and productivity.
CIDA is committed to supporting Ethiopia’s renewed
vision for poverty reduction and long-term
development for its people
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The project focuses on building the capacity of regional and local governments and farmers’ associations in water resources development; more effective management of small-scale irrigation schemes; and development of irrigated agriculture. The irrigation demonstration sites have been successful and well received by technical staff and by women and men farmers.
A governance and capacity-building project, the Ethiopia Court Administration Reform Project, has successfully promoted practices to help achieve and sustain the rule of law; reduce administrative inefficiencies; and develop Ethiopian courts. The many achievements -- some not originally envisaged -- include a remarkable attitudinal improvement by both judges and staff personnel in accepting change and treating the public better; leadership and ownership undertaken by the Ethiopian judiciary; development of the capacity to build computerized court systems; changes in courthouse construction design; and expansion by the Ethiopian government of many project activities throughout the rest of the country.
Country profile
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Heir to an ancient civilization going back over 2,500 years, Ethiopia is a prominent and strategically located country in the Horn of Africa. With a population of 77 million, the country has a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Agriculture is the economy’s mainstay. Ethiopia plays a major role in African affairs as home to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and in its pivotal role in other regional development organizations.
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Ethiopia has made major strides in facing the challenges of poverty and drought since world attention focused on its plight in the 1984-1985 famine. It is working to build up its early-warning and supply-management systems and to create employment for over eight million people who face chronic food insecurity. Ethiopia’s national development plan, the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty, provides the framework for national poverty-reduction programs for the 2006-2010 period. Pro-poor budget allocation is increasing and numerous human development indicators have shown systematic improvements over the past five years.
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