Cycle of Poverty

The third most populated country in Africa, Ethiopia is also one of its poorest:

• Over 44% of its 77 million people live trapped below the poverty line.
• Per capita income is less than US$100.
• Close to 80% live with less than US$2 per day.

For 20 years, repeated waves of war, drought, and famine have depleted the country's limited resources and left its people poor, sick, displaced, and hungry. Yet this is not a pattern of intermittent crisis and recovery. Ethiopia is trapped in a cycle of poverty—in large part caused by its runaway population growth. 

Runaway Population Growth

Ethiopia's population is young and rapidly growing: more than half the country is under 18; 2 million people are added each year. In rural areas, where 85% of Ethiopians live, total fertility rates are extremely high—6.4 children per woman—especially among 15- to 19-year olds. And high fertility is directly linked to poverty in Ethiopia. As rural households age and grow in size, they are more and more likely to sink into poverty compared to smaller households with younger heads. For each family struggling to survive, the addition of one more child increases the incidence of poverty.

As Ethiopia's population surges alarmingly, so do several key factors associated with its cycle of poverty:

• Environmental Degradation. More people put more pressure on the land. Ethiopia's agricultural sector—its mainstay—is declining in productivity from overcultivation, erosion, deforestation, and loss of nutrients.
• Overburdened Social Infrastructure. With increasing numbers of people to serve, health care and educational institutions can't keep up. In rural areas, access to essential social services is very limited or entirely absent.
• Economic Stagnation.  Given its demographics, Ethiopia has a disproportionately high number of economic dependents, with over half the population either too young or too old to work. With the majority economically inactive, and only half the working-age population employed full-time, Ethiopia stagnates.

Call to Action

Help break Ethiopia's vicious cycle of poverty by supporting our efforts to:

• End runaway population growth in rural areas
• Make culturally and socially appropriate family planning services as widely available as possible
• Reduce chronic poverty, illness, and hunger in Ethiopian families and villages