Ethiopia

Canada's Commitment
Results
Country Profile

Canada's Commitment

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.

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.

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Results

Here is a sampling of the Ethiopia Program results:

Agriculture and Food Security

• The Productive Safety Net Program reached 7.2 million chronically food-insecure beneficiaries in 2006.By providing beneficiaries with food and cash in return for participation in productive public works, the program has supported a massive effort of environmental restoration and expansion of basic local infrastructure. Nearly 30 percent of households involved in the program increased the number of children enrolled in school. The need for annual emergency appeals for food aid has been reduced dramatically. The Program has also supported the construction of 88,686 community ponds and 2,679 km of irrigation canals, established 285 tree nursery sites, dug 491 wells, constructed 8,323 km of new roads and maintained another 20,458 km of rural roads, built 119 farmer training centres, extended 340 school classrooms, established 77 grain stores, and built 3,012 pit latrines to improve hygiene in rural areas.

Governance

• CIDA programming in governance has resulted in improved functioning of the court system by reducing the time for trial and humanizing the process, especially for women. The CIDA model was scaled up country-wide and in 2006/07 this had a significant impact on the improvement of all rule of law indicators for Ethiopia.
• The Public Sector Capacity Building Program has improved the quality of government operations and supported the development of a client-oriented culture in service delivery (justice, tax, decentralization).
• Other achievements in 2007 included drafting a new law on Alternative Dispute Resolution for improved access to justice for the poor; public access to official statistics for the first time in Ethiopian history; the formulation of an equitable federal grant-sharing formula for the country's nine regions; and the delivery of voter and civic education to 29 million citizens for the 2008 local elections.

Rural Social Services
In 2007, 18 million long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed, enabling 90% coverage of malaria-affected areas and making a major, country-wide contribution to malaria control.

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Country Profile

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.