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USAID/Ethiopia Links

USAID/Ethiopia Mission

www.usaidethiopia.org
Mission Director:

  • William Hammink

Local Address:

  • Riverside Building
    P.O. Box 1014
    Addis Ababa
    Ethiopia
    Tel: 251-1-510-088
    Fax: 251-1-510-043

From the US:

  • DOS/USAID
    2030 Addis Ababa Place
    Washington, D.C.
    20521-2030

USAID's Strategy in Ethiopia

Ethiopia suffers from chronic food insecurity. Agriculture accounts for half of Ethiopia’s gross domestic product, 85% of its exports, and 80% of its total employment. A combination of frequent drought, poor cultivation practices, and low levels of on-farm investment persistently undermine the productivity of the agricultural sector.

The magnitude and depth of poverty means drought and other unanticipated crises can rapidly transform into the potential for famine. Each crisis increases the country's vulnerability to the most marginal of shocks. In the absence of alternatives, households are forced into depleting the very productive assets (e.g., oxen, farm implements) they require for future productivity. In addition to these economic problems, Ethiopia's low health status, high population growth, and low literacy rates further deplete human productivity and exert a heavy burden on the state to increase delivery for health, education and other social services. Policy change has been slow and is urgently needed to create the conditions that will lead to the broadbased economic growth, and that will alleviate chronic food insecurity. The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has begun more open dialogue in critical areas.

The United States' national interests in Ethiopia are two-fold: strategically located between Somalia and Sudan, Ethiopia is a vital ally in efforts to promote regional stability in the Horn of Africa and is also a key ally in the global war on terrorism.

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