NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ethiopian famine

Traditionally the Economy of Ethiopia was based on subsistence agriculture, with an aristocracy that consumed the surplus. Due to a number of causes, the peasants lacked incentives to either improve production or to store their excess harvest; as a result, they lived from harvest to harvest. The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of gross domestic product (GDP), 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. ... Subsistence agriculture is agriculture carried out for survival â€” with few or no crops available for sale. ... -1... Hay bales after harvest in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany In agriculture, harvesting is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. ...

Despite the extensive modernization of Ethiopia in the last 120 years, as of 2006 the overwhelming majority of the population are peasants who still live from harvest to harvest, and are vulnerable to crop failures. 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Year	Description
First half of 9th century	Followed by epidemic
1535	Famine and epidemic Tigray documented in Futuh, affecting Ahmad Gragn's occupying army.
1540	Contemporary accounts describe this famine as "worse than that which occurred at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple" (Pankhurst).
1543	No details
1567 - 1570	Famine in Harar, combined with plague and Oromo expanstion. Nur ibn Mujahid, Emir of Harrar died. As J. Spencer Trimingham describes, "The Amir Nur exerted every effort to help his people to recover, but after every respite the Oromo would again descend like locusts and scourge the country, and Nur himself died (975/1567-8) of the pestilence which spread during the famine." (Islam in Ethiopia, p.94) Events January 18 - Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro April - Jacques Cartier discovers the Iroquois city of Stadacona, Canada (now Quebec) and in May, the even greater Huron city of Hochelaga June 24 - The Anabaptist state of MÃ¼nster (see MÃ¼nster Rebellion) is conquered and disbanded. ... Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Tigray region. ... Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (c. ... Events January 6 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort. ... Drawing of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the time of Herod the Great A stone (2. ... // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the bull Regnans in Excelsis May 20 - Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas. ... Harar, also spelled Harrar, is a city in Ethiopia, situated in the eastern extension of the Ethiopian highlands, about five hundred km from Addis Ababa. ...
1611	The heavy rains that fell this year and extreme cold caused extenisve crop failures in the northern provinces. This same year a plague called mentita also afflicted Ethiopia.
1623	Jesuit sources
1634/1635	Reports of locusts in Tigray 1633-1635. An epidemic of kantara or fangul (cholera) also afflicted Dambeya, spreading into Tigray.
1650	No details
1653	Epidemic of kabab
1678	Cost of grain inflated; this led to the death of many mules, horses, and donkeys.
1700	No details
1702	Starving peasants appealed to Emperor Iyasus I, crying that if he did not feed them they would die. In response the Emperor and his nobles fed an uncountable number of the destitute for two months.
1747/1748	Famine attributed to locusts in Royal Chronicle. There was also an epidemic of fever (gunfen), possibly influenza, in 1747.
1752	Remedius Prutky ignores (unaware of?) famine.
1783	Famine called "my sickness" in Royal Chronicle.
1789	Famine afflicted "all the provinces"
1796	This famine was particularly serious at Gondar, and blamed on an infestation of locusts.
1797	From the Royal Chronicle
1800	Soldiers died on campaign due to famine.
1829	Famine in Shewa, followed by a cholera outbreak 1830-1.
1835	Rains failed, leading to famine and "great mortality" throughout Shewa and possibly Eritrea
1880 - 1881	Cattle plague (1879) spreads from Adal region, causing famine as far west as Begemder.
1888 - 1892	Rinderpest introduced from India kill epproximately 90% of cattle. Lack of rainfall as early as 16 November 1888 led to famine in all but southernmost provinces; locusts and caterpillar infestations destroy crops in Akele Guzay, Begemder, Shewa and around Harrar. Conditions worsen with cholera outbreaks (1889-92), a typhus epidemic, and a major smallpox epidemic (1889-90). Conditions forced the coronation of Menelik II to be a subdued event.
1913 - 1914	Famine in northern provinces
c.1929	Famine amongst Yejjo Oromo, which led to local revolt when tax collectors refused to reduce taxes accordingly.
1973	Famine in northern provinces, contributed to fall of Imperial government and led to Derg rule.
1984 - 1985	See 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia.
2006	See 2006 Horn of Africa food crisis - as of Jan 2006, not yet a famine

Events June 23 - Henry Hudsons crew maroons him, his son and 7 others in a boat November 1 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeares romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Events Moses Amyrauts Traite de la predestination is published CuraÃ§ao captured by the Dutch Treaty of Polianovska First meeting of the AcadÃ©mie franÃ§aise The witchcraft affair at Loudun Jean Nicolet lands at Green Bay, Wisconsin Opening of Covent Garden Market in London English establish a settlement... Events February 10 - The AcadÃ©mie franÃ§aise in Paris is expanded to become a national academy for the artistic elite. ... Desert locust Nymph of Locust (Schistocera americana) with distinct wing-rudiments Locust from the 1915 Locust Plague For other meanings of the word Locust, see Locust (disambiguation). ... Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which are typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... Events August 10 - Treaty of Nijmegen ends the Dutch War. ... Events January 1 - Russia accepts Julian calendar. ... Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... Iyasus I (or Jesus I), also known as Iyasus the Great, was negus (throne name Adyam Sagad II) (19 July 1682 - 13 October 1706) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonid dynasty. ... // Events January 31 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital April 9 - The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded by axe on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain May 14 - First battle of Cape... Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of... Influenza, commonly known as the flu or the grippe, is a contagious disease of the upper airways and the lungs, caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... Gondar (less commonly spelled Gonder) was the old imperial capital of Ethiopia and the historic Begemder province, now part of the Amhara region. ... 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1800 (MDCCC) was an common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Shewa (also spelled Shoa) is a historical region of Ethiopia. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the African sultanate. ... Begemder was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Gondar. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Rinderpest (RP) is a inflectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some species of wildlife, it is commonly reffered to as cattle plague. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... The striking caterpillar of the Emperor Gum Moth This article is about insect larva. ... Menelik II (August 17, 1844 - December 12, 1913), Conquering Lion of Judah, Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia was negus negust (emperor) of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... location of Ethiopia The 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia was a significant famine in the history of Ethiopia. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Affected countries The 2006 Horn of Africa food crisis is an acute shortage of food affecting four Horn of Africa countries: Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. ...

References

For the period before 1800, information is based on Richard R.K. Pankhurst, An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia (London: Lalibela House, 1961), pp.236f; information about related epidemics taken from Pankhurst Introduction, pp. 239f.

For the period after 1800 through 1935, information is based on Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University Press, 1968), pp. 216-222.

Categories: Famines | History of Ethiopia

Results from FactBites:

Unique Facts about Africa: Ethiopia (767 words)
	The 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia was a significant famine in the history of Ethiopia.
	In late 1985, another year of drought was forecast, and by early 1986 the famine had spread to parts of the southern highlands, with an estimated 5.8 million people dependent on relief food.
	The primary government response to the drought and famine was the decision to uproot large numbers of peasants who lived in the affected areas in the north and to resettle them in the southern part of the country.

Ethiopian famine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (536 words)
	Famine and epidemic Tigray documented in Futuh, affecting Ahmad Gragn's occupying army.
	This famine was particularly serious at Gondar, and blamed on an infestation of locusts.
	Famine in northern provinces, contributed to fall of Imperial government and led to Derg rule.

More results at FactBites »

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