THE NEEDS OF ETHIOPIA
By JOHN GRIMWADE
T is now nearly four years since, with British assistance, Ethiopia I regained her independence. During that time the rest of the world has been engrossed in a war that can have but little significance for the ordinary Ethiopian. Nevertheless, Britain has during this period been able to render very considerable assistance to Ethiopia, not only financially but with a military mission and civilian advisers. In addition Ethiopia has profited by a number of Italians who have undertaken technical work at low rates of pay. Ethiopia is anxious to take her part amongst the nations of the world, but to do this adequately it is obvious that very considerable aid will be required for many years to come. And with the approach of the post-war period her future is less certain.
Until 1935 development had been slow but natural. The Emperor, Haile Selassie, was aware of the needs of his country, and his plans kept pace with the ability of his people to ass:milate modern ideas. But the five years of Italian domination flooded the country with modern ways which, when it was handed over in 1941 to the Ethiopians, were beyond their understanding, and as a result they were unable to profit fully from them. It has been only too easy for the Ethiopian to seize upon the less attractive side of European ways. It has been a great temptation to small officials to appropriate good buildings, an electric light plant, or some valuable drugs to their own personal use, while the local school has gone without desks or the prisoners without food. Some of the less desirable Fascist qualities have unfortunately left their mark on Ethiopia. To be a contented country striving to improve her standard of living Ethiopia will need advisers who are carefully chosen ; she needs help—not ruthless exploitation. The European in Ethiopia must have great patience, a genuine desire to help and a high personal standard of character and honesty in addition to the requirements needed for this particular undertaking. The work of the British Council and the Anglo-Ethiopian Club is helping in this way to build up mutual trust and understanding between British and Ethiopians.
Primarily Ethiopia is and will always be an agricultural country producing its own food-supply. But here there is one -essential requisite. The people need to be taught how to make the best use of their land so that they can improve their diet. The farming is, at present, unscientific, and the implements are extremely primitive.
The one-hand plough drawn by two oxen is a slow and cumbersome tool ; it is probable that agricultural methods have remained un- changed for many centuries. In certain areas considerable tracts of ground have been terraced. Many varieties of grain are grown ; maize, barley and wheat are all produced, and in some districts two crops a year are raised. The commonest grain is teff, used in the making of ingera, the native bread. In addition it is estimated that there are 18 million head of cattle, sheep and goats. Agricultural improvement is also important, as thereon depends the ability to increase the export trade. Coffee, wheat and fruit for export could be raised on a far greater scale than is at present carried on. Hides are another main commodity.
Education is closely bound up with agricultural progress. All the chief towns, as well as some villages, have a school where the reading and writing of Amharic, the official language of the country, and a .little arithmetic, are taught. But it is very unusual to find a school where instruction in hygiene or agricultural methods is given, simply because the masters themselves lack the necessary knowledge. Unlike some African countries, Ethiopia suffers also from a great shortage of clerks, partly as a result of Italian massacres. In Addis Ababa some good schools are developing under British direction, but it is likely to be some years before their influence is felt. The Haile Selassie boarding-school, situated on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, is at the moment the only.secondary school in the country, and it will obviously be necessary for Ethiopians to come to Europe for technical education in larger numbers than hitherto.
Another essential is an adequate system of communications. The Italians constructed a magnificent network of roads at great cost, but the very heavy rains that fall for three months annually make it essential to carry out constant repairs. In Southern Ethiopia many of these roads are already impassable for motor traffic, and for these areas contact with the capital is only possible by mule train. As a result, a more local and feudal form of government is inevitably resorted to once again. The future maintenance of these roads will prove a heavy charge on the Ethiopian budget, as well as re- quiring for some time European engineers. The' preservation of internal security will also for a long time be a problem in a country that -consists of so many different tribes ; small risings and cattle raids still occur in spite of the small army that is being well trained by the British Military Mission.
The future of the medical services looks unsettled. Ethiopia is as yet unable to produce her own doctors, though many of the natives make excellent dressers. There are a few mission doctors in the country—mostly Scandinavians. At the moment the Friends' Ambulance Unit is giving service to the civilian population by run- ning hospitals and clinics in the main centres. Even so it is little more than a skeleton service, using for the most part drugs seized from the Italians. This is only a temporary war-time body, and it is difficult to see where the money for future personnel and drugs is to come from. There are a few Army doctors attached to the Military Mission.
The Ethiopian is essentially an optimist. The future of the country must appear far less attractive to the British visitor than to the Ethiopian who is unable to compare Ethiopian conditions with European. It is this seeming complacency on their part that often makes it so difficult to awake Ethiopians to the needs of their country, but once an Ethiopian has become conscious of his plight he is then only too willing to improve matters. The next few years promise to be decisive in the development of the country.
For four years it has existed on Italian capital, but this legacy is daily dwindling. For the future, is some European Power prepared to give assistance without interfering in internal political affairs, or is Ethiopia to sink back once more into an outwardly independent state within which will exist several small tribes at faction amongst themselves? The problems of Ethiopia may seem small compared
to the tasks that lie ahead in Europe, India, or China, but the independence that we restored in 1941 will prove little more than a-hollow mockery unless considerable assistance is given for many years to come.
Previous page
