Country Comments

In the 80’s and 90’s Ethiopia averaged 7 children per mother. Since 2000 the country has been able to reduce the average fertility rate per mother to just over 4 children. Unfortunately Ethiopia has almost twice as many people than the country’s current carrying capacity and that population is increasing at a pace of three million more citizens a year and they United Nations estimates it may climb to around 200 million by 2050.

This population pressure has caused severe degradation of ecosystems, productive agricultural lands, and poor utilization of water resources increasing poverty, food insecurity, loss of biodiversity, and even conflict. Reducing people's consumption is not a realistic goal because the average Ethiopian lives on less than $1000 a year. Recognizing this challenge the government and international NGOs have invested both in family planning and health services. One good trend; childhood marriage before age 18 which leads to multiple births was at 40% in 2017 as reported by Unicef. Although still very high this percentage is dropping where it was reported at 58% in 2014.