Environment in Eritrea Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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E ri tre a , located in the Horn of Africa, covers 121,320 square kilometers It shares boundaries with Sudan in the north and west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. Topography is dominated by highlands, descending in the east toward a coastal desert plain, in the northwest to hilly terrain, and in the southwest to undulating plains. Altitude ranges from sea level to approximately 3,000 miles above sea level. The capital is Asmara. Eritrea’s climate is categorized into semi-desert, arid, and moist lowlands, sub-humid zones, and arid and moist highlands. The climate is characterized as bimodal. The main rains, from June to September, affect the highlands and western lowlands. Short rains occur from November to March and affect the coastal, eastern, and southern escarpments. Average annual rainfall varies between less than 200 millimeters in the semi-desert and 900 millimeters in the sub-humid zone. Mean annual temperature varies between 18 degrees C in the highlands and 28 degrees C in the semi-deserts.

Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia as part of a federation by the United Nations in 1952. Ethiopia’s annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating government forces; independence was approved in 1993. Only five years later, tensions with Ethiopia sparked over economic policies and border disputes, which resulted in war, costing many lives and displacing more than a quarter of the Eritrean population. Eritrea has suffered damages to its weak infrastructure and economy, from which it has yet to recover. In 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement, but the border continues to be disputed and Eritrea’s relations with Ethiopia remain tense. Eritrea has become isolated internationally, mainly due to the totalitarian military regime.

The country has a population of nearly 4.8 million, with an annual growth rate of three percent in 2006. Eritrea is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than half of the population surviving on less than $1 per day. Population density is highest in the highlands, where 60 percent of the population occupies 19 percent of the area. About 84 percent of the population lives in rural areas where the main sources of livelihood are subsistence agriculture, pastoralism, and fishing. The agricultural sector employs 80 percent of the population; but only contributes 17 percent to the gross national product. Eritrea’s main exports are coffee, cotton, meat, and hides. In 2002, economic growth of two percent was contrasted with an inflation rate of 15 percent. Eritrea is largely reliant on external support, especially through remittances from Eritreans living abroad; foreign investments are low because of political instability.

Shrublands and grasslands cover around 64 percent of the land, while woodlands make up 11 percent and cultivated land nine percent. Grasslands are exposed to wind erosion during the dry season, and to water erosion at the onset of the rains. Reliance on natural resources and increasing population is leading to the expansion of cultivation into areas that are marginal for agriculture, resulting in land degradation. Even in years of sufficient rainfall, Eritrea only produces about half of its food requirements, thus, relying heavily on food aid. Food security is a national priority, but options to expand agricultural land are limited. Reliance on subsistence agriculture has made Eritrea vulnerable to droughts and locust invasions. Moreover, depletion of scarce natural resources has led to deforestation, overgrazing, and desertification. Due to lack of investment, the potential for livelihood diversification into nonnatural-resource-based sectors remains limited.

Bibliography:

D. Connell, Against All Odds: A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution (Red Sea Press, 1997);
G. Kibreab, “Displaced Communities and the Reconstruction of Livelihoods in Eritrea,” in T. Addison, From Conflict to Recovery in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2003);
T. Negash and K. Tronvoll, Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (James Curry, 2000);
J. Nyssen, et , “Human Impact on the Environment in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Highlands: A State of the Art,” in Earth-Science Reviews (v.64, 2003);
R. Srikanth, “Challenges of Environmental Management in Eritrea: A Case Study,” in AJEAM–RAGEE (v.6, 2003).