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Ethiopia

Despite years of a growing economy, a significant number of people in Ethiopia are still facing negative effects of climate change, as well as poverty and extreme hunger.

Ethiopia has seen periods of rapid economic growth in recent decades and has the second-largest population in Africa (120 million), more than 70 percent of which is under the age of 30. The country continues to invest in infrastructure and is seeing progress in gender equality and education.

Despite its great potential, Ethiopia faces serious development challenges: An historic, multi-year drought across East Africa, combined with global economic shocks and violent unrest that has displaced 4.4 million Ethiopians, disrupted livelihoods, and increased hunger, disease, and inequality.

The majority of Ethiopians in rural areas rely on rain-fed agriculture and raising livestock for their subsistence, but climate change, shortage in public and private investment in the sector, as well as conflict in some areas have had negative effects on food production and incomes. As many as 6.8 million people across Ethiopia require food support, according to the World Food Program

Oxfam is addressing urgent humanitarian needs in multiple areas, while also tackling the root causes of poverty by helping people make a decent living and adapt to and survive climate change. We also work to empower women and girls in all our programs and ensure women can advocate for their rights and participate in making policies that affect their lives.

What are Oxfam’s solutions to help people in Ethiopia?

Oxfam is working with 12 local partner organizations in Ethiopia to fight inequality, and to end poverty and injustice. Active in the country since 1973, Oxfam is both responding to emergencies to help people survive immediate short-term crises, such as drought and conflict, and also working long term to help provide more sustainable solutions to inequality, poverty, and injustice. Oxfam is currently implementing more than 30 projects reaching more than 2 million people nationwide, more than half of whom are women and girls.

Helping people in Ethiopia survive in the short term

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    Providing food and cash assistance

    Oxfam provides cash and food assistance in crisis-affected regions, ensuring families can meet their immediate food needs during emergencies. In addition to delivering cash to families suffering from drought in the Somali region, Oxfam assists people in northern Ethiopia with emergency food and cash assistance. In Afar, Oxfam partners with the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, and in Amhara with Women Empowerment Action and Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter Church Aid Commission (EOC-DICAC). In drought-hit communities like Tigray and Afar, Oxfam distributes emergency food and supports livestock vaccination and feed, helping pastoralists keep their animals alive. Through partnerships with local NGOs, the private sector, financial institutions, farmers’ cooperative unions, research and academic institutions, and government ministries, Oxfam also helps farmers replant crops and small businesses reopen—revitalizing local economies and creating job opportunities.

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    Protecting people affected by conflict

    In areas affected by conflict and humanitarian crises, Oxfam works with partners to support survivors of violence, and other at-risk groups to help keep people safe. Our initiatives focus on community-based approaches that aim to reduce risks and vulnerabilities while strengthening the communities' ability to respond and protect themselves. We also facilitate safe and timely access to emergency lifesaving and protection services for survivors of violence. Oxfam's goal is to reduce suffering and enhance protection for women, men, boys, and girls, leading to saved lives and improved safety against violence, coercion, and deprivation of rights.

    Oxfam carries out this essential work with local partners such Mums for Mums in Raya Azebo and Women Empowerment Action in Raya Kobo in the Amhara region. We are also working with the Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organizations on training programs for local humanitarian groups to help them advocate for more and better respect for international humanitarian law and protection of civilians in conflict areas.

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    Refugees

    Supporting refugees in Gambella

    Ethiopia currently hosts more than 1 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. In the Gambella region, Oxfam is working closely with refugee-led organizations and helping people displaced by conflict in neighboring South Sudan. Our primary areas of work include providing clean water and sanitation and helping people with disabilities and others access humanitarian assistance. Oxfam is currently operating in all seven refugee camps in Gambella and at a reception center, providing water and sanitation assistance to 400,000 South Sudanese refugees and Ethiopian residents of host communities.

Helping people in Ethiopia thrive over the long term

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Villagers near Gilo, in Ethiopia’s southern Somali region, draw water from a reservoir. The area is experiencing frequent climate-induced drought. Pablo Tosco / Oxfam Intermón

Creating sustainable solutions for farmers

Oxfam helps farmers, especially youth and women in rural areas, to develop climate-smart approaches to agriculture that improves production and livestock health. Working with local partners, we promote ways to improve the availability and efficiency of water resources, organic farming, and training in business and entrepreneurial skills development.

For example, we help women farmers in rural areas raise bees and produce honey. In 2020, one group increased its production by 60 percent by improving its practices, and the women are earning more per kilo than the previous year. Elsewhere in the country, training by Oxfam and partners has helped 12,355 maize and wheat farming families achieve an average of 30 percent improvement in their crop yields.

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Oxfam staff in the Somali region gives a camel an injection of antibiotics to treat it for infection. Veterinary services are crucial during times of drought, to help animals and pastoralist families survive. Petterik Wiggers / Oxfam

Supporting urban development

Ethiopia’s urban population is expanding rapidly, bringing opportunities -- but also challenges such as overcrowding, unemployment, and lack of basic water and sanitation services. Oxfam’s urban initiatives focus on improving livelihoods for urban youth and women, expanding access to essentials such as clean water, sanitation, and housing, and strengthening urban governance. We work with municipal authorities and civil society groups and young people engaged in vegetable farming, poultry production, beekeeping, and compost-making in partnership with EOC-DICAC. Many participants have transitioned from unstable or harmful income-generating activities, such as firewood collection, to more sustainable sources of livelihood. This program area has reached 1,798 people (995 women) in Addis Ababa’s Bole Sub-City through vegetable production and poultry farming. Support included the provision of egg-laying chickens and feed to 11 self-help groups; 25,500 vegetable and 200 fruit seedlings to 224 individuals; and 11.125 kilos (25 pounds) of seeds to 52 urban farming households, 21 of which were headed by women. A model drip irrigation and vertical gardening site was established at a school in Bole Sub-City to support school feeding and serve as a community demonstration center. These efforts improve household income, promote safer economic alternatives, and lay the foundation for long-term community resilience and engagement with municipal systems. By addressing urban poverty and inequality, we help ensure that Ethiopia’s cities become more inclusive and livable for all residents.

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A woman collects parts of a failed sorghum harvest to feed to livestock. Recurrent drought and locusts have made growing crops difficult in the southern Somali region of Ethiopia. Petterik Wiggers / Oxfam

Empowering women and girls and advancing gender equality

Despite existing legal and policy frameworks supporting gender equality in Ethiopia, enforcement remains weak, and social norms continue to perpetuate inequality. Oxfam helps women exercise their rights and leadership in all areas of life. Programs address issues like gender-based violence and the heavy, unpaid care workload on women. For example, the WE-Care initiative works to recognize and reduce the burden of unpaid care and domestic work, while promoting women’s representation in decision-making. We partner with local women’s organizations to challenge harmful social norms and ensure development and humanitarian efforts include women’s needs and voices.

In collaboration with the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) we are advocating for women who carry out unpaid care work to be involved in decision-making spaces related to public policies and budgets that can help reduce the burden of unpaid care on women. Oxfam and NEWA produced the Ethiopian Women's Status and Priorities study report in 2024 in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs. The qualitative and quantitative research covered more than 36,000 households across the country and was designed to generate evidence on gender equality challenges and to strengthen research and advocacy capacities of women’s associations.

Women fill jerry cans at a tap stand in one of the Gambella refugee camps in western Ethiopia hosting South Sudanese people who have fled conflict.
Women refugees from South Sudan draw water from a tap stand in a refugee camp in Gambella. Oxfam works in collaboration with the government of Ethiopia and the UN to provide water and sanitation to more than 400,000 refugees and host communities in Gambella. Petterik Wiggers/Oxfam

Creating opportunities for young people

The majority of Ethiopia’s population is below the age of 30. Oxfam provides skills training, entrepreneurship support, and access to resources so that youth can secure decent jobs or start their own businesses. We focus on young women and men (ages 15 to 35) in regions with high youth unemployment. Since 2016, our programs have helped thousands with vocational training, apprenticeships, and business support. Since 2016, the program has helped youth establish climate-resilient enterprises, access fair financing, and gain market-relevant skills. It also integrates climate justice and peacebuilding, partnering with organizations like Inspired Ethiopian Youth Association (IEYA) for social media campaigns and capacity building. By empowering Ethiopia’s youth, we aim to unlock their potential as drivers of economic growth and social change.

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