Awra Amba RJ 300612 EN - Contacter un comité local d'Attac

4. Social organisation
the table: Question 21 in Annex), tef and beans (boloqie): see Table 4. Maize (or sorghum) has a
much higher yield per hectare than the other crops. The average yield – for all crops – is higher by
14 % than the Ethiopian yield, which is 13.3 q/ha, and by 26 % than the regional yield, which is
12.0 q/ha (Ya08/102).
The community owned 18 zebus, 1 donkey, 1 mule and 44 hens in 2005 (At05/39), and in 2008 16
male zebus, 11 female ones, 1 donkey and 4 sheep among others (Ya08/120), which were not kept
close to the houses according to At05/39, or which stayed in their stables most of the time and are
fed here according to Crespo (2012). Therefore, it seems the livestock increased in three years. A
barn has been financed by the USA (Jo10b/7).
The peasants plough their land with a wood mouldboard plough drawn by two zebus (Picture 6 and
Picture 7). Surprisingly, several fields have not been cleared of stones, as the Picture 7 shows, which
should considerably increase the work involved in ploughing and maintenance, and greatly reduce
their productivity. The cooperative considers clearing the stones would take too much work
according to Jo10b/8, or it is a usual way to combat rain and wind erosion according to Crespo
(2012). Finally, unlike the rest of Ethiopia, Awra Amba inhabitants use saws and not only axes to cut
eucalyptus for timber or firewood.
Picture 6:
Ploughman with his plough and his yoke leaving for fields.
Picture 7: Ploughing, in April 2010.
As they cannot live on agriculture alone, given the poverty and the scarcity of the soil, they have
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