In spite of recurrent droughts, war and heightened political tensions, Ethiopia has registered strong economic growth, along with signifi cant gains in key human development indicators since the fall of its Marxist regime. Primary school enrollments have more than doubled, child mortality has been almost cut in half, and the number of people with access to clean water has nearly doubled. Poverty, too, has declined, though the country remains desperately poor, with many rural Ethiopians remaining isolated and vulnerable to food shortages.

“There is something significant going on, changing the face of Ethiopia," says Paul Ackroyd, head of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development in Addis Ababa. "How deep-seated it is, how sustainable it is, remains to be seen.”
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