| Since
Ethiopia's economy is predominantly
agricultural, agriculture must play a
large role in the plans which have
been drawn up, at our command, for our
empire's development.
It is the duty of all to apply the
skill of their minds to the factories,
the trading centres and the roads and
communications which are also evidence
of Ethiopia's prosperity, of
Ethiopia's strength.
During the past year (1958) the
abrupt cessation of rainfall during
the growing season caused considerable
damage to Ethiopia's crops. This
experience has demonstrated that the
rivers of our country should be
devoted to irrigation, so that the
food needs of our ever growing
population will no longer be left at
the mercy of the whims and caprices of
the elements.
The fruits of the farmer's labour
must be enjoyed by him whose toil has
produced the crop. The uses of trees
are many and varied. Groves of trees
protect our fields and plantations
from being desiccated by the desert
winds which blow from neighbouring
regions During the summer months, they
provide moisture and shade. If trees
are not presently planted to replace
those being cut down from time to
time, our constant efforts to conserve
and develop the wealth of our country
through the welfare of present and
future generations will be rendered
ineffective and futile.
We are greatly grieved to observe
the many thousands of gashas of rich
forest land being destroyed every year
by reckless timber-cutting,
thoughtless forest burning,
unregulated forest grazing and other
misuses of our forest wealth, due to
popular ignorance and desire for
temporary advantage on the part of our
people.
The existence or non-existence of
forest wealth in a country is one of
the most important factors influencing
its development and progress. The
increasing pace of deforestation and
the growing dearth of timber in
Ethiopia, caused by unregulated
tree-cutting and the failure to
replace these by new plantings, give
us occasion for anxiety that a severe
economic problem will confront the
coming generation. It is essential
that steps be taken here and now to
stop this wastage and check this
destruction.
In these days when all nations of
the world, in recognition of the
tremendous importance of forest
wealth, have launched intensive
progranmes for forest conservation and
re-forestation, it behoves our county
also to take the appropriate measures
to solve this problem.
It is our wish and our desire that
each and every citizen of our country
follow the example we set on this
Arbour Day in planting this tree, and
himself plant as many trees as he can,
for his own benefit as well as for the
benefit of future generations.
Without agricultural expansion,
industrial growth is impossible. Great
strides, it is true, have been made in
introducing industries into Ethiopia
in recent years. But in any
less-developed agrarian country
possessing only limited possibilities
for selling the products of its
factories in world export markets,
industry can grow only if there exists
an increasingly prosperous rural
consumer population. Industrialisation
is not an alternative to the
development of agriculture; rather,
the development of agriculture is the
essential pre-condition to the growth
of industry.
Measures will shortly be proposed
to Parliament for action to be taken
to preserve, for the benefit of
present and future generations, the
nation's forests which are not only
valuable in themselves as a source of
wood, but act as nature's guardian
against the forces of erosion, which,
unchecked, can transform fertile areas
into barren and sterile desert. |
