Economic stagnation in Ethiopia, 14th-18th Centuries

Abstract

The economic history of Ethiopia is one of the understudied themes of Ethiopian history. Although there are some invaluable studies on the economic activities of medieval Ethiopia, these studies seem to have failed to examine the economic stagnation of the period analytically. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to examine how the economy of Ethiopia had remained static, with some fluctuations, between the fourteenth and the eighteenth centuries. Probing the available primary and secondary sources, the study argues that factors intrinsic to the agricultural sector and the land tenure system, the level of agricultural technology, and the attitude of the society toward economic prosperity seem to have greatly affected the economic productivity of the period. The supplementary sectors – trade and handicraft – had also limited development. This stagnant economy of the period was further affected by natural and environmental calamities such as drought, famine, and locust invasions. This static nature of the Ethiopian economy and the factors hampering it has more or less continued to this day. Further investigation of the Ethiopian economy would deepen the understanding of economic stagnation in different period of Ethiopian history.

Keywords

• Medieval Ethiopia
• Economic stagnation
• Agricultural productivity
• Trade
• Handicrafts
• Environmental calamities