In not addressing potential obstacles to resettlement in Ethiopia, including possible socio-cultural and political opposition at local levels, this study is not minimizing the possibility of a push-back by local populations. The public has long been wary of the many top-down government resettlement approaches. Individual success stories abound but, generally, the lack of the human and finan cial resources needed to bring measurable success to the country’s settlement activities, has added to the public’s lack of faith in the virtues of resettlement as a solution to the country’s population problems. We believe, therefore, that population
control measures with a focus on fertility reduction would produce better
long-term results in achieving a healthy population-resource balance in Ethiopia.
In this regard, it is encouraging to note that the percentage of women using contraception
has tripled in the last 25 years and the average fertility in Ethiopia has decreased from 7.7 to 5.4 children per woman (FDRE 2002; CSA and ORC Macro 2006). Until desirable fertility levels are reached, resettlement should be viewed mainly as a crucial safety valve to help relieve population pressure in high density Weredas as well as those beset by severe environmental degradation from natural and man-made causes.