Ethiopia is an adequate performer under the VACI (on par with Indonesia and Niger), due largely to its extremely low production and consumption of animal products.
I am the one who is letting others live. I am not just living by myself: I am also helping other animals to live. I am an ethical vegan. That is my basic principle in being vegan: letting others to live; that’s my story.
Mesfin Hailemariam
Ethiopia is an adequate performer under the VACI (on par with Indonesia and Niger), due largely to its extremely low production and consumption of animal products.
Ethiopia slaughters around 1 land-based animal per person / year, which is significantly lower than the global average of 9.7. The country’s dependency on farm animals is also extremely low, with around 1.9 farm animals per person (compared with a global average of around 4). Farm animal production remains small-scale, extensive and predominately from family or community-run farms.
The Ethiopian diet contains the second lowest proportion of animal products (second only to Nigeria), with around 12.6% of the average Ethiopian’s diet being made up of land-based animal protein. This is compared with a global average of 35.2%, and equates to each Ethiopian consuming around 7.6g of land-based animal protein per day (compared with a global average of 26.7g). According to the World Bank, 29.6% of the population lived below the national poverty line as at 2010.
Ethiopia was given an “F” under the Animal Protection Index (API), and is also a poor performer under the Sanctioning Cruelty category. According to the API, the country’s animal protection laws apply only to public places (that is, cruelty to animals in private spaces is not prohibited). Learn more about the quality of Ethiopia’s legislative protections on the API here.