The percentage share of agriculture has declined in Ethiopia's gross domestic product (GDP) from 76 percent in the early 1960s to 45 percent last year, according to an economic report issued on Saturday.

The annual growth rate of agricultural GDP was also fluctuating from year to year, the report said, which follows agriculture's poor performance, often associated with frequent droughts.

At a launching ceremony of the fourth annual report on the country's economy, Berhanu Adenew of the Ethiopian Economic Association, said that as the country's economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, as the sector gives more socio-economic importance.

But due to many natural and man-made factors, the performance of the sector is very low, which is reflected by a low level of land and labor productivity, Berhanu said.

Another reason for its poor performance is that it doesn't utilize all the natural resources it has, he said.

For instance, it irrigates only three percent of its farmland from the potential of 3.7 million hectares of irrigable land, according to Berhanu.

"In terms of long-term performance indicators, the performance of the agriculture has not been encouraging," he said.

Ethiopia is a poor and overwhelmingly agricultural country. Official data say 46 percent of Ethiopia's 71 million people live below the poverty line, with many peasant farmers in the rural areas trapped in abject poverty.

Source: Xinhua