Malaria Epidemics and Community Resilience in Setit Humera,Northwestern Ethiopian Borderland,1950s–1974

Abstract

Drawing on critical analysis of provincial archives and contemporary periodical sources, this paper examines malaria epidemics in Ethiopia's northwestern borderland region of Setit Humera, its broader socio-economic impacts on agricultural development, and community resilience, 1950s–1974. When the government launched private-owned mechanized agriculture in the late 1950s, Setit Humera became a granary of commercial agriculture, attracting significant labor migrants from the highland districts of Begemidir, Simien, Eritrea, and Tigray. Settlement and labor migration were driven by crop failures and locust invasions in the highland districts. However, Setit Humera has been plagued by recurring malaria outbreaks and migrant laborers unfamiliar with the tropical climate of the Setit Humera border region became vulnerable to malaria. The rapid escalation of malaria led to a significant rise in mortality and morbidity incidences, causing extreme distress among the rural households in Setit Humera. The malaria epidemics caused not only mortality and morbidity but also impacted agricultural development as the outbreaks coincided with cultivation seasons. The government took insignificant actions to address malaria-induced factors, including improving access to healthcare. The high volume of patients, seasonal migration of laborers, access road problems, lack of medical inputs, and recurrent epidemic outbreaks made the intervention insufficient to address health demands.