Words of HIM Haile Selassie I

INAUGURATING THE IMPERIAL ETHIOPIAN COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE & MECHANICAL ARTS [Alem-Maya, Harar :: Thur. Jan. 16^th 1958]

A country and a people that become self-sufficient by the development of Agriculture can look forward with confidence to the future. Agriculture is not only the chief among those fundamental and ancient tasks which have been essential to the survival of mankind, but also ranks first among the prerequisites to industrial and other developments.

History can afford us ample evidence that mankind abandoned its nomadic way of life and developed a settled, communal economy only when man became skilled and competent in agricultural techniques. From the beginnings of recorded history, right up to the Middle Ages, and even as late as the beginning of the Industrial Age in which we now live, agriculture has always constituted the fundamental source of wealth for the human race.

Only when a solid agricultural base has been laid for our country’s commercial and industrial growth can we ensure the attainment of the ultimate goal of Our development program, namely, a high standard of living for our people.

Commerce and industry, being concerned in the main with development and distribution, can only develop and profit from existing resources, but cannot actually create things which did not exist before.

Even in this nuclear age, in spite of the revolutionary changes in man’s way of life which science has brought about, the problem of further improving and perfecting agricultural methods continues to hold a position of high priority for the human race. 

It is hard to believe that a substitute can be found for the occupation of agriculture – a sacred task graciously conferred upon man by JAH to serve as the source of his wellbeing and basis of his wealth.

Agriculture and industry are indispensable one to the other. Only close cooperation between these two branches of knowledge can guarantee the fulfillment of Our program of economic development for Our country.

As we have already made it clear to you in Our previous statement, capital is an essential prerequisite for initiating all undertakings, whatever their nature. We have, therefore, made credit available for you which, when properly used, would enable you to achieve your development objective in the fields of agriculture, forestry, stock breeding, health services, and in the sphere of other development programmes.

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