Ethiopia is a landlocked country in East Africa with an area of 1,104,300 square kilometers and a population of about 56 million. The Ethiopian Plateau covers about two thirds of the country and is situated in the western and central parts of it. The plateau has Ethiopia's best agricultural soils and has a suitable climate too. Temperature in the lower parts of the plateau reaches 220C while in the higher altitudes it is sometimes less that 160C. Its annual rainfall is 102cm, which is mild enough for farming. Surrounding the plateau are the hot, dry lowlands with an average temperature of 270C and hardly 51cm of rain a year. Poor soils and climate in the lowlands explain why they are sparsely populated and most Ethiopians live in the highlands.

Most of Ethiopia is grasslands but there also are some tropical rainforests in the southwest. Also wild coffee bushes grow in...