Dubiousness of Survival in Gidicho Island: Economic Livelihood Shift from Farming to Fishing

The economic life of the inhabitants of Gidicho Island was full of glitches. Farming, as part of the livelihood of the people of the Island, was also crumbled from the subsistence economic system of the people due to the occurrence of different problems. This article intends to give some insights on the nature of the shabby economy of the inhabitants of the Island by explaining the major challenges that tempted to affect farming and the people’s decision to shift their livelihood to fishing. It anticipates to precisely discuss the efforts exerted by the inhabitants of the Island to ensure their survival by meticulously finding solution to economic problems that encountered them in different periods. In the discussion, the article also discusses the eventual collapse of farming economy and the emergence of fishery by replacing it as part of solutions applied by the people of the Island to ensure their survival. The Data used to write this article are gathered through fieldworks conducted from 2015 to 2017. The researchers collected sources in different form from Gidicho Island, Mirab Abaya, Hawassa and Addis Ababa. Both written and oral sources are gathered from the above regions and carefully analyzed to write an objective historical account on the issue. Sources collected from different contexts are cross-checked and meticulously analyzed to write this article.