Mereja.Forum

[EthioRedSea]

Tigray's population is about 8 million and has insignificantly increased in the last 40 years. In 1980, the population was around 4-5 million, The population projected in 2020 should be 20 million (fertility rate for Tigray is 5%). The reasons for decreased population are social problems. Many young men marry late as they have no means to sustain the family. Many young men and women live in with their parents as they have no opportunities to work and have no income to cover daily expenses.

The government of Tigray has a negative population policy. Birth control has been introduced, There have been family planning projects where women are advised not to have children as it could mean more costs. it is unwise to advertise about contraceptives only without providing the means to form families. There should be a balanced approach, where there should be a possibility to have more children by providing support for each child. Each child could have ETH50 - ETH 150 (or more depending on the budget) per month until the age of 16.This means significant support for families without income. As there is an extended family support, such financial intiative could encourage to marry early and have children early. Tigray's government should start supporting families with children. European countries provide financial support for each child born. This policy should apply in Tigray too.

Tigray needs to increase it's population from the current 7 million to 15 million in 10 years by encouraging marriages at early age. There are 4 million Tigrayans under the age of 25 and if each family has at least 5 children, then the population should increase drastically. The government has done little to increase the population. In fact the government of Tigray was actively introducing birth control.

There should be flats or modern homes to married couples at a cheaper price. These flats should be mortgaged at a low rate to be paid in 50 years. The flats should be of high quality of the standards we find in Europe. It is cheap to build social accommodation. Tigray needs to build 100000 homes or apartments to accommodate the current population. Labour is cheap. The only problem is getting cement and skilled labourers. Tigray should build 10 cement factories and provide the population with cement with less money. These cement factories should produce cement at a minimum profit-- their aim should be to just provide cement to the local population at cheap price. (Stalin provided the Soviet Union with millions of homes for free. He built cement factories just for the purpose of building homes and not for the profit).Factories like MESOBE could provide cement to mega projects or export cement. There should be other factories that provide cement for the purpose of building homes at a very cheap cost.

The population in Tigray should increase. There should be a drastic change of policy Schools should teach children the need to form a family at early age. Sex education should be given. Children should be encouraged to socialise with the opposite sex, which is any way part of Tigray's tradition. Marrying should be routine and accessible to all Tigrayan youth. There should be no financial cost except for marriage certificates which are not expensive and should continue that way. It should be cheap for the couples to get married. Wedding feasts are outdated as they consume much money. Increasing the population in Tigray is of strategic importance.