The economy was based on subsistence agriculture, with an aristocracy that consumed the surplus.
Despite the extensive modernization and land reform in the country during the last 120 years, especially under Emperor Haile Selassie, as of 2016, about 80% of the population are poor farmers who still live from harvest to harvest and are vulnerable to crop failures.
"[6] Occurring under the reign of Emperor Susenyos I, the plague was referred to as manan tita (literally 'whom did it leave?').
[7]: 52–3 [8] It is said that an epidemic of kantara or fangul (cholera) afflicted Dembiya, which then spread into Tigray.
[7]: 63 Dejazmach Hailu Eshte, who was then living in Este, settled many "needy people" in his villages as guards.