Zawadi: Difference between revisions

 

== History ==

 

 

Vistaraland continued to rule Zawadi-Hawa as a Territory after the Great War, with a mandate to oversee eventual independence. Tensions escalated between the Rufi, who favored early independence, and the Kemto emancipation movement, culminating in the 1958 Zawadian Revolution: Kemto activists began killing Rufi and destroying their houses, forcing more than 240,000 people to seek refuge in neighboring countries. In 1960, the suddenly pro-Kemto Vistari held a referendum in which the country voted to abolish the monarchy. Zawadi was separated from Hawa and gained independence on March 15 1960, which is commemorated as Independence Day, a national holiday.

Zawadi economy suffered heavily during the 2002 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain infrastructure, looting, and neglect of important cash crops. This caused a large drop in GDP and destroyed the country's ability to attract private and external investment. The economy has since strengthened, with per-capita GDP (PPP) estimated at $4,321 in 2019, compared with $532 in 2002. Major export markets include MBE, Vistariland, and South Hills.

 

 

Subsistence crops grown in the country include green bananas, which occupy more than a third of the country's farmland, potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes, cassava, wheat and maize. Coffee and tea are the major cash crops for export, with the high altitudes, steep slopes and volcanic soils providing favourable conditions. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Zawadi vulnerable to shifts in their prices. Animals raised in Zawadi include cows, goats, sheep, pigs, chicken, and rabbits, with geographical variation in the numbers of each. Shortages of land and water, insufficient and poor-quality feed, and regular disease epidemics with insufficient veterinary services are major constraints that restrict output. Fishing takes place on the country's lakes, but stocks are very depleted, and live fish are being imported in an attempt to revive the industry.

Zawadi electricity supply was, until the late 2000s, generated almost entirely from hydroelectric sources; power stations on provided 94% of the country's electricity. A combination of below average rainfall and human activity, including the draining of the Azizi wetlands for cultivation and grazing, caused the two lakes' water levels to fall from 2000 onwards; by 2008 levels were reduced by 50%, leading to a sharp drop in output from the power stations. This, coupled with increased demand as the economy grew, precipitated a shortfall in 2008 and widespread loadshedding. As an emergency measure, the government installed diesel generators north of Usis; by 2006 these were providing 61% of the country's electricity, but were very costly. The government enacted a number of measures to alleviate this problem, including rehabilitating the Azizi wetlands, which supply water to dams and investing in a scheme to extract methane gas from Lake Bontu, expected in its first phase to increase the country's power generation by 46%.

 

 

The country has an international airport at Usis that serves several international destinations. In 2018, construction began on the '''Bayinika''' International Airport, to the south of Usis, which will become the country's largest when it opens, complementing the existing Usis airport. The national carrier is Zwanda Airways, and the country is served by seven foreign airlines. As of 2019 the country has no railways, but there is a project underway, in conjunction with Hawa and Republic Of Nyo, to extend the Nyo Central Line into Zawandi; the three countries have invited expressions of interest from private firms to form a public private partnership for the scheme.

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