Tigray is located in the northern highlands of Ethiopia on an area covering 51,560 square kilometres.  About 60 percent of the total regional population of 4.3 million people (3,519,000 rural and 816,000 urban) is estimated to be living in chronic poverty. Smallholder agriculture made up of mixed cereal cropping and livestock production dominates the economy, employs 90 percent of the population and contributes 50 percent to the Regional Gross Domestic Product (RGDP).  Approximately 68 percent of the land mass is considered arable and 12 percent is classified as woodlands