| By Kirubel Tadesse | |
These include the ruling EPRDF, which is running for a fourth five-year term, and a number of other parties, including Medrek, a coalition of eight opposition groups who are fielding the second most candidates for the 547 seats after the ERPDF. A record 32 million voters, two million more than initially forecasted, are expected to cast their ballots on May 23.
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Monday, May 17, 2010
Election winner may be revealed within 48 hours
A provisional winner of the federal parliamentary elections could be declared as early as within 48 hours after polling stations are closed, a senior government official said.Friday, May 14, 2010
Ethiopia set for new power plant as tensions over the Nile basin rise
Egyptian boys play in the River Nile in Qalyoubia village north of Cairo. Ethiopia is constructing a raft of dams as it attempts to solve a debilitating power shortage as basin states wrangle over the use of the Nile's waters. Photo/FILE
Posted Friday, May 14 2010 at 15:56
IN SUMMARY
- Tans Beles Dam is one of many ongoing power projects and is located on the disputed Nile basin
- Countries on the basin are in disagreement over how to use the economically critical resource
Despite an ongoing rift on the use of the River Nile's waters, Ethiopia has launched a new hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile's river basin in western Ethiopia..
Ethiopia contributes 86 per cent of the Nile's waters.
On Friday the Horn of Africa country officially inaugurated its new Tana Beles hydro plant which has a capacity to generate 460 megawatts of power. Beles is located some 500 kilometres from Addis Ababa, the capital.
The Nile river basin nations are wrangling over water sharing rights after Egypt and Sudan refused to sign a new pact that would allow a review of how the basin states use the water.
Countries on the Nile's upstream were set to meet in Kampala on Friday to push for greater water allocation and to sign the framework agreement. Egypt, which currently hold the greatest right to Nile waters by virtue of a colonial-era agreement, opposes the meeting.
Ethiopia's new dam uses Lake Tana's water which significantly contributes to the River Nile's volume.
During the inauguration, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the completion of the new dam marks the realisation of Ethiopia’s 100-year effort to utilize its resource on the Nile basin.
Ethiopia built the dam without foreign support after international creditors refused to fund the project. The dam is estimated to have cost $500 million.
Priority
Mr Zenawi said the Ethiopian government is working to achieve a target to generate 5,000-8,000 Megawatts.
Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation chief executive Mihret Debebe Mihret Debebe said the Beles hydro-plant will add an additional 23 per cent to the national power grid.
Often suffering from food shortages, Ethiopia also set to cultivate 119 thousand hectares of land by agricultural irrigation from the outlet water of the dam.
“Our priority is to deal with the current power shortage at home,” Mr Mihret said.
Currently the country is grappling with a serious power shortage despite an ongoing dam construction boom across the nation.
Gibe 2 with a capacity of 420 MW was inaugurated five months ago but stopped generation after only two weeks after a rock fall hit a tunnel.
According to government officials, repair work is ongoing and Gibe 2 is expected to resume power generation in July.
Ethiopia is also constructing Gibe 3, which has a capacity of 1,870 MW and would be the biggest hydro dam in sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite fierce opposition from environmental groups, Ethiopia has moved to build more dams on Gibe River which flows to Lake Turkana in Kenya.
Ethiopia has already signed an agreement with Chinese companies to build Gibe 4 and Gibe 5 within the next four years.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Battle at the Press Discussion
Yesterday on 6/5/10 in remark of the World Press Freedom day, a meeting was held in Addis Abeba.It was sponsored by six organizations including the regime.
Most participants stated that the meeting ended without raising any issue or discussing about the existing climate of fear and unpopular media and election reporting laws.Publishers such as Amare Aregawi and other private and governmental media representatives finished the day with mere rhetoric and battle for supremacy.
How Will This Impact Ethiopia?
The international development community this week got its most detailed glimpse yet of draft plans to overhaul U.S. foreign assistance. A leaked White House paper suggests the creation of an interagency panel to spearhead aid policy and outlines steps to refocus operations on key strategic goals.
The draft, which is not final, raised more questions than it answered, especially about the exact relationship between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State. But a political firestorm may be brewing.
“The new White House plan to ‘elevate development as a pillar of national security strategy, equal to diplomacy and defense’ may spark the biggest political fight over development since Jesse Helms made the head of development report to the Secretary of State,” wrote Patrick Cronin in a May 4 opinion piece, referring to the former North Carolina senator who in the 1990s spearheaded efforts to marginalize USAID.
As a candidate for U.S. president, Barack Obama campaigned on the bold promise to double foreign assistance and revamp a bloated aid bureaucracy spread across the federal government. The draft paper indicates that he is not willing to go as far as many within the development community had hoped: The leaked document does not mention a cabinet-level “aid czar.”
USAID, however, appears to be on an upswing. The leaked document suggests beefing up capacity in budgeting as well as policy and planning, and on May 5, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced the creation of a policy and planning bureau, a move that was praised by the U.S. Senate’s top foreign policy experts.
The Obama administration remains engaged in two parallel foreign policy reviews: the State Department-led Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and the National Security Council-led presidential study directive on global development policy, which resulted in the leaked draft, according to Josh Rogin of the Foreign Policy magazine’s The Cable blog. But many issues remain unclear, including how exactly USAID and the State Department would collaborate on foreign assistance, and how the “hard choices” outlined in the leaked draft would affect USAID funding.
Congressional leaders have vowed to move ahead with reform even without clear guidance from the White House.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
THE EPRDF GENERATION
On the cloudy afternoon of April 27, 2010, at the teeming campus of Addis Abeba University’s Commercial College, sat an attention grabbing young man, Michael Alemayehu, 20, on a block fence, giving the impression of being busy while operating his iPhone. A second year student of Marketing Management, Michael resembles most of his metropolitan peers; he was outfitted in attire that made him look like rappers from the US such as 50 Cent or Akon.
He was waiting for his friend to arrive to select a place to hang out and tee off their afternoon. Michael was a year old when the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took state power 19 years ago this month.
He is one of the over 15 million young men and women between the ages of 15 to 24, constituting 20pc of the total population. Half of these were born in the early 1990s, shortly before, during, or after the collapse of the military government.
People like Michael have recently come of age and are eligible to vote in national elections for the first time this year. But electoral authorities do not have data to show how many of the 10 million Ethiopians whose ages allow them to be first time voters have actually registered to cast their votes in the elections to be held in three weeks.
Michael will not. He is not registered, for he does not care much about Ethiopian politics. He finds them boring and lacking in captivating elements, which the US Presidential Election had.
“President Obama is a charismatic leader,” Michael told Fortune. “I have not seen anyone of that sort in the Ethiopian political landscape.”
A resident of Nefas-Silk Lafto District, around Bisrate Gabriel Church, Michael showed little interest in the current national elections. He does not know, for instance, that some heavyweight politicians are running against their former allies from 2005 for a place at one of Addis Abeba’s 23 seats in the Federal Government. Hailu Shawel (Eng.) of the All Ethiopian Unity Organisation (AEUO) and Hailu Araya (PhD) of the Forum for Justice and Democratic Dialogue, a.k.a. Medrek, are an example of this, unbeknownst to him, and Aster Mamo of the incumbent EPRDF is also competing for the same seat.
His knowledge of political personalities is limited to a short list. Meles Zenawi of the EPRDF is one, while he thinks Hailu Shawel is still a leader of “Kinijit.” He also knew of Lidetu Ayalew, although he was not able to place him with any party.
“There are some other guys, but I am not sure about their names,” he said. “I am one of those people not big on politics.”
Nonetheless, Michael, who tends to slur his English, owes his knowledge of federalism and the Constitution to civic education classes during his high school years at Ethio-Parents. But that was not enough to spark any interest in politics. His strongest desire and wish is to go to London to see his favourite team, Arsenal FC, from the English Premier League, play at the Emirates Stadium.
In essence, young eligible voters such as Michael do not have vivid impressions of the Derg Regime. Eritrea as part of Ethiopia is merely part of the distant history of the nation.
There is no emotional connection. Yet, these were issues that were lucidly placed in the minds of the pre-EPRDF generation of Ethiopia, who are at times thin-skinned when such issues are raised during casual conversations.A probe into the thought processes of the EPRDF generation reveals a disturbing level of indifference and insensitivity towards political issues. One of these young adults spoke quite frankly to Fortune about his impressions of the affairs of state. Although the awareness of his peers leaves a lot to be desired, it is clear that the interests of this crowd are engaged elsewhere; mostly in the English Premier League. What are politicians doing to appeal to this very large demographic, who is for the most part being lured towards western customs? Are the youth of today appreciated or are they justified in feeling left out and inconsequential? Read the Interview
This deficiency in political interest is apparently a feature that detaches members of the post-Derg EPRDF generation from the preceding generation. They seem to have little qualms with the Constitution, including the controversial Article 39, as they see hardly anything controversial about the political structure that many of their elders oppose as “ethnic politics.” They are products of a school system that taught them the provisions of the Constitution during Civics classes.
Ironically, they are devoid, at the same time, of a profound knowledge of the country’s political system.
“I am going to vote for Meles,” Samrawit Tarekegn, 20, a second year accounting student at the commercial college, told Fortune. “I do not know much about the other candidates. I think he is the only one who can lead the country.”
Her registration to vote is an exception among her two friends. Leisurely sitting and chatting inside Tele Bar, Tinbit Abraham and Tsega Kebede seemed uninterested in the whole conversation on politics.
All three of them were not interested in politics, Tinbit said, giggling, and teased Tsega that she was not interested in anything in life.
In response, music and contemporary vogue were two subjects that Tsega mentioned she had an interest in, giving Tinbit a shrug.
“Politics in Africa are what people get killed over,” Tsega told Fortune. “I do not want to be involved in anything of that sort.”
Their lifestyles for far too long have focused on non-political and non-sports areas, Tsega and her friends believe. For the young men of their age, though, music and sports dominate as their major preoccupations in life.
“We never seem to agree on politics, but the subjects we happen to agree on are sports and music,” a student of Bahir Dar Technology College said of his relationships with his friends.
One of them is Eskedar Mulugojjam, a second year Mechanics student at the college. Seated inside Mango Recreation Centre, Eskedar used to have the enthusiasm to participate in elections. Her enthusiasm vanished after she lost hope. She thinks that she does not have a role to play anymore.
“I have not been registered to vote,” Eskedar told Fortune. “I also do not like to talk about politics; it is just pointless.”
These young men and women are radically different from the generation of the student movements back in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the figures from these movements are now leaders of the country, whether in politics, business, or social sectors. It was a revolutionary generation with a strong passion for reform and social transformation that fought for regime change. In history, involvement of the youth in Ethiopia’s politics has altered the course of the country more than once.
“The participation of the youth and students in particular was observed both in the seventies and eighties,” a political history lecturer at Addis Abeba University, told Fortune.
Although the revolutionary generation of that era succeeded in forcing the Imperial Regime to collapse, it nonetheless continued both armed political struggles and nonviolent political struggles against the military junta. The leading members of the generation thought that the military junta had hijacked the revolution that they originally stirred. One is unlikely to see such a degree of enthusiasm about political engagement from many members of the EPRDF generation.
The youth of today lack zeal and passion for political participation. This phenomenon is mostly seen in youths that come from urban areas, according to the political history lecturer.
“They are more inclined to movies, music, and sports than politics,” he told Fortune. “This is the case with other countries as well.”
This lack of basic interest in politics is not an anomaly, from a social scientist’s perspective. It may be inevitable for youngsters not to feel strongly about, participate in, or consider politics as a priority, a sociologist and social researcher from the Addis Abeba University told Fortune.
“The inadequate knowledge they have about politics is what they learned from their Civics classes in school,” said the sociologist. “Although it may be considered [by others] not to be enough, they think it is sufficient for them.”
Michael and the three young women find the media outlets, particularly the state owned TV, boring. It does not cater to their needs, and therefore is not given a chance to increase their limited political literacy.
“I get frustrated when ETV shows some uninteresting programme, cancelling live transmission of the Premier League matches,” Michael told Fortune.
Dinner time is the most important time of the day for Tsega and her family. While her mother and two brothers discuss how they spent their day, her father usually increases the volume of the TV using a remote control. He wants to watch the news of the day that comes on at 8:00pm.
“I do not like it when my Dad does that,” Tsega said. “But we are all used to it and continue our conversations while he complains that we are not letting him watch the news.”
Lidetu Ayalew, leader of the party that portrays itself as the “party of the future,” attributes such apathy to the media. It fails to appeal to this group of voters, he said.
“The incumbent controls the mainstream media, and it has failed to appropriately orient the youth to the politics of the country,” Lidetu said.
But, hardly any of the parties vying for political power seem to recognise the existence of this segment of voters. Their campaign strategies are not designed to win their votes.
Jemal Mohammed, 21, and Keribu Hassen, 21, both third year students at Addis Abeba University, are among a section of the youth that have specific demands. Jemal, from Adama (Nazareth), and Keribu, from Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, are unlike most of their peers. They do not watch football but do have a thing for music. They also closely follow the politics of the country.
Keribu tried to go into details, demonstrating his knowledge on the agenda of the parties and what every party claims to stand for. He thinks that the agendas of the parties are not what the youth of today are yearning for.
He and his friends want jobs after graduation.
“I cannot wait to graduate, get a job, and earn my own living,” said Keribu, while nervously rubbing his hair backwards, apparently a habit he is unaware of. Keribu fears that he may not get a job after graduation, claiming that the political parties running for office are not properly addressing the needs of the youth.
“They had a debate on federalism, agriculture, and education but nothing on the youth,” he told Fortune. “This shows me that they do not care much about us.”
Despite their evident failure to recognise this group of first time voters, many of the political party leaders claim to be doing things for the youth.
“I can confidently say that we are the only party that has pledged to provide one million jobs,” Lidetu told Fortune.
He is referring to his party’s campaign manifesto, which made such promises for the army of the unemployed, largely made up of youths.
It is not only employment the youth need, according to Temesgen Zewdie, one of the leaders of the parties that make up Medrek. The aspirations of the youth are strongly linked with educational policy, he said.
“This is where the incumbent failed, but we have an extensive plan for the youth to be part of the development process,” Temesgen said.
Leaders of the incumbent, however, claim that they have addressed the demands of the youth across the country through the expansion of education and the creation of employment opportunities.
“Though we should have done more to address the youth, I believe we have done enough,” Hailemariam Desalegn, a member of the central committee of the EPRDF and one of the campaign managers of his party, told Fortune.
His party has been working rigorously in various forms, providing opportunities for the youth, he claims. Hundreds of millions of Birr to finance the formation of 167,835 micro and small enterprises (MSEs) active in the construction of condominiums was part of this drive that was aimed at engaging younger voters. The government they run claims to have created 1.3 million jobs since 2006, according to Kassu Illala (PhD), minister of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD), who testified before Parliament last week.
The ruling party is also known to have used higher education institutions as recruiting grounds, an effort that swelled its rank and file by over four million since the last election. For a party that was on a collision course with the youth during and after the 2005 national elections, this could be taken as a phenomenal reverse.
Members of the youth, however, need motivation and inspiration that go beyond campaign pledges in order to make them actively participate in the politics of the country, according to the political history lecturer. Thus political parties have a lot more to do to rope in members of the EPRDF generation such as Michael, Samrawit, Tsega, and Tinbit. They may not be visible, but their existence in staggering numbers could alter the course of the election as their predecessors did with their revolution four decades ago.
Monday, May 3, 2010
First ladies behaving badly in Africa
IN SUMMARY
- First ladies are using their position for purposes of personal aggrandisement, rather than for furthering the interests of women
- In 2008, foreign shopping trips by Swazi queens elicited so much outcry that ordinary citizens took to the streets in protest
- Imelda Marcos was often remembered for owning over 3000 pairs of shoes
- yet unrevealed Azeb Mesfin and her multi-billion ,EFFORT
Zimbabwean First Lady, Ms Grace Amai Mugabe presented herself as a role model worth emulating during Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika’s recent wedding.
Ms Mugabe advised Malawi’s new first lady Ms Callista Chimombo Mutharika to follow her heart and do what pleases her irrespective of what people think. She also pledged to be there should her ‘wise counsel’ and experience be sought as she welcomed Ms Callista to the league of African heads of state spouses.
This was not well received by some Malawians going by certain remarks on Nyasa Times, the country’s daily newspaper. The readers argued that listening to Ms Mugabe would be tantamount to crumbling of a nation. “Shame, to you Grace. Two third of Zimbabwean are languishing in abject poverty because of your mismanagement of the economy,” screamed one of the comments.
Ms Mugabe has been on the record for the wrong reasons if press reports are anything to go by. A part from doing what she does best – shopping abroad, assaulting a British journalist last year in Hong Kong was more puzzling for a person in her position. Scores of Zimbabweans also blame President Mugabe’s blunders on her.
This brought to the limelight efficiency of such women tasked with bettering conditions for their nations’ less privileged. Reports have it that they have since abandoned their roles of reaching out to the less privileged, unless it is for public relations purposes.
Symbols of extravagance
Some African first ladies are slowly spinning into symbols of corrupt extravagance of their husbands’ political reign. That is why it would be prudent for one to foresee further stench the position brings to political governance in various nations according to Nigerian Muse blog.
A report on Feminist Africa, publication of African Gender Institute states that the first lady phenomenon has created a dynamic political space which has been appropriated and used by the wives and friends of men in power for purposes of personal aggrandisement, rather than for furthering the interests of women.
And speaking of extravagant lifestyles, then Ms Grace Mugabe would definitely lead the list of Imelda Marcos of this continent as others follow closely.
Imelda Marcos, the wife of the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos was known for her corrupt dealings and unquenchable thirst for expensive fashion and trips abroad. She was often remembered for owning over 3000 pairs of shoes.
World tour
Swaziland’s King Mswati III's wives have also not been left out of the international shopping extravaganzas. Five out of his13 wives and 40 attendants were reportedly on a ‘world tour’ that included stop -offs in France, Italy, Taiwan and the United States.
On one shopping occasion, they spent about $ 6 million from public coffers according to theTimes of Swaziland, the country’s daily. In 2008, these trips by Swazi queens elicited so much outcry and ordinary Swazi women took to the streets to protest.
The late Ms Stella Obasanjo too cannot go without mention in reference to profligacy during her husband Mr Olusegun Obasanjo’s reign in Nigeria. Her extravagance came to the fore after Midwest Herald newspaper ran an article “ Greedy Stella” accusing her of organising the sale of 207 government-owned properties to her relatives at reduced prices. This attracted widespread criticism for her ostentatious displays of wealth and lavish lifestyle.
Wife of Cameroon President Ms Chantal Biya too wasted no time when she came to the scene in 1996 by getting her wardrobe set for the role of first lady. Being married to a president is so imperative and Ms Biya makes quite an impression with her extravagant hairstyles, exotic wardrobes and shopping trips with her entourage.
The list of such women in Africa’s presidential quarters is endless and the few examples here illustrate a sharp contrast to the struggle of millions of Africans who cannot afford basic commodities like food and proper healthcare as the people on the throne waste public resources to fund their ostentatious lifestyles.
Since the first ladies play significant roles in shaping political processes in their countries, it would be prudent for them to put their acts in order as their roles demand.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The arrest of two ETV journalists
Journalist Haileyesus Worku
The two journalists, Haileyesus Worku and Abdusumed Mohammed, are working for theEthiopia Radio and Television Enterprises for a long time.
The suspected journalists were detained early this week following a tip-off to the Ethiopian Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The two journalists, who appeared on Friday before a court in Addis Ababa, were accused of negotiating to transfer confidential documents from the enterprise to a foreign media agency.
The police requested the court to remand them for a few for more days to carry out their investigations, which request was granted by the court.
The police said they have witnesses, and have also seized CDs and other incriminating materials from the houses of the suspects. However, it is not yet clear what kind of documents the journalists were negotiating to transfer.
One of the local newspapers, The Reporter, had earlier said that the accused journalists were trying to transfer the undisclosed documents to Al Jazeera and were about to be paid around US$80,000.
The case has been adjourned for 10 May 2010.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Ethiopia's royal family in negotiation in Addis Abeba
Sons of Prince Mekonnen, favourite son of the emperor, have been negotiating with the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency (PPESA). The venue in central Addis Ababa became a hotel in 1951 to host guests that were expected to come to attend the establishment of the Organization of African Union (OAU).
Apart from Ghion, Meskal Flower and Ethiopia Hotel were also refurbished for guests that were expected to flock to the country for the event.
A German-based company named Dinkanesh is negotiating the acquisition of Ghion Hotel, which is expected to be concluded by next week.
Ghion has been a focus for many high profile business people and companies for the last couple of years after the government invited interested parties to a joint venture in the hotel.
The royal family, has been in talks to get the hotel back from the government after the Derg confiscated it.
Sources told Capital that the negotiation is in its final stage and is likely to be successful this time around after so many attempts to partially privatise it. The two parties are negotiating on how to refurbish the hotel in the future.
Officials of PPEPSA declined to comment on the issue, saying that it would be finalised by next week and comments now were not appropriate.
The Saudi billionaire Prince Al Wallid bin Tallal was among the first to show strong interest in buying the hotel. Other international companies have also signaled their interest in co-owning the Ghion.
Dhabi Group, which is based in Abu Dhabi and has a large number of subsidiaries that operate in the industrial sector in the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, has shown interest in the acquisition.
TATA International, which is an Indian investment group established in 1962, has also submitted its business plan for a joint venture to PPESA.
The other international firm to have shown its interest is the Israeli consortium, Union Blessed Limited. It is engaged in real estate in Asia, South America and Israel.
SSO Property Limited, a consortium of prospective investors from Nigeria and Dubai also expressed interest by submitting a detailed plan in April 2008. The company wants to take up to a 70 per cent share in the hotel and invest 200 million dollars in its renovation.
This project was expected to refurbish the hotel to a five-star hotel and to have 250 rooms, a 2,000 seat convention centre, a new Ethiopian restaurant, a health and spa centre, 230 apartments, and a mall with a cinema inside.
Sources told Capital that members of the royal family were at Hilton Hotel until last week negotiating with government officials on how to conduct the negotiations. According to sources, representatives of the royal family also assessed possible cooperation with Hilton Hotel, but the negotiations are not official. Hilton Hotel also showed interest in taking the management of Ghion Hotel some years ago.
Ghion Hotels Enterprise was established by the government in 1951 and used to operate a chain of 11 hotels, which were all found in north Ethiopia, except National Hotel, which was sold to the Ethiopian Athletics Federation last week. Furthermore, Roha Hotel, one of the hotels administered by Ghion Hotel, was transferred to Ayat Real Estate after the latter won a bid.
Despite operating old hotels with rundown facilities in many of its properties, including in the capital, the enterprise had an after tax profit of 10.6 million birr in 2004.
The hotel is well known for its tastefully furnished rooms, enchanting gardens with their exotic plants and flowers, and thermally heated bathing and swimming pools.
Frustarted Woyane's recent statment
Nigeria: Ethiopian, Fekado, Now Virgin Nigeria CEO
27 April 2010
Lagos — Ethiopian aviation expert, Kinfa Fekado, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Virgin Nigeria recently acquired by Jimoh Ibrahim. Fekado, 47, was until his appointment on Tuesday by the board of Virgin Nigeria, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ethiopia Airline.
He takes over from Dapo Olumide, bringing with him years of experience in the aviation industry. The board, which met in Lagos, also appointed Steven Ojo as Executive Director (ED) Accounts and Finance, and S. Tadafera ED (Treasury).It advised Olumide to hand over to Fekado. Olumide was expected at the meeting but he did not show up. He did not give reasons for his absence.
There were reports on Monday that he resigned his appointment with effect from Tuesday. The board approved the opening of letter of credit for the purchase of two new aircraft, to be financed by United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Members of Virgin Nigeria Board are Ibrahim, Godwin Eze-Iyamu (Vice Chairman), Jim Okeowo, Nda Isaiah (Leadership publisher), Stephen Ogedengbe, Emmanuel Jegede (NICON Managing Director, MD), and Isioma Chukwuma, (Nigeria Re MD).
Ibrahim disclosed last weekend that he has bought controlling shares in the company, and promised to reinvigorate its operations for better performance
Monday, April 19, 2010
White honey grows scarce as bees abandon Ethiopia's parched peaks
Drought forces bees into valleys in search of flowers, meaning they produce yellow honey
The truffle of the apiary world – rare white honey from Ethiopia's highest peaks – is in danger of disappearing, according to beekeepers in the Tigray region. "No rain for the flowers,'' said Ashenaf Abera as he stood on his rocky, parched slope in the northern Ethiopian region whose famine inspired Bob Geldof to stage Live Aid in 1985. "The bees need high-altitude flowers for the white honey. When they cannot find them, they go to other plants and produce yellow honey.''
Abera is paid £65 a month to mind 270 hives for the Asira Metira monastery, one of a dozen religious centres in an area whose 4th-century rock churches are among the wonders of the world. "We know about bees,'' said honey seller Sheikh Mohamed Ahamedin. He grips a large screwdriver with both hands to ladle a dollop of thick and lumpy white honey out of a plastic bucket. It is snow-white and tastes sweet and more waxy than yellow honey.
"The price is the highest it has ever been this year, because of scarcity,'' said Ahamedin who sells white honey for £7.75 per kilo. Last year he charged £4.50. Ethiopia is Africa's biggest honey producer and the world's fourth biggest beeswax exporter. After coffee, gold and cowhide, bee products are major contributors to the economy, especially through exports to Italy, where white honey is considered a delicacy. Bees' products are the only export item produced by Tigray's impoverished 4.6 million people, whose region is said to be one of the worst-hit in the world by climate change.
Such is Ethiopians' love of honey that apitherapy clinics offer treatments for many ailments. The national drink is tej – honey mead.
Beekeepers are increasingly scrapping traditional mud hives for square box-like hives from Europe which produce a higher yield. "The bees will not make white honey in the modern hives, but at least with them we can obtain a decent yield of yellow honey,'' he said.
The region's bee population is also in decline, with climate change and deforestation to blame. Tigray was a wealthy, lush region 150 years ago when its king, Johannes IV, brought a carpenter from Italy to fashion his imposing throne from local juniper wood. But wars with Italy, Egypt, Sudan and neighbouring Eritrea led to deforestation. '"Without the trees, the rainwater – which seems to be declining – does not run off the limestone in a useful way. That is why we end up with a landscape of rocks and little else,'' said local water expert Leul Fisseha.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Barley developed at Utah State bound for Ethiopia
I hope this will change soon and USA will take our varieties .Pray and also work hard.
The Associated Press
Logan » Two varieties of barley developed by Utah State University researchers will be distributed in Ethiopia to help combat famine and improve economic conditions.
The crops -- varieties known as Walker and Aquila -- were developed by USU's Small Grains Research program with support from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.
Both of the six-row barley varieties grow well in arid climates, develop seed heads early and produce heavier grains relative to many other varieties.
Stan Young of the Utah Crop Improvement Association says that means growers will get an adequate harvest even in poor conditions and with little or no fertilizer or pest control.
Morrell Agro Industries, an extension of the Morrell Family Charities, provided the funding to get the barley seeds to Ethiopia.
