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Dam construction stirs up controversy in Ethiopia
Published Tuesday, May 04, 2010 Burning Issues - Others Burning Issues - Others
A dam under construction in Ethiopia that aims to provide hydroelectric power to the country and surrounding areas has become the center of controversy in recent weeks. The Gibe III Dam, which has been under construction since 2006, is one of five hydroelectric dams planned for the Omo River as part of an effort by the Ethiopian government to facilitate economic development. Numerous environmental and human rights organizations have expressed concerns over the dam’s potential impact on the environment and the area’s indigenous people. Full Text
Weekly Humanitarian Highlights in Ethiopia 26 April 2010
Published Monday, April 26, 2010  Burning Issues - Others
Afar, Tigray and Amhara regions between 5 and 23 April 2010. In Tigray Region, OCHA together with WFP, UNHCR, IOM and FAO assessed the situation of 3,500 people displaced due to the recent fire in Kafta Humera woreda. According to the team the food need of the fire displaced people is well addressed, while gaps remain in water, non-food items and shelter. The team also conducted rapid assessment in food insecure areas in Central zone; deteriorating food security situation is reported in Laelay Adiabo, Tahtay Adiabo, Tanqua Abergele, War-e-lehe and Ahferom woredas in Central zone ... Full Text
Massive flash flood in Dire Dawa - Ethiopia
Published Saturday, April 24, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
On April 23, 2010, unexpectedly a massive flash flood scared the people of Dire Dawa. Unlike the floods of recent years, this one left no one homeless. Dire Dawa residents counted themselves as fortunate and blessed to have survived the flooding without major incident. "City should have had Crtically Needed flood early detection system along with a warning mechanism well in place by now following the very tragic past expereince." Full Text
Getting water to Ethiopia's poorest
Published Friday, April 16, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
While Ethiopia remains one of the hungriest countries in the world, with more than 13m people needing food aid, much of this fertile land is being used by rich countries and some of the world’s richest people to export food for their own populations. Local government officers in Ethiopia told the Belfast Telegraph that foreign companies that set up flower farms and other intensive farms such as coffee farms have yet to pay any money for their water usage. “We would like to charge them, but the deal is made by central government" Full Text
Opposition grows against Ethiopia dam and power plant
Published Tuesday, April 06, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
The building of the GIBE III dam and hydro-electric power plant is attracting yet more opposition from the international environmental watchdogs, relevant NGOs, local advocacy groups, and the affected communities following ever more details emerging over the scale of displacement of local people living in affected areas. The opposition movement also gained further strength, when the Gibe II dam partly collapsed only days after formally commissioning it, resulting in accusations of shoddy work and warning of the potential fallout should something like this also happen at the Gibe III project. Full Text | IRIN
A Thousand Suns: the view from Ethiopia’s Gamo Highlands
Published Monday, April 05, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
The Gamo Highlands are perched high above the African Rift Valley in SW Ethiopia. This isolated area is one of the most densely populated parts of rural Africa that have been farmed sustainably since agriculture was created 10,000 years ago. The zone is currently home to four million people whose culture and ecology have remained intact in the face of both colonialism and globalization. However, as the short film A Thousand Suns (embedded below) illustrates, the worldview of the Gamo people... View Video and Text
Giant Ethiopian dam to make 200,000 go hungry: NGO
Published Friday, March 26, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
More than 200,000 Ethiopians who rely on fishing and farming could become reliant on aid to survive if the government goes ahead with building Africa's biggest hydropower dam, an advocacy group said. Tribal rights group Survival International says the dam will cause displacement and upset fishing and farming. Among tribes that will be affected are the Kwegu and the Hamar. Ethiopia is negotiating funding for the dam, which began construction in 2006, with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Italian government. "No respectable outside body should be funding this atrocious project," Survival International director, Stephen Corry, said in a statement. Full Text
Group begins campaign against hydroelectric dam project in Ethiopia
Published Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
International charity Survival International on Tuesday began a campaign to block the construction of a hydroelectric dam on Ethiopia's Omo River, saying it would devastate the lives of 200,000 people. The massive Gibe III dam is expected to provide 1,800 megawatts of electricity by 2012, which the Ethiopian government says is needed to meet growing power demands. But Survival International said the dam, which would create a 150-kilometre-long lake, would prevent local tribes from planting their crops in the flood plains. Full Text
Traffickers exploit World Cup fever
Published Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
Some 20,000 to 25,000 Ethiopians are trafficked to various countries annually, the January report notes. Together with smuggling from Somalia, the business is worth up to US$40 million a year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Traffickers operate in organized groups of eight to 25 in big towns. “Human traffickers use various tricks, including the deception that South Africa has created employment opportunities. Full Text
Ethiopia - Foreign farm investment
Published Monday, March 15, 2010 Burning Issues - Others
Horn of Africa reporters have been tracing the aggressive entry of foreign investors who have leased from Ethiopian government large tracts of arable land. Critics cite figures compiled on Ethiopia and other African countries that illustrate displacement of farmers and threats of land degradation and other environmental threats. Source
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