Posts

Showing posts from March, 2016

Ethiopia body suspends farm lease programme after poor results

(Reuters) - An Ethiopian state body that has been involved in leasing tracts of land for commercial farming has suspended the issuance of new licences until it completes a review because of scant progress in developing areas leased so far, an official said. The Horn of Africa country in 2011 allocated 3.6 million hectares of land, close to the size of Switzerland, for firms seeking to invest in agriculture, mostly around its western Gambela and Benishangul Gumuz regions. More than 2.43 million hectares has been leased to nearly 5,700 domestic and foreign firms at 20 Ethiopian birr ($0.90) per hectare on average, said Daniel Zenebe, spokesman for the Agriculture Investment and Land Administration Agency. But investors have only developed 30 percent of the land leased. "There is a need for a review on where it has gone wrong. The suspension is indefinite," he said. For now, the suspension affects the Agriculture Investment and Land Administration Agency, which has lea

Hawassa University held fabulous farewell to Dr. Bekele Bulado

Image
Bekele Bulado (PhD), photo from HU Dr. Bekele Bulado former Vice President for Business and Development, HU, was given warm farewell March 19, 2016 following his assignment as CEO for the Ethiopian Trading Businesses Corporation. At an event held at Haile Resort Hawassa the University President, Vice Presidents, Directors and officers at various capacities attended. Prof. Yosef Mamo, HU President, counted the successful contributions of Dr. Bekele from the days of his leadership as Vice President for Administration and Business Development before his departure for PhD study. Various speakers like Mr. Ayano Beriso, Vice President for Administration & Student Services, Prof. Fikere Dessalegn, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Sheleme Beyene – former Vice President for Academic and Research Affairs and and W/ro Almaz Kebede, Office Assistant at Presidents’ Office and the former Office Assistant of Dr. Bekele, Prof. Etana Debela, Colleague and former Head of School of

ወቅታዊ የሃዋሳ ከተማ ገጽታ

Image
በዳዊት በቀለ

PAFD in a High Level Conference to Establish Governing Council

Image
The Peoples’ Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD) has been deliberating an important high level international conference in the Eritrean capital, Asmara for last several days. Kala  Betana Hotesso, chairman of SNLF,  Photo from Gadaa.net PAFD, founded and inaugurated on 23 October, 2015 in Oslo, Norway, is comprised of five armed national liberation movements – Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF), Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement (BPLM), Gambela People’s Liberation Movement (GPLM), all of whom are engaged in national liberation struggles against the Addis Ababa regime in Ethiopia. The conference, being convened and participated by all founding members of PAFD, is also attended by various dignitaries, including ambassadors, government representatives and high profile eminent persons. The Ogaden News Agency has confirmed that the primary objective of the meeting is to create a General Counci

Clean Rivers and Profitable Farms in Ethiopia’s Coffee Country

Image
On World Water Day, we highlight coffee farming communities in Ethiopia that are taking action for clean water.  To provide for his five children, farmer Belayneh Otisso relies on the income he earns supplying coffee to his local cooperative’s wet mill. But he could see the environmental damage caused by the mill every harvest season, when it would send noxious wastewater into the neighboring river. “When the animals drank from [the river], they died. The children of the community were stricken with waterborne illnesses. When the wastewater was used for irrigation, the crops were destroyed,” he said. The wet mill would have to shut down for a week or two at a time when the pollution was at its worst, driving down the price that local farmers received for their coffee. It’s a problem that has been shared by many coffee-farming communities in Ethiopia. Wet mills, which separate the coffee bean from the cherry that surrounds it, produce a consistent, high-quality product, allowing

Farmers on the frontline: Change and transformation in Ethiopia’s (Sidama) watersheds

Image
Two women in Sidama Zone, Ethiopia. Alan Nicol By  Alan Nicol  and  Likimyelesh Nigussie  ( IWMI ). This post first appeared on on  The World Bank’s Governance for Development Blog .  Selilah stares out over a landscape she has inhabited for 70 years. In the valley below, deep gullies scar the slopes where rains have carried away the soil. Living with three of her four sons, she is struggling to make ends meet in this part of Sidama Zone, Ethiopia, where, she says, there used to be a forest more than 40 years ago. Now most trees have been felled and water is scarce. Selilah spends two hours a day collecting her two jerrycans (50 liters) from a neighboring kebele (neighborhood), but when that source fails she has to buy water from a vendor at ETB 6 (30 US Cents) per a jerrycan, a huge cut into her income. In the last 10 years, she says, the rains have changed – they are lighter than before and more infrequent. As a result, production from her meager plot – just 0.25 ha – is dec

CULTURAL JUSTICE OF SIDAMA PEOPLE

Image
CULTURAL JUSTICE OF SIDAMA PEOPLE Sidama people have their concept of Seera, which gives them a feeling of identity strong moral commitment, and culturally defined ability to debate conflicts and create consensus. In cultural morality and ethics of Sidama society, truth has great value and justice procedure treat through Halaale/truth principles through analyze by Hayyo/logical reasoning. This could be a strong asset for building a democracy. Among them, Sidama people gather at Gudumale/gathering place and at Mote/chief before Cimeessa/elder; the truth never gets dried up, rather it continues strong and viable. The justice of Sidama/conflicts resolution mechanism is taken place with four levels of councils that deliberate and decide on matters of societal affairs which show the democratic nature of the system. It includes in ascending from lower to high: Olluu Songo (the lowest unit of elders council), Ayidu Songo (medium level council) and Garote Songo (the highest council of elders).

Dagger Mountain Roastery Ethiopia Sidama Ardi

Image
We’ve come to the end of the road of the samples that  Dagger Mountain Roastery  sent my way. Even more sad, this coffee is sold out (although that’s a good problem for my friends in Valparaiso, IN!). Nonetheless, it’s worth sharing my thoughts with you so it can help you make good coffee purchasing choices in the future! When this coffee was available, it retailed directly from Dagger Mountain Roastery for $18/12oz bag. The coffee is made up of heirloom varietals grown around the town of Kilenso Moconissa in the Sidama region of Ethiopia. Altitude is 1850-1950masl in this part of the country and this is a natural process coffee with tasting notes of, “Strawberry, blueberry, cocoa nibs, orange wafer.” So, first things first, which is correct? Sidama or Sidamo, because you’ll see it written both ways all the time. Well, both are correct, so never fret, my spell-checking friends! The language of Ethiopia, Amharic, uses its own non-Roman characters for letter, and there is no agreed

Muranda strikes as Bira holds Sidama

Kenyan striker Eric Muranda struck once as Sidama Bunna were held to a 1 – 1 draw by Dashen Bira in an Ethiopian Premier League fixture played on Friday 4 March in Yirgalem. The former Tusker FC, City Stars and Posta Rangers man broke the deadlock on the sixth minute capitalizing on the opponent’s defensive lapse but Yetesha Gizaw pulled back in the 37th minute. Position None of the side could snatch the winner in the final half. Bunna remains fourth on the 14-team log with 19 points, four behind leaders St. George FC from 13 games. Bira on their side are a point above the relegation zone. Muranda, meanwhile scored his third goal so far this season. Degu Debebe Elsewhere, Hawassa Ketema edged out champions St. George in a game played at Hawassa Stadium. Firdawek Sisay and Asechalew Girma scored a goal apiece for Hawassa with Degu Debebe getting a consolation for the visitors. Source

Ethiopia Leaders Saint George in Shock Defeat

Saint George missed an opportunity to extend their lead at top as Hawassa City beat them 2-1 in a Week 13 of the Ethiopian Premier League on Saturday, 4 March 2016. The 'Horsemen' were in league action for the first time since a 1-1 draw away wit Seychellois side, Saint Michel United at the preliminary round of the Orange CAF Champions League. It was the second loss for the Addis Ababa based side, after a 2-0 defeat to Adama City last October. The hosts, Hawassa City were the dominant side in the first half creating numerous goal scoring chances in the process. Captain Mulugeta Mherete and Mujib Kassim came very close to open the scores whilst Adane Girma had the best attempt on goal at the other end. Hawassa broke the deadlock nine minutes after recess through Firdaaweke Sisay. Desta Yohannis set up Sisay to slot home from close range and give Hawassa a surprising lead. Saint George managed to equalize when captain Degu Debebe headed home a free kick from Behailu A

በፕሪሚየር ሊጉ ሀዋሳ ከተማ ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስን አሸነፈ

Image
(ኤፍ.ቢ.ሲ) የኢትዮጵያ ፕሪሚየር ሊግ የ13ኛ ሳምንት ዛሬ በተደረጉ ሁለት ጨዋታዎች ተጀምሯል። ሁለቱም ጨዋታዎች በክልል የተደረጉ ሲሆን፥ እነዚህም ሀዋሳ እና ይርጋለም ላይ የተካሄዱት። በዚህም መሰረት ዛሬ በ09፡00 ሰዓት ሀዋሳ ላይ ሀዋሳ ከተማ ሊጉን በአንደኝነት የሚመራውን ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስን በሜዳው አስተናግዷል። ጨዋታውንም ሀዋሳ ከተማ 2ለ1 በሆነ ውጤት አሸንፏል። ለሀዋሳ ከተማ የማሸነፊያ ጎሎቹን ፍርደአወቅ ሲሳይ እና አስቻለው ግርማ ከመረብ ያሳረፉ ሲሆን፥ ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስን በባዶ ከመውጣት የታደገችውን ጎል ደግሞ ደጉ ደበበ ከመረብ አሳርፏል። በተመሳሳይ ዛሬ በ09፡00 ሰዓት ላይ በተደረገ ሌላ ጨዋታ ይርጋለም ላይ ሰዳማ ቡናን እና  ዳሽን ቢራን አገናኝቷል። ጨዋታውም 1ለ1 በሆነ የአቻ ውጤት የተጠናቀቀ ሲሆን፥ ለሲዳማ ቡና ኤሪክ ሙራንዳ እንዲሁም የተሸ ግዛው ደግሞ ለዳሸን ቢራ የአቻነት ጎሎቹን ከመረብ አሳርፈዋል።  የ13ኛ ሳምንት ቀሪ ጨዋታዎች እሁድ እና ማክሰኞ ቀጥሎ የሚደረጉ ሲሆን፥ እሁድ በ09፡00 ሰዓት በሚደረጉ ጨዋታዎች ድሬዳዋ ላይ ድሬዳዋ ከተማ ከአርባምንጭ ከተማን እንዲሁም  ሆሳዕና ላይ ሀድያ ሆሳዕና ከደደቢት ጨዋታቸውን ያደርጋሉ። እንዲሁም ማክሰኞ 09፡00 ሰዓት ላይ ወላይታ ድቻ ኢትዮጵያ ቡናን ቦዲቲ ላይ የሚያስተናግድ ሲሆን፥ በተመሳሳይ መከላከያ  አዳማ ከተማን አዲስ አበባ ስታድየም ያስተናግዳል። የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ ከኤሌክትሪክ  ደግሞ ጨዋታቸውን  በ11፡30 አዲስ አበባ ስታድየም ጨዋታቸውን ያደርጋሉ። ትናነት በተደረገ የኢትዮጵያ ፕሪምየርሊግ የ12ኛ ሳምንት የመጨረሻ ጨዋታ አዳማ ከተማ ኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክን ገጥሞ 3 ለ 2 በሆነ ውጤት ተሸንፏል። በሌላ የፕሪሚየር ሊጉ መርሃ ግብር ኤሌክትሪ