Worancha ወራንቻ

Photo:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=571538989577372&set=a.102187106512565.2988.100001638274338&type=1&theater By: Kinkino Kia, August, 2013 As known, a Sidama nation is among the few nations in the world who have its own calendar. Its new year and calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar, is also different from the Gregorian, Muslim and Ethiopian calendar. Moreover, the Sidama’s new year calendar is not based on pre-determined and fixed date. Its date is fixe and determined only through the ablest observations of the Sidama traditional astrologists who follow the location of the stars in relation to the moon and fix the date of Fichee accordingly. This is the very unique element inherent in the Sidama’s calendar and which also distinguishes the Sidama’s from other counterparts. However, this unique historical and cultural heritage has been not able to get wider media coverage for long. This short piece criticizes the national telev

1. Introduction The Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project aims at supporting the GoE’s efforts to transform the smallholder subsistence agricultural sector to a more market-oriented smallholder sector to contribute to the new GTP. The project will be implemented over a 6 year period, starting April 2012 till March 2018, including a planning phase. The project shall be implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in partnership with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Bureau of Agriculture/Livestock Development Agencies and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes. The project is funded by The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project uses a value chain framework to develop targeted commodities. Such a framework recognizes value chain actors who add value at differe

Fantu Debele, a mother of four small children, has been preparing the corn for half a day and is about to carry it to a street near to her village, Cazainchis. She bought a sack of corn (corn on the cob) for 150 birr from the market, where many gather to bargain with the wholesalers, helped by the brokers who mediate. This is her main business and the way she provides for her four children, for whom she cares alone after her husband died six years ago. “I rise from bed early in the morning and cook breakfast for the kids, then leave for the market. I spend the whole day making up the corn, which I aim to get ready before six,” she says. She has been doing it for four years and predicts it would have been successful if she had had enough money and someone to help her. “The most difficult part of the job is purchasing the corn on the cob from the market and breaking it down so that the pot can hold it up to its brim,” she says. Many Ethiopians endure the cold winters by sipping

Coffee, the mainstay of the Ethiopian economy, is bringing some gloom to the big businesses and some boom to the lowly ones, such as street vendors. Sibhat Hailay, 25, from Hawzien, Tigray, came to Addis Abeba nine months ago, after quitting school in sixth grade.  He started selling cheap shoes and clothes for women by the road side around Megenagna. Five months into this business, the profits continued to be so small that he could hardly keep up with his expenses. In around April, he learned than selling coffee would bring him more profits. By way of a trial, he invested 300 Br in five kilos. “It is incomparable,” Sibhat says, when considering the new business against the old one. Several vendors like Sibhat have turned to coffee, over the past months, and are reaping the rewards – selling a kilo for an average of 65 Br. Last Wednesday, Sibhat was left with only 10kgs, having sold 20 of the 30kgs he had bought the day before. For the 57-year-old Molash Maru, a pension

የኢትዮጵያ መንገዶች ባለሥልጣን የአገሪቱን የመንገድ አውታር ወደ ላቀ ደረጃ ያደርሳሉ ካላቸው ግዙፍ ፕሮጀክቶች መካከል አንዱ የሆነው ከዝዋይ ሐዋሳ ድረስ ለሚገነባው የፍጥነት መንገድ፣ የዓለም ባንክና የቻይናው ኤግዚም ባንክ 750 ሚሊዮን ዶላር እንዲያበድሩት ጠየቀ፡፡ ባለሥልጣኑ የብድር ጥያቄውን ባለፈው ሰኞ ለዓለም ባንክ ሲያቀርብ፣ በሳምንቱ መጨረሻ ደግሞ ለቻይናው ኤግዚም ባንክ ማቅረቡ ታውቋል፡፡ ይህ መንገድ ከሞጆ ከተማ ተነስቶ እስከ ሐዋሳ ድረስ የሚዘረጋው ባለ አራት ረድፍ (ሌን) አዲስ መንገድ አካል ነው፡፡ ከሞጆ እስከ ዝዋይ ድረስ ለሚዘልቀው የመጀመሪያ ዙር መንገድ ግንባታ የአፍሪካ ልማት ባንክና የደቡብ ኮሪያ መንግሥት ብድር ለመስጠት ፈቃደኛነታቸውን ማሳየታቸውን መረጃዎች አመልክተዋል፡፡ መረጃዎች እንደጠቆሙት ለዚህ ግንባታ የአፍሪካ ልማት ባንክ 350 ሚሊዮን ዶላር፣ የደቡብ ኮሪያ መንግሥት አንድ መቶ ሚሊዮን ዶላር ብድር እንደሚሰጡ ይጠበቃል፡፡ ከዚህ የሚቀጥለው ክፍል ማለትም ከዝዋይ እስከ ሐዋሳ የሚዘልቀው መንገድ 750 ሚሊዮን ዶላር ብድር ለማግኘት ለዓለም ባንክና ለቻይና ኤግዚም ባንክ ቀርቧል፡፡ የሁለቱ ፋይናንስ ተቋማት ምላሽ ከጥቂት ሳምንታት በኋላ እንደሚታወቅ ተነግሯል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ባለፉት ሁለት አሥርት ዓመታት የአገሪቱን የተለያዩ አካባቢዎች በመንገድ አውታር በማገናኘት ሥራ ላይ ተጠምዶ አሳልፏል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት በመንገድ አውታር ከማገናኘት ባለፈ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጥቅምን በሚያጎለብት ደረጃ ማዘመን ያስፈልጋል በሚል ወደ ‹‹ሰከንድ ጄነሬሽን›› ቅኝት ተሸጋግሯል፡፡ መንገዶች ባለሥልጣን ይህንን እውን ያደረገው ከአዲስ አበባ አዳማ ድረስ የተዘረጋውን ግዙፍ የፍጥነት መንገድ ግንባታ በመጀመር ነው፡፡ ይህ ፕሮጀክት ከቻይና ኤግዚም ባንክ