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Indigenous crops like ''Wesse'' feeding the world

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Imperial, California - Potatoes may seem fairly humble, but there are more than 4,500 species of potato in the world. Likewise, there are at least 1,000 pepper plant varieties, 7,500 tomato species, and 7,500 known apple varieties worldwide. However, the incredible variety of the planet’s plant life is disappearing. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that approximately 75 percent of the Earth’s plant genetic resources are now extinct. Another third of plant biodiversity is expected to disappear by 2050. This is no small problem--humans eat biological diversity. Unfortunately, most investment in agriculture is for crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, rather than more nutritious foods--and this focus has had devastating consequences. Global obesity rates have doubled over the last 30 years, increasing the risk of diet-related illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease in industrialized and developing countries alike. But many indigenous cro

የሸበዲኖና የአለታ ወንዶ አርሶ አደሮች የቡና ዋጋ መቀነስ አሳስቧቸዋል፤የአንድ ኪሎ እሽት ቡና ዋጋ ከድንች ዋጋ ጋር መቀራራቡ አርሶ አደሮቹን አሳስቧቸዋል

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ቡና ልብሳቸው፣ ምግባቸው፣ ጌጣቸው፣ መዝናኛቸው እንዲሁም መድመቂያቸው እንደሆነ የሲዳማ ዞን አርሶ አደሮች ያለአንዳች ማመንታት ይናገራሉ። ቡና ሸጠው ቤታቸውን ይገነባሉ፣ ቡና ሸጠው ልጆቻቸውን ያስተምራሉ እንዲሁም ቡና ሸጠው ሀብት ንብረት ይቋጥራሉ። ቡና አፍልተው የሩቁንም ሆነ የቅርቡን ወዳጃቸውን እንዲሁም ዘመድ አዝማድን ያስተናግዱበታል። ታዲያ በዞኑ ካሉት አርሶ አደሮች መካከል ቡና በማሳው አልያም ደግሞ በጓሮው ያልተከለ የለም ለማለት ያስደፍራል። ከማጀታቸውም ቢፈለግ የታጠበ አሊያም ደግሞ እሸት ቡና አይታጣም - አሁን ቡና የሚለቀምበት ወቅት ነውና። በአገር አቀፍ ብሎም በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ጥሩ ስም ያለውን ቡና የሚያመርቱት የእዚህ ዞን ነዋሪ የሆኑ አርሶ አደሮች ቀደም ባሉት ጊዜያት ምንም እንኳ ቡና የማምረቱን ሂደት በራሳቸው የአመራረት ስልት ማምረት ባያቋርጡም የምርቱ ተጠቃሚ አልነበሩም። ይልቁንም ይላሉ የዞኑ አርሶ አደሮች  « እኛ በለፋንበትና በደከምንበት ነጋዴውና በመሀል ያለው ደላላ ምርቱ ላይ አያዋጣኝም ያዋጣኛል በሚል ድርድር ኪሳቸውን ሲሞሉ እንደነበር የቅርብ ጊዜ ትዝታ ነበር »  ይላሉ። ምንም እንኳ በዞኑ ያሉ አንዳንድ መሠረታዊ ማህበራት የተቋቋሙት በ 1968 ዎቹ ዓመተ ምህረት አካባቢ ቢሆንም አርሶ አደሩ የአሁኑን ያህል በወቅቱ ከማህበራቱ አለመጠቀማቸውንም ሳይገልጹ አላለፉም። ከቡና ምርታቸውም ሆነ በማኅበር በመደራ ጀታቸው አሁን አሁን ይበልጥ ተጠቃሚ እያደረ ጋቸው መምጣቱን የሚጠቅሱት አርሶ አደሮቹ በተለይ የዓለም የቡና ገበያ የተረጋጋ ነው ተብሎ ከዛሬ አራት ዓመት በፊት ሲሸጥ የነበረበት ዋጋ ለድካማቸው መልካም የሆነ ምላሽ የሚሰጥ እንደነበር ያመለክታሉ። አምናና አቻምና ግን  « በድካማችን ልክ ያለማግኘታ ችንን እንቆቅልሽን ማ

East African nations sliding back to dictatorships, lawyers warn

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By David Ochami Lawyer organisations in East Africa have warned that East African countries and  Ethiopia  are descending into  dictatorship s that seek to curtail basic constitutional freedoms including the right of the media and civil society to operate unhindered. They cited the recent passing of oppressive laws against the media and attempts to legislate against civil society in Kenya, raids on media in Uganda and shutdown of newspapers in Tanzania to illustrate alleged evidence of receding freedoms. “We seem to be depleting the democratic gains we have been making,” said Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua in a key note speech where he also accused East African regimes of targeting the media and embarking on a “conspiracy not to democratise these countries.” President Uhuru Kenyatta skipped the opening of the 18th annual conference of the East Africa Law Society (EALS) in Mombasa yesterday where he was to be the main speaker. Investment opportunities Delega

Ethiopian police crackdown on anti-Saudi Arabia protest following migrant worker attacks

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/11/arrests-at-anti-saudi-protest-ethiopia-201311151464025832.html?fb_action_ids=10200687318457118&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200687318457118%22%3A540557636034233%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200687318457118%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D By  Associated Press ,  Updated: Friday, November 15,  10:18 AM ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian police used force Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting against targeted attacks on Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia. Police units blocked roads to prevent the protest at the Saudi Arabia Embassy from growing. Some two dozen people were detained. The police also forced some journalists to delete photos. Many foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are fleeing or are under arrest amid a crackdown on the kingdom’s 9 million migrant laborers. Close to 500 Ethiopians have been repatriated. Last weekend, Saudi resid

Protest rallies organized world wide against attacks on Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia

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Ethiopians World Wide are organizing protest rallies at Saudi Arabia embassies and consulates in North America and Europe. The purpose of these demonstrations is to demand the Saudi government to stop the violence, brutalization and killings of Ethiopian immigrants and have the  Saudi regime held accountable for the crimes it committed. Oppositions parties and many civil organizations have released  press statements condemning the Saudi Government  and urging the regime in Ethiopia to heed its responsibility and take immediate actions. BBC reported that about  23,000 Ethiopians have surrendered to Saudi authorities  since a clampdown on migrant workers. Join the rallies in your respective countries, share on Facebook and forward to other Ethiopians! Bern, Switzerland Date and time : Wednesday 20th of November 20  from 10:00 to 15:00 Place : KRAMBURGSTRASSE 12 (Saudi Arabia Embassy)  3006 BERN  Washington DC Date and time: Thursday, Nov. 14 starting at 9 AM Address: 60