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8.2 million in need of USD 596 mln emergency assistance

Government and international aid agencies have announced that, due to the global natural hazard El Niño, which is lack of rainfall in both the spring (belg) and summer (meher or kiremt) seasons, the country has been hit by drought and, currently, about 8.2 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. According to Mitiku Kassa, secretary of the National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee (NDPPC), the severity of the drought has been exacerbated by the delay and decline of rainfall during the major rainy season of kiremt from mid-June through mid-September. Hence, 8.2 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in which the government has disbursed USD 192 million, Mitiku noted. Yet, the total amount needed is over 596 million dollars according to the aid agencies and the government.   Visiting severely stricken areas of the Oromia and Afar regions, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said that it is feared the drought will continue

Experts to convene at Hawassa to discuss soil balancing

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and the International Potash Institute (IPT) have jointly organized an international symposium on soil balancing at the University of Hawassa which is scheduled to take place from 24-25 November 2015. According to IPI, this gathering is expected to discuss a wide range of issues on using potassium as a fertilizer to keep soil fertile. More than 70 universal agricultural experts and researchers are expected to gather in Hawassa town 267km to the south of the capital, Addis Ababa. “For the first time, Ethiopia has started to distribute potash fertilizers to farmers in areas where it is urgently needed. This is no less than a dream come true! And is an exciting story we intend to share with symposium participants,’’ says Tekalign Mamo (Prof.) until recently, adviser to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture, UN special ambassador for the 2015 International Year of Soils, and senior adviser (East Africa) for

Sidama scholar commented on the baseless division of the Sidama population

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Dr. Wolassa L. Kumo  commented on baseless division of the S idama population and he asked where on planet earth would the population of the administrative capital of a society be deducted from the population of the society? Dr. Wolassa L. Kumo wrote about the topic in September 2015 in an article entitled “Deepening Cultural Integration among the Cushitic Peoples in Ethiopia.” To quote from the article: Dr. Wolassa L. Kumo Photo @  www.afroarticles.com/ " The Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia reports the population of the Hawassa town separately from the population of Sidama. The Hawassa town is the administrative capital of Sidama as well as the Southern Region. Where on planet earth would the population of the administrative capital of a society be deducted from the population of the society? Hawassa has been inhabited by the Sidama people for at least the past 1000 years; since the time the ancient Sidama people moved from northern highlands to the

Child undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem in the Sidama

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ህጻናት በተመጣጠነ ምግብ እጦት የሚያጋጥማቸው የጤና መቃወስ በሲዳማ ዞን ጎልተው ከሚታዩ የጤና ችግሮች መካከል ዋነኛው መሆኑን በህጻናት ኣመጋገብ ዙሪያ በኣክሽን ኮንትራ ላ ፋሜ የተካሄደ ኣንድ ጥናት ኣመለከተ። ለዝርዝሩ ከታች ይጫኑ "1. Introduction  Action Contre La Faim (ACF) has been working in Sidama Zone, SNNPR since 2003, focusing on nutrition interventions in addition to food security, livelihoods and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. Child undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem in the Sidama zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Region (SNNPR), an area marked by the paradox of the ‘green hunger’. The area possesses fertile lands, receives rains and is characterised by a good diversity of crops (false banana or enset, maize, barley, vegetables and coffee as a cash crop). Yet, the zone has persistently high levels of global acute malnutrition (GAM) in previous years, which peak during the lean ‘hunger’ season. ACF together with scientific partners, have developed a standardised method for analysing the causes of

Runner’s marathon journey to political asylum in Ireland

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Trips to Ireland to further his passion for running led to Bedilu Gebreselassie, a member of a political group opposed to Ethiopia’s government, seeking political asylum  Bedilu Gebreselassie shudders as he recalls the 15 days he spent in prison. “Oh my god, I can’t explain,” the 27-year-old from  Ethiopia  says, shaking his head as he attempts to describe the cramped conditions of prisoners piled on top of each other in an Addis Ababa jail. Inmates were given a piece of bread and a glass of water to make it through each day. Gebreselassie struggled to find room to sleep on the floor, leaning on his side to fit inside the confined sleeping quarters. “I was crying, I lost weight, there was no food. After they let me out I had no transportation to get home.” The sports enthusiast from the city of Hawassa in southern Ethiopia had travelled to the capital to participate in a race with his athletics club but ended up behind bars due to his affiliation with the Sidama Liberation Fron