Worancha ወራንቻ

(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

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

በዳዊት በቀለ

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

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