Worancha ወራንቻ

The United Nations said on Thursday that forcing farmers facing serious food shortages to pay back money borrowed to improve their land was "immoral". The UN’s Emergency Unit For Ethiopia (EUE) said the government should ease the credit burden on already overstretched farmers facing severe food shortages. It said many farmers in Sidama Zone in southern Ethiopia were already relying heavily on humanitarian help from charities and could not repay their loans. In some parts of the country, farmers who have been unable to meet the repayments on money borrowed for improved seeds and fertilisers have been jailed. Interest on loans taken out by farmers can be as high as 12.5 percent – higher than bank rates – for "agricultural extension packages" of improved seeds and fertiliser. The EUE report said: "It is just immoral and impossible to expect full repayment for the supplied agricultural extension packages from farm households that are already experiencin

Abstract Objective: To examine household food insecurity and hunger in Sidama Zone, one of the most populous zones in southern Ethiopia. Design: Cross-sectional survey administered individually by trained interviewers. Food insecurity was calculated with both the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the Household Hunger Scale (HHS), developed by the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project. Setting: Rural households from ten kebeles (the smallest administrative district) selected from two agro-climatic zones in Sidama, southern Ethiopia, from December 2010 to January 2011. Subjects: Men and women respondents from 1094 rural households were selected using multistage sampling techniques. Results: Using the HFIAS, 17?7 % of households were food secure. The percentage of households that were mildly, moderately and severely food insecure was 6?8 %, 27?7 % and 47?8 %, respectively. Using the HHS, 29?0 % and 5?6 % of households fell

PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women

posted by  Luke Tiny changes are sometimes the most significant. The  Ethiopian Commodity Exchange  recently  renamed  one of that country’s most iconic products: Sidamo Coffee, long one of the best-recognized coffee brands in the world, will now be officially traded as Sidama Coffee. The switcharoo has passed with little fanfare, and many American roasters continue to offer their customers Sidamo—though this trend does seem to be changing. What’s the story here? Ethiopia’s Sidama zone (also formerly Sidamo) occupies the southwestern corner of that country, spreading out across a landscape of green hills from the great Rift Valley lakes of Abaya and Awasa. Coffee originated not far from here—the  details are debated , but the northern Rift Valley and the Horn of Africa are generally recognized as the ancestral, wild homeland of  arabica  coffee. The  Sidama people  have lived here for longer than any tradition can recall, part of the Kushitic cultural patchwork that exten

የቀድሞውን ወታደራዊ አገዛዝ የመገርሰስ ትግል ውስጥ የተሳተፉና በአሁኑ ወቅት በመንግሥት ተቋማት ውስጥ በማገልገል ላይ የሚገኙ የቀድሞ ታጋዮች ጡረታ (ማኅበራዊ ዋስትና) ትግሉን ከተቀላቀሉበት ጊዜ አንስቶ እንዲሰላ፣ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ጽሕፈት ቤት ለሚመለከታቸው የመንግሥት ተቋማት በጻፈው ደብዳቤ አሳሰበ፡፡ ለጉዳዩ ቅርበት ያላቸው ምንጮች ለሪፖርተር እንደገለጹት፣ ለመንግሥት ተቋማት የተሰራጨው ደብዳቤ ከሰኔ 13 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ እንደሆነና ይህም ማለት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ በሕይወት በነበሩበት ወቅት ነው፡፡  የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ጽሕፈት ቤት ደብዳቤውን ያሰራጨው በሕግ ላይ ተመሥርቶ ይሁን አይሁን በእርግጠኝነት ለመናገር እንደማይችሉ የሪፖርተር ምንጮች የገለጹ ቢሆንም፣ ምናልባት ለሕዝብ ይፋ ያልሆነ መመርያ በሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት ፀድቆ ሊሆን እንደሚችልና ደብዳቤውም በዚህ ላይ የተመሠረተ ሊሆን ይችላል ሲሉ ጥርጣሬያቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡  ይህንን መረጃ በመንተራስ ሪፖርተር አንዳንድ በመንግሥት ሥራ ላይ የተሰማሩ የቀድሞ ታጋዮችን ለማነጋገር የሞከረ ሲሆን፣ ከእነዚህም ውስጥ በሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት (ፓርላማ) በአባልነት እያገለገሉ ያሉ ይገኙበታል፡፡ ስማቸው እንዳይገለጽ የጠየቁት እነዚሁ የምክር ቤቱ አባላት የመረጃውን ትክክለኝነት ያረጋገጡ ሲሆን፣ የምክር ቤቱ ጽሕፈት ቤት ጉዳዩን አስመልክቶ ባቀረበው ጥሪ መሠረት ማንነታቸውን የሚገልጽ፣ ትግሉን የተቀላቀሉበትን ወቅትና በአሁኑ ጊዜ የሚያገለግሉበትን የመንግሥት ተቋምና ሌሎች ጉዳዮችን በተዘጋጀ ቅጽ ላይ መሙላታቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡  ይህንን ቅጽ ከሞሉ በኋላ ደግሞ የምክር ቤቱ ጽሕፈት ቤት ከሰሞኑ በድጋሚ ማስታወቂያ እንዳወጣ፣ ማስታወቂያውም የተሞላውን ቅጽ ተንተርሶ የመንግሥት ሠራተኞች ማ