Saturday, February 27, 2010
First Ethiopian & Black African jet pilot
ካፒቴን አለማየሁ አበበ (Captain Alemayehu Abebe)
ኬንያ ተልኬ ጥቂት በረራዎች ካደረግሁ በኋላ በፌብርዋሪ መጨረሻ 1963 ዓ.ም በኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የጄት ካፕቴንነቴ ተሰጠኝ፡፡
የአብራሪነት ኃላፊነቱን ከተረከብኩ በኋላ አንዳንድ መንገደኞች አብራሪው ነጭ ባለመሆኑ ከሚያሳዩት መደናገጥ በቀር ምንም እንከን ሳያጋጥመኝ አየር መንገዱ በሚገለገልባቸው አፍሪካና አውሮፓ መብረር ጀመርኩ፡፡ በስልሳዎቹ አሥርተ ዓመታት መጀመሪያ ላይ አብዛኛዎቹ የአፍሪካ አገሮች ከቅኝ ገዥዎች ቀንበር ነጻ ለመውጣት የሚታገሉበት ወቅት ስለነበር ጥቁር ፓይለት በሚያበረው ዘመናዊ ጄት ለመሳፈር እንኳን ለባዕዳን ለወገኖቻችንም ቢሆን መደናገጥን ፈጥሮ ነበር፡፡ ይኸው የመጀመሪያ ዓለም አቀፍ በረራ አብቅቶ መሬት እንዳረፍን መንገደኞቹ ሲሰናበቱን ከልብ የመነጨ ምሥጋና ያቀርቡልን ነበር፡፡ አንዳንዶች ኢትዮጵያውያንማ ማመኑም እየቸገራቸው ሳይሆን አይቀርም በአድናቆት ይመለከቱንና ያነጋግሩን ነበር፡፡ በተከታታይ በረራዎች የመንገደኞቼ ሥጋትና ጥርጣሬ ወደ መተማመን ተለውጦ ባየሁትና በሰማሁት ቁጥር የሥራ ባልደረቦቼም ሆኑ እኔ ደስታ ይሰማን ነበር፡፡ በሥራ ውጤት እምነት ከማግኘት የበለጠ ምን ነገር ይኖራል”
እርግጥ ነው ስንት ፈተና በትዕግሥት አልፌ ለዚያ ደረጃ እንደበቃሁ መንገደኞቼ አያውቁም ነበር፡፡ ቢያውቁስ ኑሮ “አፍሪካዊ ጄት ሲያበር ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በማየታችሁ ለምን ትፈራላችሁ ለምንስ ትጠራጠራላችሁ?” ብሎ መጠየቅስ ይቻል ነበር? በእኔ ላይ የደረሰው ዓይነት በተከታዮቹ አብራሪዎች ላይም ደርሶ እነርሱም በትዕግሥትና በፅናት አልፈውታል፡፡
(ካፕቴን ዓለማየሁ አበበ፣ ሕይወቴ በምድርና በአየር፣1997)
Getting the Diagnosis Right: Population Growth, Development and Foreign Aid in Ethiopia
Tsegaye Tegenu, Stockholm University 02/22/10
In your webpage (http://www.aigaforum.com) I read Ato Zerihun Retta’s response to Eamon Delaney’s view on population growth and development in Ethiopia. Even if I do not have the time to dwell at length, I felt uncomfortable to let the discussion pass without presenting my own line of thinking and understanding of the issues. I am doing research on population economics in Ethiopia (see references below) and know the difficulty of synthesizing population growth and development. My comments focus on two important points which one must consider when discussing about population growth and development in countries such as Ethiopia.
First population growth is neither good nor bad by itself. What makes it good or bad is the type of population that is increasing and the kind of development policy the country is following. In the case of Ethiopia the population that was increasing in the period between 1950s and early 1990s was the child population (age group 0-14). For instance, as of 1985, it was estimated that 47% of the country’s population were children, 0-14 years of age and 27% were between the ages of 15 and 29. This means you have you have more consumers than producers. Increase in the number of children forces a change in the family behaviour: higher consumption levels, low labour supply and low capital accumulation. At the level of state, there is greater responsibility to provide basic services such as education and health care. The use of almost all the goods produced and value added generated to immediate consumption strains the capacity to save. The high dependency burden shifts the pattern of investment to a welfare type of investment (health, education, housing, etc.) from directly productive type of investment (plants, factories, etc.). Hence the level and composition of net investment resulting from the effects of increased dependency burden would tend to reduce growth in total output or per capita income (for details see Tsegaye 2004).
Since 1994/95 the age structure of the Ethiopian population has changed. The country has started to experience an increase in working age population and an associated decline in the dependent age population. Between 1995 and 2000 the annual growth rate of the working age population and the young dependent population appears to run on an equilibrium position (a stationary state, balanced at a knife-edge). Since 2001the young dependent population is displaced from its position as a result of the increase of the working age population. In 2008 the country has a total population of 79 million and 48 percent of the adult population is in the age group 15-29. This means an increase in the labour force looking for education, employment and housing. For instance in 2005 in the rural area the labour force is estimated about 32 million and each year one million people are added in the labour force. (for details see Tsegaye 2008).
The question is now what kind of development policy is the country following. Ideology (be it left or right) should not be the start for formulating the country’s development strategy. My view is that the age structure of the population should be the starting point for the formulation of the country’s development programs and growth policy strategy. I do not think that the current development strategy of the country can counter the negative effects of population growth and pressure in Ethiopia. Following the examples of China and India, the development strategy of Ethiopia should be based on Green Revolution and Rural Industralization. That is the only way out: a complete structural transformation of the economy. Get rid of small scale farming and create small manufacturing growth centres in rural areas. Small farms cannot be the engine of agricultural growth at a time when labour force growth is characterized by young age (56% of the labour force) with fertility rate of 5. 5 children per woman and household types of higher consumption requirements (56,7% of the total agricultural households). For details see Tsegaye and Bo (on population pressure).
This leads me to the second point which I would like to emphasise. When we speak about population dynamics, we are not speaking about distribution of contraceptives and population control. This is a wrong understanding of the issue. Speaking about population growth/pressure means speaking about the type of population that is increasing, its size multiplied by its needs, and the speed at which it is increasing (growth rate). In other words we are speaking about a running race in which we can lose or catch up depending our development strategy and policy. Using a simulation model, the government has to know the time period in which its policy brings about the intended effects and this has to be contrasted with the speed at which the type of population is assumed to grow. You do not have the resource to waste for trial and error learning. My observation is that even with the right policy in place, governments cannot keep up with the race. The Indian government is a good example. It cannot easily cope up with the population pressure, even if it is willing not to lose the race. So, population dynamics means size, weight and speed.
Finally I would like to say few words on the relationship between development aid and population growth in receiving countries. To what extent and under what circumstance is a given aid approach relevant, efficient and effective? The answer depends on the given country context and objectives of the donor. The traditional way of aid approach is called helping (mostly financial aid). Richer countries give poorer countries aid to help them to make a better future for themselves. This approach works when countries are found in a child phase: continued rapid increase in the number of preschool age children and young people age between 0-14. Because of the child burden all the goods produced were consumed and there was no saving. That means there was no national capacity for trade in this period and in this respect donor’s aid was important in assisting development. This situation has now partly changed. The labour force has grown and it will increase from 52% in 2008 to 60% in 2030. The modalities of assistance should also change and take the form of a transfer of technical knowledge and promotion of bilateral trade. Depending on the shift in the age structure, the modality of delivering development assistance should change from aid relationship (financial assistance to children) to knowledge transfer and trade relationship (Tsegaye 2008, Swedish text).
References
1. Tsegaye Tegenu (2004), “Socio-economic and Environmental Effects of Age Transition in Ethiopia: 1950-2000”, in Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy. Edited by, Ethiopian Economic Association, V.III.
2. Tsegaye Tegenu (2005), “Process of Population Pressure and Creation of Livelihood Resources, Activities and Positions: Retrospective Life History Study of Farmers in Sodo District of Ethiopia”, paper presented at the research conference on Structures of Vulnerability: Mobilisation and Resistance, Stockholm, January 12-14, 2005.
3. Tsegaye Tegenu (2007), Ungdomens Kontinent, I Framtider, N.3. Institute för Framtidsstudier. Stockholm. (Swedish text)
4. Malmberg, B and Tegenu, T. (2007), Population pressure and dynamics of household livelihoods in an Ethiopian Village: an elaboration of the Boserup-Chayanovian framework, in Population and Environment. Retrieve from www.springerlink.com/index/u9uk234661788215.pdf
5. Tsegaye Tegenu (2008), Demographic based future studies: Ethiopia as case study, IF, Stockholm (Swedish text)
6. Tsegaye Tegenu (September 2008), Labor Force Growth, Employment Characteristics and Mobility Conditions in Rural Africa. Paper submitted to the Expert Group Meeting on Age Structural Transition and Development Policy and Planning. Vienna.
7. Tsegaye Tegenu (2008), Labour Force Growth and its Effects on Ethiopian Rural Economy: A Study of Growth Policy Options. (Internet)
8. Tsegaye Tegenu Bo Malmberg (forthcoming) Interpreting Expansion of Mass Education in Rural Ethiopia: Explaining Driving Forces, Intersectoral Linkages, Farmers’ Value Priorities and Attitude Changes. Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University.
9. Tsegaye Tegenu Bo Malmberg (forthcoming), Explaining Drivers and Consequences of Population Pressure in Rural Ethiopia: A Study on Economic Performance, Conditions of Structural Transformation and Policy Options. Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Ethiopia attracting huge agro-investment projects
| Ethiopia attracting huge agro-investment projects |
| By Staff Reporter | |
Availability of warmest hospitality, vast, fertile, irrigable land, abundant water resources and sound agriculture and investment policy enabled Ethiopia to attract investors.
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African Green Revolution is possible
Feb. 18, 2010 The time is ripe to revolutioniseagriculture in Africa, says World Food Prize winner Gebisa Ejeta, writing inScience. When the Green Revolution swept across Asia in the 1960s, Africa had neither the human and institutional capacity, nor the right crops — the Green Revolution focused on wheat and rice, while African staples are sorghum, millet, maize and cassava — to benefit, says Ejeta. But times are changing.
There is a growing interest in improving Africa's staple crops. Research collaborations with international scientists are yielding crops and technologies relevant to the continent, such as drought-resistant sorghum and biological controls for cassava pests.
And some countries seem committed to strengthening human capacity and institutionalinfrastructure for agricultural research.
Kenya and Uganda, for example, are prioritising agricultural education and encouraging private-sector investments in agriculture. And Ethiopia has invested heavily in agricultural research and development, supporting a 'large army' of agricultural extension officers.
Ejeta points to Malawi as a prime example of strong leadership yielding impressive results. The government's commitment to subsidise fertilisers and improved seeds has boosted farm productivity considerably.
He says science-based agriculture in Africa still requires external support to develop locally-led and locally-relevant solutions, build institutional capacity and support national leadership — but Ejeta remains optimistic that 'an African Green Revolution can be a reality'. (SciDev) | |
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 February 2010 ) |
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange
| ECX launches DST |  |  |  |
| Thursday, 18 February 2010 | |
CEO of ECX , Dr. Eleni Gebremedhin said here on Wednesday that DST is an innovative way to enable direct trade that is reliable, fully traceable, transparent, and sustainable.
Dr. Eleni said by coordinating buyers and seller, DST adds value to farmers, who can benefit from greater competition and to buyers, who can discover truly special coffees.
DST also enables trade of certified coffees, such as Organic certified, Fair Trade, RainForest, among others.
She said DST is established as a monthly bidding session in which small farmer cooperatives and commercial growers may deposit specialty grade coffees in advance in ECX warehouses.
Dr. Eleni said international buyers pre-register for the DST session and are able to order samples and to participate in a cupping session prior to the bidding.
A condition for participation in DST is that farmers will receive a minimum of 85 per cent of the final export price, a historic first for Ethiopia’s coffee farmers who are considered to normally receive below 40 per cent, among the lowest share of the final price in the world.
“DST closes the real gap between farmers seeking to benefit from the international market and buyers interested in tracing these coffees to their origin. DST also raises the visibility and profile of all Ethiopian coffee, and thus is a clear win-win for all” stated Dr. Eleni .
There are 44 lots of specialty coffee presented for sale in the first DST session, representing 35 primary cooperatives and nine commercial growers. More than half of the coffees are graded above specialty cupping score of 85, indicating top quality.
There are 27 registered international buyers, representing coffee importers and roasters in North America, Europe, and Japan. (ENA) |
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Ethiopian cross-country skier Teklemariam to compete in his second Winter Olympics
Somehow Trey Parker and Matt Stone missed Robel Teklemariam in their famous South Park episode featuring Starvin' Marvin and Sally Struthers.
Well who is Robel Teklemariam? He's a 35-year-old one-man cross-country team for Ethiopia. This Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be his second. A 1993 graduate of Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Teklemariam earned a full ride scholarship to the University of New Hampshire.
He ended up in the U.S. at 9, when his mother's U.N. job landed them in New York. A nature lover, Teklemariam gravitated towards cross-country skiing in Lake Placid at the private North Country School.
His goal for the Winter Olympics is to better the 10-minute margin of the top finisher in the 15k. Beyond that? “My goal is for Ethiopia to be a mainstay in the Winter Olympics and have something established domestically for people to ski and train,” he told the Aspen Daily News.
So, we'll have a cross-country skier from Ethiopia, a giant slalom skier from the Cayman Islands, and of course, the Jamaican Team of One, ski cross powerhouse Errol Kerr.