Ethiopia: We for or Against Us

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The Dilemma of Population Growth

Ayenew Haileselassie

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Addis Abeba — Imagine Ethiopia being among the top 10 in the world for anything. In 2050 it will almost happen. Alas, Philippines will beat us by a very small margin. Forty years from now, Ethiopia will be the 11th most populous nation in the world with 149.5 million people. Just think of how much aid food we are going to get then. Don’t worry; many of us will live to see that day.

 

If it were a competition to beat every country to the top, it would not be much of an improvement, for, today, Ethiopia is the 12th most populous country with 82.2 million people, according to information from Population Reference Bureau. Germany follows right behind with almost the same population (82 million). If it were an athletic race, Ethiopia would feel the hot, moist breath of Germany , as the richer country teased it saying, “I can feed my people and still help feed yours. What are you up to, anyway?” This is not really meant to make fun where it should not be made but rather an attempt to draw attention to the claims of Ethiopian leaders that they consider their people as an asset retaliating to those who tell them to draft stronger population policy. Of course, we have never had leaders who ever admit their failures. For, what they should have been bold enough to say was to come out to the front and say loud and clear, “Our family planning programme has failed.” Today, according to the above source, only 14% of married Ethiopian women between the ages of 15 to 49 have access to modern methods of contraception.

የአዛውንቱ ብሶት

ረሃብ    የለውጥ    ዋዜማ    ምልክትነቱን    ዳግም    እውን _ _ _ ?

አንድ    ሕዝብ    ታስተዳድረኛለህ    ብሎ    የመረጠውን   መንግስት    ማንነትና    ምንነት    በብእሩም    ሆነ    በአንደበቱ    ለመግለጽ ይፋ   መብት    ሊኖረው    እንደሚገባ    ግልጽ    ነው።    ይህን    ሃቅ    የሰለጠኑት    ሃገሮችም    ሆኑ    የ3ኛ    ዓለም    ሃገሮች መንግስታት    አሌ    አይሉት ም።    ጥያቄው    ያለው    በ3ኛው    ዓለም    በተለይም    በአፍሪካ    የሚገኙ    ሃገሮች     ሕዝብ   የሚያስተዳድረውን    መንግስት    የመምረጥ    እድል    አለው    ወይ ?    የሚለው    ነጥብ    ላይ    ይመስለኛል።   መልሱ    ደግሞ   የለም    ነው።    በአፍሪካ    ሃገሮች    መንግስታት    የሚያስተዳድሩትን    ህዝብ    ይመርጣሉ    እንጂ    ህዝብ    የሚያስተዳድረውን መንግስት    ሲመርጥ    አልታየም።    IMF ን     ላለማስቀየም    ለይስሙላ    የሚደረጉትን    የምርጫ    ድራማዎች    እንዳሉ    አልቆጥራቸውም።   የሚያስተዳድረውን    መንግስት    የመምረጥ    መብት    የተነፈገ    ህዝብ    ደግሞ    ያልመረጠውን    መንግስት ማንነትና    ምንነት    በይፋ    የመግለጽ    መብት    ይኖረዋል    ብሎ    መጠበቅ    የአህያና    የጅብን    ፍቅር    አይነት   ተረት፤   ተረት    ነው።    አንድ    ሃቅ    ግን    አለ።    ” የአንድ    መንግስት    ማንነት    በሚያስተዳድረው    ሕዝብ    የማሕበራዊ    ሕይወት እድገትና    ውድቀት    ይለካል”   የሚል።    ትክክል።

U.N. Population Control

The Shocking  2009 U.N. Population Control Policy Brief

Most people have no idea that one of the key goals of the United Nations is population control. In fact, an incredibly shocking U.N. population division policy brief from  2009 has been uncovered that not only discusses the need for population control, but also asks how fertility decline in the least developed countries can be accelerated.

You can read this  U.N. document right here ( it is a PDF document, so you will need a PDF viewer to read it):

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/UNPD_policybriefs/UNPD_policy_brief1.pdf

The policy report begins with this stunning question:

What would it take to accelerate fertility decline in the least developed countries??????????????

So who exactly are the least developed countries?

Well, apparently they aren’t places that have a lot of white people. The report defines the “less developed regions” this way:

The document says……”For purposes of this brief, the less developed regions include all the countries and areas of the world except Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United States of America and all countries in Europe:”

The African begging bowl

Hama Tuma, Ethiopian author, poet and journalist, has been active in the political and human rights struggle in Ethiopia and Africa since the sixties. His satirical essays under the general title of African Absurdities have gained support from many quarters. Some of his books (English and Amharic) have been translated to French, Italian and Hebrew.

Africa: Begging 101

Sunday 18 October 2009 / by Hama Tuma

I am sure there are a lot of people who think that begging needs no training, all you have to do is look miserly (which you will look if reduced to that state of starvation and stress or anxiety anyway), roll your eyes, and beg. How wrong they are! Begging is an art like all other such callings, it needs training and expertise and the recent report that in one Indian village such a beggars’ school exists has highlighted the necessity of stopping the amateur beggars in Africa, a continent known for its ultra professional beggars.

In the good old days you could just beg (have pity on me oh passer by, I am starving!) and tug at he hearts of otherwise disinterested citizens. Modern times have hardened the ordinary human being; pity is a scarce commodity, giving help turned into a business unto itself. Consider the number of charity organizations and NGOs around the world (more than seventy in Addis Ababa dealing with the thriving business of child adoption) and the point becomes clear. Begging has become a competitive business, cut throat all the way, very capitalist. You can’t have the millionaire without the beggar. One begs the other, the contrast is all. Beggars have to be professional, modern, savvy— the times require this. In Egypt, India, Ethiopia and other places professionalism has reached the level where a beggar can rent a child for a day; organize an open bleeding wound to expose to appear pitiable and very wretched. The hard hearts need shocks, in the Indian school of begging children are taught how to sound and appear miserable while in places like Ethiopia there is really no need of training for this—we are very miserable.

Ethiopia’s 2.7 million hectars of land for sale

ADDIS ABABA (Daily Nation) — Ethiopia’s government  defended its plan to offer 2.7 million hectares of farmland to foreign companies despite millions of citizens who need food aid from the international community.

According to Ethiopia’s Agriculture Ministry officials, the country delineated around 2.7 million hectares of land, available for foreign companies from Middle East and East Asia countries.

The government will hand over 1.7 million hectares of arable land to the foreign investors before the coming harvest season.

2009 Laureate Gebisa Ejeta

The 2009 World Food Prize will be awarded to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia, whose sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed have dramatically increased the production and availability of one of the world’s five principal grains and enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

For further info press the link>>>>> The 2009 World Food Prize laureate Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia

Saudi Billionaire Invests in Ethiopian Farms

Saudi Billionaire Invests in Ethiopian Farms, Fortune Reports

By Jason McLure,

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) — An agricultural development company owned by Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi bought $80 million in equipment from Caterpillar Inc. to develop holdings in Ethiopia, Fortune reported.

Al-Amoudi-owned Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc hopes to develop as much as 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of land in Ethiopia over the next two decades for sugar, edible oil and grain production, the Addis Ababa-based newspaper said, citing Alemayehu Mengesha, managing director of Caterpillar importer Ries Engineering.

To date, the company has been granted 10,000 hectares in western Ethiopia near the town of Gambella. Ethiopia’s government has vowed to transfer 2.7 million hectares of land to commercial agriculture investors in a bid to increase exports and farm productivity.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

* Al Amoudi to grow food in Ethiopia for Saudi Arabia

Sheik’s New Agro Firm Shells Out $80m

Fortune, Ethiopia

October 10, 2009

Al Amoudi has a new company whose purpose is to grow food in Ethiopia for Saudi Arabia. This company has paid 80 million dollars for Caterpillar agricultural machinery and equipment. Its plans to increase its holdings to 500,000hct are preceded by the short term plans to acquire 200,000hct from various regional states in the country. WUDINEH ZENEBE, Special to Fortune reports that the company will add more crops as it increases its territory to include maize, teff, sugarcane and oil seeds.

WUDINEH ZENEBE

* Ethiopia revisited

A country you can never stop worrying about

Ethiopia revisited

Brian Stewart, CBS NEWS

Ethiopia is one country that I can never stop worrying about. Nor can the world.

Each time that I have gone back over the past 25 years I am encouraged to see so much has changed since the great famine of 1984-85 that shocked the world and so moved us Canadians. Yet there is also much here that is alarmingly similar.

This time old friends — survivors of that earlier tragedy — are proud to show me the signs of progress in the northern province of Tigray, the very epicentre of a famine that killed over a million people.

In the countryside, small catchment dams have been built to trap rainwater and reforestation projects are underway; in the small provincial capital of Mekele, they can now show off a modern university, busy markets and a vibrant youth culture.

Ethiopian in the middle east

ethiopian in the middle east<<<<Press here to watch the video

watch the video at the above link

Description

Our Ethiopian sister tells Al Jazeera that, her employer asked her to pick up trash and when she bent to pick up the trash, her employer poured boiling water on her and started beating her. Unfortunately such horrible stories in the Middle East are far too common, what is new here is, we often don’t get to hear direct from the victims. Thanks to Al Jazeera, it exposed the horrible situation our sisters are facing in the Middle East.

The great drought in east africa

The great drought in east africa <<<<<press the link to read…from The Independent

Oxfam: Drought Threatens 6.2 Million Ethiopians <<<<< press the link to read…from REUTERS.

*Dula(s): The Staff and Stick Culture of Ethiopian

-Thanks and courtesy of  Ethiopedia.blogspot->>>ethiopedia.blogspot.com

Ethiopians have to use Dulas due to the terrain of the country. Here many use the dula during the celebration of Timket also known as Epiphany.

Dulas

In Ethiopia, one can very well ask the question which came first, the stick or the stone as the first tool. The archeo-paleo-anthropological stone-age era could have well been preceded by the stick era. It is obvious that sticks have turned to dust somewhere in the mist of time as compared to stone tools; or has it? Take a closer look into the present day Ethiopian culture and one will aptly find the remnants of the stick culture still in use today. Thus, the stick may have come first many millennia ago in Ethiopia. The stick commonly called “dula” in Ethiopia may have been the first tool after all. Even today, the dula is still widely used to ward off wild animals and ensure that humans can travel from point A to point B without being eaten alive by the clawed and fanged beasts of the fields, forests, and savannas. The dula is also used as a deterrent against strangers, highway robbers and enemies.

*Ethiopia: UNICEF and WHO join forces to save children

Ethiopia: UNICEF and WHO join forces to save children

Wednesday 7 October 2009 / by Desalegn Sisay

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have come together in an unprecedented effort to curb climbing death rates among Ethiopian newborns, due to poor facilities and treatments found in Hospitals across the country.

According to a report released by UNICEF on October 6, 2009, the responsible causes of the climbing child death rate in Ethiopia include, the inability of health centers and hospitals in keeping newborns warm, preventing infection and ensuring successful neonatal resuscitation, when necessary. “Asphyxiation alone accounts for 23% of all neonatal deaths,” the report said.

*Population, famine and fate in Ethiopia

Gwynne Dyer….salt lake city

September 2, 2009

A quarter-century after a million Ethiopians died in the great hunger of 1984-85, the country is heading into another famine. The spring rains failed entirely and the summer rains were three weeks late. But why is famine is stalking Ethiopia again?

*Fossils radically alter ideas about the look of man's earliest ancestors

This image released     today by “Science” shows the probable life appearance in anterior view of Ardipithecus ramid (“Ardi”)

Fossils radically alter ideas about the look of man’s earliest ancestors. Analysis of a near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia changes scientists’ thinking about the appearance and behavior of our distant forebears.

By Thomas H. Maugh II,  October 2009

A treasure trove of 4.4-million-year-old fossils from the Ethiopian desert is dramatically overturning widely held ideas about the early evolution of humans and how they came to walk upright, even as it paints a remarkably detailed picture of early life in Africa, researchers reported Thursday.The centerpiece of the diverse collection of primate, animal and plant fossils is the near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor that demonstrates our earliest forebears looked nothing like a chimpanzee or other large primate, as is now commonly believed.