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Spotlight on Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a land of fantastic natural wealth and cultural diversity. In few places on earth can you buy locally grown apples and mangos from the very same market stall. But Ethiopia has a huge range of climates, which result from its truly awesome topology, making this a reality.

The great plains of Abyssinia sit atop two massive highland plateaus, cloven, as a coffee bean down the middle, by the Great Rift Valley. From the sweltering dry deserts of Somali Ogaden in the east, Sudan in the west and the Danakil in the North, where Africa crashes into Arabia, the land sweeps up, rising through semi-arid lowlands and pockets of tropical jungle, to montane forests, to alpine pastures on the slopes of the Simien, Bale and Ghugi mountain ranges, all of which top 4000m, and all of which are home to numerous endemic species of flora and fauna.

Ethiopia’s ecological diversity is mirrored by her cultural diversity, which is unrivalled on the African continent. No fewer than 87 distinct languages are spoken, belonging to four major linguistic groups. The fantastic diversity of culture and ecology is further expressed in Ethiopian agriculture.

When the Russian plant geneticist N.I. Vavilov arrived during one of his collection expeditions to Ethiopia and neighbouring countries in the 1920s, he was amazed. In Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland he found so much genetic diversity that he included the area in the list of the few great centres of crop plant diversity and called it the Abyssinian gene centre. Virtually the whole complex of seed crops from the South West Asian and Mediterranean centres of crop origin were found there. On wheat variation Vavilov says that “Abyssinia occupies the first place” and on barley that there is “an exceptional diversity of forms”. But then he also found impressive diversity of native African crops (such as teff) and of sorghum, millets and many grain legumes, oil crops, vegetables, spices and other species.” – Grain

Ethiopia is broken into nine federal states, of which, the “Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State” (SNNPRS) is by far the most culturally diverse, comprising a tribal matrix of 56 different ethno-linguistic groups. These range from the fair skinned Semitic highland farmers of Ghuragie and Siltie, just south of Addis Ababa, to the archetypal African nomads of the Omo valley, whose blood drinking, paganism and tribal warrior mode of existence are despised as primitive and barbaric by the majority Orthodox Christian habesha to the north.

And of all the peoples in that ethnic tapestry, though, perhaps most remarkable are the Kushitic people of Konso; an industrious farming culture who populate a barren and rugged basalt outcrop, strung from east to west across the bowl of the Great Rift Valley, just parallel to the southern tip of the Ethiopian highlands. Surrounded by warlike nomads on three sides, the Konso are a notoriously hardy farming people whose quaint little civilization is structured for defense. It is the final outpost of settled agriculture, as one descends into the arid badlands of Borena and the Omo valley, that stretch away to the Kenya border. Their little hilltop villages cannot be too dissimilar from those of the Kelts in pre-Roman Britain, ringed by rough hewn walls of stone and broken up into fortified compounds. The entire village is build of locally harvested materials and paved with the black rock of the earth around them.

The Konso’s lives are governed by a deep, draconian and quite unique social order, to the point that the men of the village are all obliged to sleep in a single giant house (the Mora), set to poor forth, “as a swarm of bees”, in the event of an enemy attack. Konso women sleep in their houses. The men have to wait their turn in the roster before being allowed to stay at home for the night.

Konso land is poor quality and the country is cut up by deeply eroded gullies and canyons. Rain is unreliable, increasingly so in recent years. These harsh conditions have bred what some call ‘the toughest farmers in Africa’. Tough, they certainly are. And the Konso are very good farmers.

The major economic base is agriculture (80%) and 20% only is butchery, weaving, pottery, black smithery, petty local brewery trades, tannery and local carpentry. – Korra Gara, 2008

The most notable feature of their renowned agricultural system is its terracing, constructed over large tracts of the rugged landscape by centuries of communal labour. The terraces reduce erosion and are carefully crafted to balance the competing demands of maximizing water infiltration, with allowing adequate drainage so that the terraces do not collapse in times of heavy rain.

The terraces are planted with sorghum and intercropped with a range of species; including trees, most importantly Moringa oleifera (the cabbage tree) Terminalia birowni, and Cordia Africana, grown for timber; shrubs such as pigeon pea, coffee and chat (Catha edulis) (a cash crop) and annuals including, sunflower, maize, millet, chick peas, various beans, cotton and cassava. They are fertilised with wastes from the villages, including partially burned plant residues mixed with animal dung, which acts to keep the soil fertile.

The Konso people are more focusing on intercropping systems and agro-forestry systems because some crops are early maturing, some are drought resistant, some are much productive even if they are less drought resistant to stand against side effects of inter-cropping systems, not to miss something to eat at least. – Korra Garra, 2008

Within the villages, Moringa (the cabbage tree) is planted all around the family compounds and harvested regularly to form one of the staples of the diet. Its leaves, which are reported to be extra-ordinarily nutritious (NSM; June, 2005 “Versatile Moringa tree eyed as wonder drug in Africa”), are cooked and mixed with dumplings made from Sorghum flower, a dish called “Dama”. The other main food item in Konso is chagga, a sort of sorghum beer, though it more closely resembles porridge. It is drunk as a broth mixed with hot water, in the mornings and at lunch-time when the people are preparing for work. It is extremely rich in carbohydrate and provides plenty of energy for the farmers, but it also insures that people are generally drunk.

Despite their tough character and all their hard work, Konso is suffering increasingly these days from food insecurity and environmental degradation. The average family plot, shrinking with population growth, is now down to half a hectare. Climate change is adding to the problem. “This condition leads to the deforestation actions to get new farmlands and sell wood for gaining incomes.” (Korra Gara, 2008) Deforestation further reduces the reliability of rainfall as desertification begins to set in. The Belg rains which usually come in March failed to materialize last year, and food aid has been brought in to cover the deficit. In recent times Konso has repeatedly suffered food insecurity. The UNDP’s Rapid Assessment Report: Konso Special Wereda, SNNPR (1999) states that; “since the 1950s, drought induced famines have hit Konso and the immediate area almost once every ten years… Konso was devastated by the droughts in 1973/74 and 1983/84”.

The solution to the problems of the folk of Konso, and many other places, lies in a successfully marrying the positive elements of the traditional and the modern societies, while rejecting the negative. Environmental degradation is a problem that besets most of the globe in the modern era. In the comfort of the west it will not lead to starvation and famine. We will simply use our high energy economy to import our nutritional requirements from further a field. We can even import energy expensive American wheat to Ethiopia to cover little deficits like the one in Konso this year. Strangely enough, however, there is more than enough food just down the road, and Ethiopia should in fact be feeding half the African continent. But as The West’s own oil fuelled climb to the tip of the energy peak begins to near its zenith, the foundations of our own limitless consumption are beginning to look decidedly unstable. Oil is no longer being discovered as fast as it’s being used. The downturn is approaching.

These days a world wide movement has begun to grow amongst those who look to a sustainable future, recognizing that for any society to be truly sustainable, it must respect the function of the ecological systems upon which it relies for its sustenance. The movement is based on a methodology developed by two Australians in the 1970’s, called Bill Mollison and David Holngren. Their project is Permaculture. Forty years later, it has grown into a movement of global scope, with active associations on all five continents. Permaculture is the design of ecological systems to support human life, and the design of human life to fit within ecological systems without degrading them. For those in the west, this offers a way to climb down the far side of peak oil without crash landing too heavily. For the impoverished farming communities of Africa it offers an answer to the Siamese twin calamity of food insecurity and environmental degradation – both brought about due to population growth, deforestation, soil erosion and over-grazing. Permaculture is a system for sustainable land management, production from a diverse and perennial base and the design of solutions to meet unmet needs and prevent unnecessary labour.

In Konso the traditional systems of agriculture and land management have begun to break down. Yet this little nation has already been held up as an example for others to follow. The FAO has awarded them recognition of their agricultural system as an example for farming peoples elsewhere in Ethiopia to follow, and Konso folk have been taken to other areas of the country to train locals in dry-land agriculture. Konso’s terracing is now due for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet the Konso people continue to suffer from lack of food security, poor or non-existent infrastructure, lack of sanitation and health care. Women in particular spend much of their life in toil and drudgery without any hope of a significant cash income, most being illiterate and unable even to speak Amharic, Ethiopia’s national language.

One project newly established in Konso is the Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge (SFEL) whose mission is to tie tourism and community development activism through permaculture together, delivering tangible community benefits. The lodge, built in the local style by local people, offers comfortable accommodation with a Konso twist. A series of community based “Cultural Immersion Programs” encourage visitors to interact more deeply with the local society. Guests receive a series of lectures and briefings about Konso’s fascinating history, language, agriculture, ethno-botany, customs and culture, lead by local community members, and are intersperced with workshops on traditional skills such as pottery, weaving, and stone-wall terracing. Following this treks to the villages take in a range of community based activities including dance, music and crafts, cultural and spiritual sites, local architecture and agriculture and a pantheon of stunning of views of the Great Rift Valley. And when the guests surmount those terraced hills, to the highland villages of Konso, they will greet the locals in their own tongue, and behaving as befits the manners of the local civilisation. By participating in community based activities, they will offer income to the society at the grass roots level.

Yet SFEL’s agenda goes beyond this. It also offers training in Permaculture, an integrated resource management system for sustainable human living which encompasses the design of nutrition gardens, nursery establishment and reforestation with productive agro-forest for community needs, seed bank operation, soil building for ecological conservation integrated with food production. For impoverished farming communities it answers the Siamese twin calamities of food insecurity and environmental degradation as well as the design of solutions to unnecessary labour, especially important for African women.

Permaculture is about sustaining life and livelihoods and the rewards for Konso – struggling under the burden of drought and food shortages – are potentially vast. Strawberry Fields houses the first demonstration Permaculture farm in Ethiopia. The farm produces delicious fresh food for the lodge’s restaurant, but also serves as a model for Permaculture training, given for local community, local organizations and foreign participants whose fees fund the training of local people. All participating groups have the chance to share ideas and experiences along the way. SFEL’s resident Permaculture design trainer, Mr Tichafa Makovere, a veteran Permaculturalist from Zimbabwe, was at the forefront of the movement’s development in Southern Africa. He now spearheads the development of the movement in Ethiopia and with SFEL intends to lead an Ethiopian delegation to attend the Global Permaculture Convergence in Malawi, November 2009.

We at SFEL invite you to participate. Come and reach out to the community of Konso, a unique people, perpetually cheerful, singularly proud of their fascinating culture and relentless in their toil to see the simple tasks of daily life achieved. Konso is a land of stunning beauty but harsh reality. Strawberry Fields offers you a chance to enjoy Konso and put something back at the same time, whether you are a development activist or just a tourist who wants contribute a little through your enjoyment; SFEL wishes to say “Ogado!” Welcome to the magical land of Konso!

SFEL runs its next PDC from January 18th to 31st in Karat Konso. 8 places are open to guest participants. The course fee for Ethiopian residents is ETB3000 and for non residents $750 and includes food and accommodation on the site for 13 days. SFEL runs Cultural Immersion Programs, trekking tours and offers hospitality services as required.

Courses: For info on courses, click here.

Contact Alex for more information: +251 (0)912 21 46 87, alex1mcc (at) yahoo.com

 

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