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A land grab twice the size of France is under way in
Ethiopia, as the government pursues the wholesale seizure if indigenous lands
to turn them over to dams and plantations for sugar, palm oil, cotton and
biofuels run by foreign corporations, destroying ancient cultures and turning
Lake Turkana, the world's largest desert lake, into a new Aral Sea, as Lake
Turkana relies heavily on the Omo River. Ethiopia is currently experiencing
economic growth, yet 30 million people still face chronic food shortages. Some
90% of Ethiopia's national budget is foreign aid, but instead of taking a
grass-roots approach to securing a self-sufficient food supply for its people,
it is being pushed aggressively towards industrial development and intensive
production for foreign markets.
The lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia is a UNESCO world heritage
site, yielding significant archaeological finds, including human remains dating
back 2.4 million years. It is beautiful, biologically diverse land with
volcanic outcrops and a pristine riverine forest; one of the most culturally
diverse places in the world, with around 200,000 indigenous people living
there. Yet, in blind attempts to modernise and develop what the government sees
as an area of 'backward' farmers in need of modernisation, some of Ethiopia's
most valuable landscapes, resources and communities are being destroyed.
A new dam, called Gibe III, on the Omo River is nearing
completion and will begin operation in June, 2015, potentially devastating the
lives of half a million people. Along with the dam, extensive land grabbing is
forcing thousands from their ancestral homes and destroying ecosystems. Ethiopia's
'villagisation' programme is aiding the land-grab by pushing tribes into
purpose built villages where they can no longer access their lands, becoming
unable to sustain themselves, and making these previously self-sufficient
tribes dependent on government food aid. What is happening in the lower Omo
Valley, and elsewhere, shows a complete disregard for human rights and a total
failure to understand the value these tribes offer Ethiopia in terms of their
cultural heritage and their contribution to food security. There are eight
tribes living in the Valley, including the Mursi, famous for wearing large
plates in their lower lips. Their agricultural practices have been developed
over generations to cope with Ethiopia's famously dry climate. Many are herders
who keep cattle, sheep and goats and live nomadically. Others practice
small-scale shifting cultivation, whilst many depend on the fertile crop and
pasture land created by seasonal flooding.
The vital life source of the Omo River is being cut off by
Gibe III. The dam has received investment from the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China, and the hydropower is primarily going for export rather than
domestic use - despite the fact that 77% of Ethiopia's population lacks access
to electricity. People in the Omo Valley are politically vulnerable and
geographically remote. Many do not speak Amharic, the national language, and
have no access to resources or information. Foreign journalists have been
denied contact with the tribes, as BBC reporter Matthew Newsome recently
discovered when he was prevented from speaking to the Mursi people.
Lake Turkana, known as the 'Cradle of Mankind', is the
world's largest desert lake dating back more than 4 million years. 90% of its
inflow comes from the Omo. Filling of the lake behind the dam will take three
years and use up to a years' worth of inflow that would otherwise go into Lake
Turkana. Irrigation projects linked with the dam will then reduce the inflow by
50% and lead to a drop of up to 20 metres in the lake's depth. These projects
may also pollute the water with chemicals and nitrogen run-off. Dr Sean Avery's
report explains how this could devastate the lake's ancient ecosystems and
affect the 300,000 people who depend on it for their livelihoods. Tribal
communities living around the lake rely on it for fish, as well as an emergency
source of water. It also attracts other wildlife which some tribes hunt for
food, such as the El Molo, who hunt hippo and crocodile. Turkana is home to at
least 60 fish species, which have evolved to be perfectly adapted to the lake's
environment.
Breeding activity is highest when the Omo floods, and this
seasonal flood also stimulates the migration of spawning fish. Flooding is
vital for diluting the salinity of the lake, making it habitable. Livestock
around the lake add nutrients to the soil encouraging shoreline vegetation, and
this is important for protecting young fish during the floods. Lake Turkana is
a fragile ecosystem, highly dependent on regular seasonal activity,
particularly from the Omo. To alter this ancient ebb and flow will throw the
environment out of balance and impact all life which relies on the lake. Severely
restricted resources around the lake may also lead to violence amongst those
competing for what's left. Low water levels could see the lake split in two,
similar to the Aral Sea. Having acted as a natural boundary between people,
there is concern that conflict will be inevitable. Fear is already spreading
amongst the tribes who say they are afraid of those who live on the other side
of the lake. One woman said, "They will come and kill us and that will
bring about enmity among us as we turn on each other due to hunger."
Investors can grow what they want and sell where they want.
The main crops being brought into cultivation include, sugar, cotton, maize,
palm oil and biofuels. These have no benefit to local economies, and rather
than using Ethiopia's fragile fertile lands to support its own people, the
crops grown here are exported for foreign markets. Despite claims that
plantations will bring jobs, most of the workers are migrants. Where local
people (including children) are employed, they are paid extremely poorly. 750km
of internal roads are also being constructed to serve the plantations, and are
carving up the landscape, causing further evictions. In order to prepare the
land for plantations, all trees and grassland are cleared, destroying valuable
ecosystems and natural resources. Reports claim the military have been
regularly intimidating villages, stealing and killing cattle and destroying
grain stores. There have also been reports of beatings, rape and even deaths,
whilst those who oppose the developments are put in jail. The Bodi, Kwegi and
Mursi people were evicted to make way for the Kuraz Sugar Project which covers
245,000 acres. The Suri have also been forcibly removed to make way for the
Koka palm oil plantation, run by a Malaysian company and covering 76,600 acres.
This is also happening elsewhere in Ethiopia, particularly the Gambela region
where 73% of the indigenous population are destined for resettlement. Al-Moudi,
a Saudi tycoon, has 10,000 acres in this region to grow rice, which is exported
to the Middle East. A recent report from the World Bank's internal watchdog has
accused a UK and World Bank funded development programme of contributing to
this violent resettlement. For many tribes in the Omo Valley, the loss of their
land means the loss of their culture. Cattle herding is not just a source of
income, it defines people's lives. There is great cultural value placed on the
animals. The Bodi are known to sing poems to their favourite cattle; and there
are many rituals involving the livestock, such as the Hamer tribe's coming of
age ceremony whereby young men must jump across a line of 10 to 30 bulls. Losing
their land also means losing the ability to sustain themselves. As Ulijarholi,
a member of the Mursi tribe, said, "If our land is taken, it is like
taking our lives."
Survival of the Fittest, a report by Oxfam, argued that
pastoralism is one of the best ways to combat climate change because of its
flexibility. During droughts animals can be slaughtered and resources focused
on a core breeding stock in order to survive. This provides insurance against
crop failure as livestock can be exchanged for grain or sold, but when crops
fail there can be nothing left. Tribal people can also live off the meat and
milk of their animals. Those who have long cultivated the land in the Omo
Valley are essential to the region's food security, producing sorghum, maize
and beans on the flood plains. This requires long experience of the local
climate and the river's seasonal behaviour, as well as knowledge of which crops
grow well under diverse and challenging conditions. Support for smallholders
and pastoralists could improve their efficiency and access to local markets.
This would be a sustainable system which preserved soil fertility and the local
ecosystem through small-scale mixed rotation cropping, appropriate use of
scarce resources (by growing crops which don't need lots of water, for example)
and use of livestock for fertility-building, as well as for producing food on
less productive lands. Instead, over a billion dollars is being spent on
hydro-electric power and irrigation projects. This will ultimately prove
unsustainable, since large-scale crop irrigation in dry regions causes water
depletion and salinisation of the soil, turning the land unproductive within a couple
of generations.
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