Ethiopia, land and pastoralism

On those days of the Earth Summit in Rio, my thoughts goes especially to the future of food in Africa and especially Ethiopia where I was reporting on the topic about a month ago.

This week, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the endangered balance between pastoralism and agriculture. Here it is:


http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/18/ethiopia-pastoralists-forced-their-land-sugar-plantations

Ethiopia: Pastoralists Forced off Their Land for Sugar Plantations

Government Should Consult, Compensate Indigenous Communities

June 18, 2012

 

It concerns the Omo region in the South of the country where the government intends to start state-run sugar plantations, according to HRW. 

 

"The 73-page report, “‘What Will Happen if Hunger Comes?’: Abuses against the Indigenous Peoples of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley,”documents how government security forces are forcing communities to relocate from their traditional lands through violence and intimidation, threatening their entire way of life with no compensation or choice of alternative livelihoods," states the NGO's website.

 

Give it a read.