Traditional houses in Ethiopia\u2019s Omo Valley. (Photo: Angel\/Adobe Stock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPastoralist lifestyle<\/h2>\n The Lower Omo Valley people are different from the highlander Ethiopians, who have possessed economic and political power in modern Ethiopia. A pastoralist lifestyle is at the heart of their culture, which some government officials see as a barrier for large-scale, modern food production methods. This includes the development a huge sugar industry. This has led to a programme of \u201cvillagisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe various tribes of South Omo have distinct and ancient cultures, usually based on an agro-pastoralist and mobile lifestyle. The Government of Ethiopia\u2019s development plans for the region are based upon sedentarised and irrigated agriculture which it believes will greatly alleviate recurrent food security problems; a new departure for cultures whose livelihoods have remained unchanged for centuries,\u201d writes DeMarco.<\/p>\n
It is a dilemma familiar across Africa \u2013 how to ensure that development can take place in areas with unique, centuries old-traditions.<\/p>\n
De Marco worked with a team under the auspices of the multi-government Development Assistance Group, an influential forum for all of Ethiopia\u2019s international funders, including the US.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe task set for us: size up how well the villagisation push was going and look for signs of hostile intent \u2013 or outright hostilities \u2013 from the federal democratic republic\u2026 together we would venture through the Omo Kuraz plantation in the far west to see whether sugarcane and villagisation really were taking hold\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the international activists claimed, were the pastoralists truly being rounded up, or worse, and forced off their ancient grazing lands? What pressure were they subject to from the sugar juggernaut, and what kind of pressure did they feel? Could the Indigenous peoples somehow adapt and hang on, clinging to their body art, bracelets, and bare skin?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/aside>\nTensions in the Valley<\/h2>\n The Lower Omo Valley is a remote area of Ethiopia, but plans for the Omo Kuraz Sugar Plantation, which covers 370,000 acres, put it on the map. In order to pave the way for the development, policymakers planned the construction of the monstrous Gilgel Gibe III dam, \u201ca project so bold and sprawling that the Italian occupiers of Ethiopia in the 1930s, who dreamed of building an African farming colony, would have recoiled con stupefazione<\/em>,\u201d writes DeMarco.<\/p>\nInto this picture came the figure of Molloka Wubneh Toricha, a representative of the northern-dominated, all-powerful Addis Ababa administration described as a \u201cZonal Czar\u201d. But his plans to represent the central government were quickly rebuffed by international activist organizations who accused him of forcing people from their land in order for the developments.<\/p>\n
Oakland Institute, a California-based institute, was one of the most vocal critics of the Ethiopian plans. They reported that 170,000 Omo peoples from ten different ethnic groups lived in peril near or along the Omo River.<\/p>\n
Molloka reflected the views of his superiors in Addis Ababa \u2013 foreign organisations were viewed as meddlers \u201cstanding in the way of progress, more interested in preserving backward ways than basking in sugarcane-filled glory days\u201d writes DeMarco. Late Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi complained of \u201cpeople who want to block our freedom to use our rivers, and to save our people from poverty\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are creating huge propaganda, and they don\u2019t stop there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are blocking us from getting financial loans from abroad to finish the project. There are also some people who are the best friends of backwardness and poverty but claim to be concerned about environmental conservation.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Meles said that he wouldn\u2019t allow the people of the valley \u201cto be a case study of ancient living for scientists and researchers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Violence erupts<\/h2>\n It was obvious that trouble was on the horizon. In January 2015, serious violence broke out at Dumeka (a Hamar village), when militants attacked a government security force detachment that was sent to the scene. Four policemen and a female teacher were shot to death in a gunfight.<\/p>\n
Three days after the fighting, a mediator arrived who managed to secure the return of the dead policemen\u2019s bodies. Four months later, the Ethiopian army had arrested the rebel leader. Supporters surrounded the police station where the arrest was made and demanded his release. The army moved in, and there was much fighting before the calm returned.<\/p>\n
The tragic transition from violence to debate is a powerful example of the many complications of development in areas at the forefront of change.<\/p>\n
While such conflicts may have been temporarily marginalised by the enormous civil war focused on the Tigray region, DeMarco\u2019s fascinating account shows that Ethiopia\u2019s future will continue to be defined by the tension between development and tradition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source: african.business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sites in East Africa were home to the oldest known skeletal remains anatomically modern humans. Omo, Ethiopia was the first site to discover human remains dating back almost 200,000 years. The unique lives of people that today live in the Lower Omo Valley, mankind\u2019s cradle, are the focus of Last Days in Naked Valley: The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Review: Last Days in Naked Valley by Edward DeMarco - African Business - African News Paper<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n