“She looked at the electric grill with wistful eyes, realizing how much easier it could make her life. Then, suddenly, she started to cry. I was confused. It could not have been just about the grill. There had to be more reasons behind her grief. Maybe she has other burdens there,” my wife said quietly.
It was only the second day since Yidenek Mohammed, my brother’s wife had come to visit me and my new family. Until that moment, she had never witnessed the possibility of cooking Injera without smoke, firewood, or hours of physical labor. For her, collecting wood was part of routine life-something anybody just does, regardless of how far we must walk or how heavy the load becomes.
But when she saw an electric mitad (grill) quietly baking a full Injera at a single touch of a button immediately after just a simple wire plugged into the wall- something shifted in her mind. It was as if she were watching smokeless and flameless fire being made from vacuum.
Twice, sometimes three times a week, Yidenek, the mother of a one-year-old boy, walks for hours from her village Shebel, located in Eastern Gojjam of Amhara state, to the steep valley where the mighty Abbay (Nile) Gorge cuts through the land. The gorge, known for its dramatic cliffs and terraced escarpments, has featured in National Geographic documentaries.
“To collect firewood has become almost impossible,” she told me. The valley that was once covered in forest is now barren gorge. Sometimes, the community living there has to use Kubet, dried cattle dung, instead. The forest where I used to gather wood just before I had joined a university ten years ago is gone.
From habitat forest to forgotten land
Contrary to the Ethiopian government’s efforts to reverse deforestation through its flagship Green Legacy Initiative, vast tracts of forest are still being lost. According to Global Forest Watch, Ethiopia lost 102,000 hectares of forest between 2002 and 2024. The Abbay Gorge area, in particular, reflects this contradiction- where newly planted seedlings are seen each rainy season, yet mature forests are cleared each dry season by the local community.
For locals, the change after the Green Legacy Initiative has been both visual and emotional.
Dawud, a relative of Yidenek, now in his 50s, pointed toward a small stream at the bottom of the gorge.”That used to be a haunted forest. Only the bravest young men would venture there alone. It was thick with trees and wildlife,” he told me during my last visit to my brother- Yidenek’s husband.
“Now, it’s just land. Dry, barren, rocky land. No one even cares about the animals anymore. Most of them are gone.”
Failed punishments: Imposing fine against deforesters
In a communal desperate attempt to conserve the remaining forest, local elders and local government representatives once introduced a community-led punishment: a monetary fine for anyone caught cutting down trees.
“For a while, it worked,” Dawud said. “Many of us started using eucalyptus from our backyards. But, you know how much eucalyptus is also valuable. We use it for building houses, or sell it for cash. So gradually, even the committee members who were assigned to collect the fines started cutting down trees themselves. No one stopped them, instead people joined in. What choice did we have?” he questioned.
Though the monetary penalty still technically exists, enforcement has shifted. Now, only specific zones are conserved areas with remaining shrub forests are off-limits. Even then, residents say enforcement is sporadic at best.
“Collect the dry, not the living”: A rule that’s hard to manage
Community discussions continue to be held at Shebel’s summit. Most begin with a speech from a local kebele official.
“He is always the first speaker,” Dawud noted. “He talks about how trees purify the air and improve our lives. And he is right— majority of us believe him. But when we ask how we are supposed to cook without wood, he just tells us, ‘Collect the dry, not the living.’”
This new rule, collecting only dead wood instead of cutting down live trees-quickly gained acceptance as a practical compromise. Fathers and mothers repeated it to their children, and wood fire collectors in the village spread the message as they gathered sticks. But it was not long before the rule began to break down.
“Now, some people just started cutting down trees and let them dry for a few days before taking them home,” Yidenek admitted. “So, the forest continues to disappear, even as we try to protect it.”
Green Legacy: A living compensation for the deforested gorge
Despite these challenges, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative has left its mark across the gorge.
Launched in 2019, the initiative aims to address climate change and land degradation through massive tree-planting campaigns. By 2023, over 40 billion trees had been planted nationwide. The effort has drawn international praise and brought global attention to Ethiopia’s dual role as both a victim of and contributor to climate resilience.
Yidenek’s village- Shebel has not been left behind. Each rainy season, the community participates in planting campaigns organized by the local administration.
“We plant trees every year,” Yidenek said. “They give us seedlings- some indigenous species that we recognize from our childhood. You can already see some of them growing fast.”
Still, she acknowledged the paradox: “Even as we plant trees, we continue to cut others.” It feels like a cycle which the community cannot escape.
Electricity: The last resort for rural forests
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a recent address about the Abbay Dam (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam -GERD), declared that the dam will be officially inaugurated in September.
The dam’s potential to stabilize electricity across Ethiopia has been widely discussed. But for Yidenek and others in Shebel, the hope is different.
“Some people need additional electricity to stabilize their electrical works. We need it so we can stop deforesting just to make food,” she said.
Completing her, she finally returned to Shebel not with firewood on her back, but with the hope of using an electric Mitad.
Government reports indicate that rural electrification is now a priority, especially as the country pushes for sustainable development and cleaner energy. Once Abbay Dam is fully operational, thousands of megawatts of electricity are expected to power homes, schools, and farms far from urban centers.
But until that electricity reaches Shebel, Yidenek remains in a place of burden- a village not defined by poverty, but by daily survival. She does not walk through the gorge as a tourist enjoying the landscape. She walks it carrying bundles of wood at her back, annoyed by a disappearing forest.
BY YESUF ENDRIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 24 JULY 2025
