The Ethiopian Herald published the first part of this content a fortnight back on its Guest column. Our discussion was mainly focused on the research findings, the control methods that have been implemented on the Tse Tse fly incident in Ethiopia and contributions of Dr. Getachew Ticoobet on the process. This part will focus on the initiative undertaken by Africa Bio Economy an ANGO, and discuss on what Ethiopia needs to realize its sustainable development.
Herald: After the researches and control methods on Tse Tse fly, you said the next focus was on economic and developmental aspects. Would you tell us about that?
Getachew: After taking it from the evasive fly, one cannot abandon the land because it may serve a hotbed for another disaster. In order to avoid that we came up with a model called integrated bio-economic model that focused on social, economic and ecological aspects.
When we talk about economy, it is about development and providing a means to generate income. The social aspect includes education, health, gender and governance, which is the software part that would support the society in general. When it comes to ecology, it is all about environmental protection and dealing with climate change issues. Therefore, it is a system via which we meant to address the abovementioned concerns.
The first step in implementing this system has become training the farmers. In order to train the farmers it was mandatory to build training centers that are suitable to the overall environment and landscapes throughout the parts of the country that we would be engaged in. So, we have built model training and demonstration centers here in Addis, Assosa of Beninshangul Gumuz, Ebinat of Amhara, Asella, Kurfa Chelle and Chiro of Oromia, and in five different places of Tigay State. Then we have already distributed several manuals and packages for extension workers, farmers, NGO’s including CRDA.
Herald: How many beneficiaries or smallholder farmers have you managed to reach out? Also what were the outcomes?
Getachew: We had directly given training for 50,000 farmers and each of these farmers was able to share respective knowledge for ten farmers in their villages. In addition, these 500,000 farmers are estimated to have five family members. As a result, we have reached out millions.
Meanwhile, in order to ensure sustainable development our national strategies must comprise of six major thoughts or principles that Africa Bio Economy gives due attention to. These are education, work ethics, social harmony, dual economy and high saving rate and embracement of a global player role.
We need farmers with knowledge and skill. And this depends on the education system we provide. We cannot continue producing an educated society that starves. That is why we have to think of educational systems and programs that benefit generations of many. An educated society always registers great development. It solves problems easily and brings fair justice. In this case, a well-educated society will develop a high value of work ethics.
The other factor is developing social harmony, which would lead to a social interaction based on reasonable facts. Such type of society knows how to and is capable of avoiding conflicts through discussions. If people sit round a horseshoe table and discuss, they will figure out the solutions for 99 percent of their problems. Our approaches of discussion should not have to be based on suspicions but tangible reasoning. After having all the discussions and decisions made, the terms of agreement should always be respected. We need a system that ensures the implementation of those terms. Thus, it is crucial to exert efforts on social harmony, which is all about maintaining consensus on common issues of concern and knowing the responsibilities as well as outcomes of what we do personally.
When we come to the fourth factor, it is significant to consider the benefits of others, while a certain economic move is made. If you are implementing a developmental project at some place and it is considerate about others’ benefits somewhere else, you will have many supporters and assistances. That means implementing dual economic strategy for sustainable development.
The best example for this could be the way some of the big companies in the world distribute their production system to several small companies or enterprises and build one brand material at the end. But everyone is part of that company. So, making one developmental project all inclusive makes it sustainable. These four principles and the other two, which are high saving rate and being global players, are very crucial for the development of both our rural and urban societies.
Herald: So, what would be the major achievements that Africa Bio Economy made on the implementation of these basic principles?
Getachew: It is still necessary to strengthen the effort with more organized and collaborative approaches. We have been doing this in our Africa Bio Economy programs. Like I said earlier we have established model training centers and demonstration models in different parts of the country. We have even sent farmers to European countries as part of our education program.
In terms of research, we have been able to release several scientific publications. We have also contributed an agro-processing technology for honey products. It is a technology that we implemented with partners from the US and it has shown a high level efficiency in honey bee breeding also. Moreover, we had developed a biogas technology in collaboration with Chinese partner 28 years before. The first biogas was made here in the center we have in Addis. Then our biogas model technology was distributed throughout the country. It has dual purposes; the first is that it can be used for fertilizer and also energy. This has contributed to the concept that we now call bio farming.
Currently, I am working on integrated solar and waste to come up with energy project model. The other is that we have a program to promote green academy on the schools we have in Addis, Mekele, Assossa and Assela. It is a leadership training which focuses on integrated agriculture and development. We will be training trainers.
Herald: What do you suggest regarding the saying that Ethiopian scholars, researchers and the government should give due attention for the sustainable development of the country?
Getachew: I believe if one country has to grow; it needs a system or a roadmap that is based on knowledge and technology. Different think tanks should be created. Then this think tank must be established in different institutions because it would stretch to more actors and create institutionalized sense of ownership in the County’s development. We need to avoid the tradition of indulging into some campaigns and dropping the issue in the middle.
It is very crucial to invest in practical science and technology. If we see the experience of developed countries, they have exhaustively invested on science and technology. When, it comes to us we have been engaged in a quick fix or putting out a fire task. Even if extinguishing a fire is necessary, we have to look for its sustainable solution. It is science-led development that has changed the status of many other countries.
As a result, we as a nation have to focus on science-led development. In order to involve in such developmental system, there needs to be a very high quality education. It cannot be realized with miraculous feat. If we are committed enough the potential of the Ethiopian people is more than enough to bring a visible change. When I say science, it should be noted that I do not mean we have to forget what we have in our surrounding.
For instance, Ethiopia has 80 percent highland in comparison with other African countries. The question is that what do we know about this 80 percent highland? The lowland is very small. Therefore, we have to focus on specializing on and implementing mountain science. We even need a university that works on mountain science. There is a related school of thought which is called Eco hydrology. This will also enable us to manage our rivers and basins and even the orographic rain that comes in seasons.
Most of all, since the country is dominated by a farmer population I believe it is crucial to establish Ethiopian Farmers Federation and Farmers special college. As long as the farmers are empowered with knowledge and skill, realizing sustainable development will not be a difficult task. Thus, I believe these are the issues that the government, scholars and researchers need to seriously engage in joining hands.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 27 October 2019
BY HENOK TIBEBU
