BY ADDISALEM MULAT
The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State is one of the federal states of Ethiopia inundated with quite a lot of natural resources. The length and breadth of the region takes account of a wide spectrum of considerable and wide-ranging untapped resources that can take the country to the next chapter of achievement with no trouble if harnessed as they should be.
The region is located in the North-West part of the country and boarders the regional state of Amhara in the North, Gambella in the West and Sudan in the west, and owns suitable agronomic land as well as livestock possessions.
The region is known for its massive natural resources that can be utilized for the development of the region’s growth, its high potential for irrigation growth, water potential, and a large number of livestock in the region. More to the point, the region is known for its agricultural products such as oilseeds, cotton, fruits, coffee, sugarcane, pepper and whatnot.
Aside from possessing untouched and integral possessions that can attract numerous tourists from different parts of the world, the region is endowed with quite a lot of natural and man-made attractions that can be used and exploited for the socio-economic growth of the people.
The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State is also inundated with a wide range of minerals such as copper, chromites, nickel, iron, molybdenite and silver. The region is also renowned for its marble, granite, sand, gravel, barite, kaolin , graphite, tourmaline and what have you.
Sources indicated that Artisan gold mining activity covered wide area in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, and it is one of the means of subsistence for large number of the local people of the area.
Lately, The Ethiopian Herald sat down with Negusssu Delelegne, Diaspora Affairs Senior Expert, Benshangul-Gumz Administrative Council. According to him, the main source of income for the population of the region is crop production followed by livestock raising and so forth.
Copper occurrences are reported in Asosa zone in Kurmuk and Oda Godare woredas. Testified iron manifestations are found in Asosa zone (Kurmuk and Oda Godare woreda) Kamashi Zone (Sirba Abay woreda) and Metekel zone (wombera Woreda).
The western and north-western parts of Benishangul-Gumuz particularly the Kurmuk, Guba and Dangur woredas are characterized by low availability of surface water during the dry season when many rivers remain empty.
Recently, The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with Dr. Eng. Abubeker Yimam Ali, an associate professor and Dean of School of Chemical and Bio Engineering at Addis Ababa University.
As to him, Ethiopia is endowed with natural agricultural and mineral resources for the development of the chemical industry sector. These resources, however, are not developed as resource bases for the chemical industry.
The chemical sector faces a constraint in domestically produced raw materials: the sector has been relying on imported raw materials even in the areas where the country was supposed to have a comparative advantage. There are three aspects of the problem related to the domestic raw materials constraint: shortage, seasonal supply, and poor quality.
He elucidated that gold is the most important mineral in terms of export. At present there is only one large scale gold mining company, Midroc Legedembi Gold Mine. Artisanal minerals producers also produce and export significant amount of gold. Recently, new large scale gold mining companies such as KEFI Minerals have been granted licenses for exploration and production.
The utilization of mineral resources in Ethiopia is becoming very important recently. Mining for gold is a key development sector in the country. It is currently contributing the major export earnings for the country.
We should be able to process our own mineral resources and enhance the economic value. It is not prudent to export raw material ores. Processing of mineral ores locally will also give us an opportunity to expand the chemical industries and create additional jobs for the youths.
Another important ore in Ethiopia is tantalite. Ethiopia has world class tantalite deposits which are found only in few countries of the world. Tantalite is a very important metal used in the electronics industry for producing capacitors. Tantalum capacitors are found in cellphones, computers and electronic equipment. However the production has been declining since 2011.
The country has also a variety of industrial minerals such as limestone, clays, sand, gravel, diatomite, kaoline, bentonite, silica, barite, and what have you.
The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State should as well attach importance to sustainable forest development.
In the interview Professor Masresha Fetene, an Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecophysiology at Addis Ababa University gave to The Ethiopian Herald said, “The first step to bring about a sustainable forest development is to have a complete and integrated land use policy and land use plan for the entire nation.
He stressed that forest ecosystem services are directly linked with Ethiopia’s strategic priorities such as food security, productivity and sustainability of hydroelectric dams, irrigation expansion as well as other growth and development facets, not to mention job creation, peace, security and stability.
Thus we should be grateful to the government for the emphasis on forest based green development. We should all applaud that but should also demand that it be well planned, experts-lead, community based, unfailingly executed and dutifully followed-up.
“Indeed, there has been some effort in afforestation but the more significant increase in percent coverage of forest land has come as a matter of altered definition. Previously, forests were defined as areas with trees of 5-meter height or more with 20 % cover,” underlined Professor Masresha.
“Currently, in order to include trees of lowland areas (the Combretum-Terminalia woodlands of Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions), trees of 2 or 3-meter height with 20 percent cover and a minimum area of 0.5 ha, are also considered as forests. Thus the nation’s forest cover has suddenly expanded and it is estimated to be about 15.5 percent of the total country land area according to the 2014 national inventory,”
Nevertheless, this cover is dwindling fast. Recent studies have shown that forest loss in the country is about 92,000 ha/year, while total reforestation and afforestation efforts approximate a mere 19,000 ha/year. This gives a net deforestation rate of 73,000 ha per annum which is alarming by any standards.
He concluded saying that the sector has obtained significance due to the adoption of Climate Resilient Green Economy program of the Ethiopian government in the last decade which advocates sustainable forest development- decrease in deforestation and an increase in reforestation and afforestation.
Nevertheless, mainly due to the poor availability of electricity in much of the country, in 2015 alone, over 115 million m3 of firewood and about 5.4 million m3 of charcoal was extracted from our forests and woodlands, according to a report of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change.
The Ethiopian Herald December 8/2020
