ADDIS ABABA – Climate change is one of the major factors that are threatening the livelihood of pastoral communities in Ethiopia, said Dr. Konte Mussa.
During a recent discussion forum under the theme ‘Diversifying Ethiopian Political Agenda,’ Dr. Konte, who came from the pastoral community of Afar, presented a paper on the forgotten political agendas in Ethiopia pointing out pastoral development as a case.
“When I grew up in Afar, it was a time of food self-sufficiency. There was abundant milk supply,” he said. “But currently, due to climate change, the life of pastoralists has been put under threat. The impacts of climate change such as desertification are mostly affecting pastoral communities.”
Besides the global effects of climate change, he said, the production of charcoal is also severely affecting the environment where pastoral communities live. “In Afar, people don’t use charcoal. They just use trees to build houses and feed their livestock,” he said.
“For instance, traditionally, the Afar people don’t remove roots when they cut down trees. They just slash them so that they recover. This is a long-held tradition that didn’t harm the environment,” Dr. Konte said. “But, nowadays, when trees are cut down for the purpose of producing charcoal, their roots are also removed. This is significantly reducing trees and affecting the livelihood of pastoralists.”
Pastoralists move from one place to another to give time for the land to recover and this is compatible with what the science advises, he added. Besides climate change, mega irrigation programs and sugar projects have also reduced the availability of grazing land which is forcing communities to move to other places. Some move to urban areas to live a life of poverty.
“Development is important but it has to take the communities into consideration. The development has to improve the livelihood of pastoralists and bring about proportional benefits such as health and education to the people affected.” Covering 70 percent of the country’s geographic area, the pastoral community makes a significant contribution to the GDP, he underlined.
The Ethiopian Herald, August 15/2019
BY ESSEYE MENEGISTE
