As narrated by historians and individuals who were close to the Emperor.

Ethiopian National Transitional Council (ENTC) has continued to work on expanding its organizational reach throughout the world. This effort includes strengthening the chapters that are already established as well as forming new ones. In line with this effort, it has announced the successful completion of the formation of ENTC Uganda chapter with dedicated Ethiopians.

email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

It is with tremendous excitement we announce the 30th Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) Tournament venue and the return of North American’s largest and longest Ethiopian annual sporting and cultural event to the Washington, DC metropolitan area. After evaluating several options, ESFNA has selected the newly modernized, high-tech facility at The University of Maryland Byrd Stadium for its historic 30th anniversary cultural and sports celebration. The week-long event will take place from June 30 to July 6, 2013. Byrd Stadium is located at 2001 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD.

A major reason for selecting the University of Maryland Byrd Stadium is its capacity and modern conveniences which are ideal to accommodate the large crowds expected to attend this historic week-long celebration. The Washington, DC metropolitan area is home to the largest Ethiopian community outside of Ethiopia. It is within driving distance of other metropolitan areas with large Ethiopian communities – to name a few; Atlanta in the South, Toronto in the North, New York and Boston in the East, and Columbus, OH and Chicago in the Midwest. It is estimated that more than 600,000 Ethiopians live within these geographic locations. The Washington, DC metropolitan area is served by three major airports: Reagan National Airport, Washington Dulles International and BWI Thurgood Marshall International. Byrd Stadium is also centrally located near many Ethiopian
restaurants and other Ethiopian businesses.

We are currently evaluating several bids to serve as main and overflow hotels with significant discounts for our guests. As soon as the selections are made, we will post information on our website (www.esfna.net). We invite and encourage Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to join us during the week of our events so that we can all celebrate our heritage and our 30th year together.

For more information, please visit our website (www.esfna.net) or call 647-701-8527.
For sponsorship and vending matters, please contact our Business Department at 408-373-0606 or 202-257-9791.

Bringing Ethiopians Together
ESFNA prides itself in creating a unique stage where Ethiopians of all backgrounds, ethnicity, religions and political convictions can come together to celebrate our long enduring unique heritage and diversity that has become our strength through the millenniums. Our goal and vision over the past 30 years has been to maintain ESFNA’s annual festivities as the Mecca where ALL Ethiopians and supporters can come together once a year to create our own mini Ethiopia in the land of our refuge.

Founded in 1984, ESFNA is a non-profit organization dedicated to promote the rich Ethiopian culture and heritage as well as building positive environments within Ethiopian-American communities in North America. Its mission is Bringing Ethiopians Together to network, support the business community, empower the young by providing scholarships and mentoring program, primarily using soccer tournaments, other sports activities and
cultural events as vehicles. ESFNA, by virtue of its status is non-political, non-religious and non-ethnic. We adhered to this position all along as legally expected and aligned with our bylaws.

Yohannes Berhanu
ESFNA Public Relations
Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America

How Ethiopia Lost Control of Its Teff Genetic Resources

By Regine Andrsen and Tone Wenge | Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI)

November 12, 2012

In 2005, Ethiopia concluded an agreement with the Dutch company HPFI, sharing its teff genetic resources in return for a part of the benefits that would be achieved from developing teff products for the European market.

In the end, Ethiopia received practically no benefits. Instead, due to a broad patent and a questionable bankruptcy, it lost its right to utilize and reap benefits from its own teff genetic resources in the countries where the patent is valid.

The amazing story of the Teff Agreement has been uncovered and meticulously documented in a recent FNI report by FNI researchers Regine Andersen and Tone Winge.

Teff is a food grain endemic to the Ethiopian highlands, where it has been cultivated for several thousand years. Rich in nutritional value, it is an important staple crop for Ethiopians. Since it is gluten-free, it is also interesting for markets in other parts of the world.

A 2005 agreement between Ethiopia and the Dutch company HPFI gave HPFI access to 12 Ethiopian teff varieties, which it was to use for developing new teff-based products for the European market. In return, the company was to share substantial benefits with Ethiopia.

The Teff Agreement was hailed as one of the most advanced of its time. It was seen as a pilot case for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in terms of access to and benefit-sharing from the use of genetic resources (ABS).

But the high expectations were never met: The only benefits Ethiopia ever received were 4000 Euro and a small, early interrupted research project.

And then, in 2009, the company went bankrupt. In the years prior to bankruptcy, however, HPFI managed to obtain a broad patent on the processing of teff flour in Europe, covering ripe grain, as well as fine flour, dough, batter and non-traditional teff products. This patent, along with other values of the company, had then been transferred to new companies set up by the same owners.

These companies now possess the exclusive rights to a large range of teff-based products. But as it was the now bankrupt HPFI that was Ethiopia’s contract partner, these new companies are not bound by the contractual obligations of HPFI towards Ethiopia.

Ethiopia thus ended up receiving practically none of the benefits promised under the agreement, and its future opportunities to profit from teff in international markets were smaller than before.

How was this possible?

This is what FNI researchers Regine Andersen and Tone Winge have been looking into in their new report The Access and Benefit-Sharing Agreement on Teff Genetic Resources: Facts and Lessons, published by FNI today.

Their report has been written as part of FNI’s contribution to the German-led ABS Capacity Development Initiative, focusing on mainly African experiences with access to and benefit-sharing from the use of their genetic resources.

Lessons to be learned

Through their in-depth analysis of the course of events with regard to the Teff Agreement and the related patent on the processing of teff flour, Andersen and Winge attempt to extract lessons to ensure that future access and benefit-sharing agreements will have better prospects of success. They also provide recommendations for the implementation of the CBD. Some of the main conclusions can be summarized as follows:

  Under the current circumstances, even the very best ABS agreement is without value if there is no willingness to comply with it: As long as there are no measures in place in the user-countries (in the teff case: The Netherlands) such agreements can be seen as gentlemen’s agreements, requiring a basis of good faith.

  Provider countries (in the teff case: Ethiopia) need institutional and financial support to enable them to monitor ABS agreements, and to facilitate real access to justice in the user countries. A multilateral instrument for this purpose under the CBD combined with user-country legislation is probably the most realistic possibility to realize the objectives on fair and equitable benefit-sharing of the CBD and its Nagoya Protocol.

  Formulations in ABS agreements prohibiting the patenting of genetic resources may be easy to circumvent, and more sophisticated formulations should be chosen if this is to be avoided.