Loss of Ethiopia’s Natural Resources
By Mengistu Woube
Ethioipan Review, Jun 1996
Without the conservation of natural resources (soils, water and plants), culture and civilization will not be preserved. Soil (a fundamental base for fauna and flora) supplies water and nutrients for plants which, as the base of the food chain, sustains the web of life on earth. Soil is composed of air, water, minerals, organic material and organisms. It is important for us to understand the physical and chemical characteristics of soil, its types, their distribution in the world and how they are indispensable for our existence. This vital resource is lost due to the mismanagement of land in most parts of the world. As a result, the soil loss has led to the downfall of many governments and civilizations in many parts of the globe. Soil loss in Ethiopia is one of the main causes of famine, social and political conflicts, the outbreak of many types of diseases, and migration in the form of environmental refugees. It can also be one of the main potential causes for the destruction of our ancient civilizations.
Although Ethiopia is said to be the “water tower” of north-eastern Africa (high rainfall, many rivers, streams and lakes), all these assets are poorly managed. Our rivers, rather than building soils, instead carry previous top soils across national boundaries. As a result, our country suffers from recurrent drought and famine. Without deeper understanding and conservation of our soil, Ethiopia’s existencethe life of its present population and the coming generationis in question. As a 1984 study shows, soil losses in the northern highland was about 1500 million tones per year. In the western part, the soil loss reached about 300 million tones per hectare per year. As a whole, about 50% of the land in the highland regions of Ethiopia was significantly eroded, 7% was already lack soil for further agricultural use and only about 20% was relatively free from serious erosion. Unless quick measure is taken, 18% of the highland will be bare-rock in the near future. As a result, about 10 million peasants will either be landless or will not be able to produce food from their land.
We must learn how to live in harmony with our natural resources and to conserve them. Life can neither be sustained and political programs be implemented nor culture be preserved without the alleviation of the various conflicts and the proper use of our natural resources. If we are not ready to reverse these dangerous trends today, the present physical and human environmental crises will be devastating. When our soil and other natural resources are endangered and the life of the entire population is also endangered. We can rewrite history, reformulate political program, re-demarcate the national and regional boundaries and reshape the morphology of human and agricultural settlement and resettlement patterns, but when we lose our natural resources we lose every thing. In order to save human life and preserve our country’s culture and civilization, the conservation of our natural resources is crucial. This can be done through long- and short-term strategies, the development of new ideas and thinking. If we do not apply our common efforts to protect and properly manage our natural resources now, the cost to our country over the next few years will be incalculable.
Presently, we are in dilemma: on the one hand, the political climate is not conducive to design and implement a nationwide soil conservation program. On the other hand, Ethiopia loses its natural resources every day and every minute. Ethiopians and the Ethiopian organizations have to decide today to choose whether the irreversible loss of our natural resources have to be ignored, and concentration be placed entirely on political activities, or find a way to conduct the two activities side by side. Scientists and development experts must be supported and assisted by individuals, organizations, institutions and the population as a whole if conservation of the country’s natural resources to be successfully achieved. Even though more detailed and concrete conservation methods are needed, here I will suggest two major types of conservation strategies: 1) environmental education, and 2) practical work in the field.
1) Through the establishment of environmental education program, scientists and conservation experts can provide knowledge and awareness to the people inside and outside Ethiopia. Based on my long years experience in rural Ethiopia and abroad, about 90% of the people do not have environmental education. By using modern teaching methods, experts can provide education on conserving our natural resources to the Ethiopian community inside the country and abroad.
2) Practical work in the field is a highly demanding task and requires deeper understanding and commitment. Although about 90% of the Ethiopian people (peasants) have some limited knowledge of conservation of natural resources, they have not yet adopted an appropriate and improved conservation methods and strategies due to lack of financial and moral support and committed and knowledgeable rural field workers.
What is needed now is a close cooperation between experts and the rural people in the country which can lead to sustainable, environmentally friendly and conservation-minded work. Such work can be started on a village and then be expanded to regional and a national levels. In order to accomplish these conservation strategies, money should not be a major constraint if each and every individual and organization feels that he or she has a historical responsibility and commitment to his/her country’s future existence. Let us say there are about 1 million Ethiopians who live outside the country, and if each of us contribute $60 per year ($60 million per year), it will conserve and provide continuous maintenance of a significant size of landscape per year. After some years, most of the people will be participating in the conservation process and most of the country’s landscapes will be recovered. Our united conservation strategies can:
1) create deeper understanding between the natural resources and the users,
2) bring understanding between people from different regions and ethnic groups,
3) open a new and unique development chapter, and
4) change the map of Ethiopia’s landscapes in a short period of time.
The question is who will take the initiative? Individuals, Ethiopian organizations, institutions and mass media must raise their voices, inform and discuss this idea and agree on the basis of this proposal or come up with other concrete alternative proposals and strategies.
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Mengistu Woube, Ph.D., has written several articles and books on environmental issues. He resides in Uppsala, Sweden. To contact him about this article you may reach him in Sweden at phone/fax number 468001.