Land grabs in Ethiopia leave tribes hungry on World Food Day
By Survival International | October 15, 2012
Video-
http://www.survivalinternational.org/films/omo-valley
>From the Omo Valley: A Mursi woman speaks out against the destruction of the
tribe's crops. Her identity has been hidden to protect her from reprisals
_____
Violent land grabs in Ethiopia's Lower Omo Valley are displacing tribes and
preventing them from cultivating their land, leaving thousands of people
hungry and 'waiting to die'.
As the world prepares to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and
hunger on October 16 (World Food Day), Ethiopia continues to
<
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8467> jeopardize the food
security and livelihoods of 200,000 of its self-sufficient tribal people.
Tribes such as the <
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/omovalley>
Suri, Mursi, Bodi and Kwegu are being violently evicted from their villages
as Ethiopia's government pursues its lucrative plantations project in the
Valley.
Depriving tribes of their most valuable agricultural and grazing land,
security forces are being used brutally to clear the area to make way for
vast cotton, palm oil and sugar cane fields.
Cattle are being confiscated, food stores destroyed, and communities ordered
to abandon their homes and <
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8174>
move into designated resettlement areas.
One Mursi man told Survival International how the process of villagization
is destroying his family. 'The government is throwing our sorghum in the
river. It has cleaned up the crops and put them in the river. I only have a
few sacks left.We are waiting to die. We are crying. When the government
collects people into one village there will be no place for crops and my
children will be hungry and have no food.'
A Suri man also said, 'They cleared the land. Why did the government sell
our land? There is no grass for the cattle. People are hungry.. We are
worried about fodder. We have become angry and hopeless.'been hidden to
protect her from reprisals.
Key to the plantation program is Ethiopia's controversial
<
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/omovalley/gibedam#main> Gibe
III dam. Once completed, the dam will stop the Omo River's annual flood,
preventing tribes from using its fertile banks to produce valuable crops and
feed livestock.
Ethiopia has not consulted any indigenous communities over the construction
of Gibe III or its aggressive plantation plans in the Valley, which is a
UNESCO World Heritage site.
Stephen Corry, Survival's Director said today, 'On World Food Day, people
need to be aware of Ethiopia's decision violently to strip Lower Omo Valley
tribes of their
<
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/omovalley/wayoflife#main>
self-sustaining way of life. These peoples have used their land to cultivate
crops and graze cattle to feed their families for generations. This basic
right has now been taken from them, in a brutal manner, leaving them hungry
and afraid.'
Received on Mon Oct 15 2012 - 19:19:26 EDT
