Volume 2 , Issue 2 | April 2013 - HoA-REChoarec.org/docs/newsletter/Horn Blower (April - 2013).pdf · Volume 2 , Issue 2 April 2013 1 Message from the Executive Director Since the

April 2013Volume 2 , Issue 2 1

Message from the Executive DirectorSince the turn of the 21st century, a number of African countries have reg-istered remarkable economic growth. According to an IMF forecast, many African economies will outpace Asian countries–even China and India–in the next few years. An analysis by The Economist indicates that over the past ten years, six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies were in Sub-Saharan Africa. Among these countries, Angola has registered a GDP growth of 11.1%, Nigeria 8.9%, Ethiopia 8.4%, Chad and Mozambique each 7.9% and Rwanda 7.6%. The growth demonstrated in Nigeria, Angola and Chad is mainly at-tributed to oil production and the very lucrative oil market.

Nigeria produces 2.2 million barrels of oil per day and ranks first among the oil producing countries in Africa and 12th in the world. Angola exports 1.8 million barrels of oil per day which is 95% of the oil it produces. The country ranks 14th among the list of the world’s top oil exporters. Chad is one of the newly emerging oil exporting countries in Africa and produces nearly 200, 000 barrels of oil per day. This production capacity ranks Chad 11th among the oil producing countries in Africa. Currently, out of the seventeen African countries that produce oil, twelve are located in Sub-Saharan, and new oil areas are being discovered in Kenya, Uganda and in others places on the con-tinent. Environment Centre and Network

(HoA-REC&N)–in collaboration with its Network members and partners–is extending its sup-port for the implementation of this strategy. HoA-REC&N will also continue to work with EPA on monitoring and verifying the prog-ress made towards achieving the CRGE.

Ethiopia has taken the necessary steps towards a green economy and it is our hope that this will contribute to stimulating green growth in the rest of the region

Araya Asfaw, PhDExecutive Director Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre & Network

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Feature Article

News Items

Programme highlight

In spite of its negative impact on climate change, the demand for this black gold is expected to rise in the foreseeable fu-ture.

On the other hand, the achievements made by non-oil economies like Ethio-pia shows the remarkable gain that can be made irrespective of oil and serves as a model for a green economy. Ethiopia, the fastest growing non-oil producing country in Africa, has embarked on an ambitious five year Growth and Trans-formation Plan (GTP) and has also de-veloped a Climate Resilient Green Econ-omy (CRGE) strategy. This strategy will ensure the GTP is in line with the global strategy of green growth. While the Fed-eral Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for the implemen-tation of the CRGE strategy by sectoral ministries and regional government ad-ministrations, Horn of Africa Regional

Dr. Araya Asfaw

Quarterly Newsletter

Volume 2 , Issue 2 | April 2013

April 2013 Volume 2 , Issue 2 2

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change the means to change the end

The inside of a typical Areke production house is thick with smoke. Black plume of smoke blows out from beneath bubbling pots, as pea-green yeast burns into drinkable liquor. The smoke fills your nostrils and stings your eyes.

Arsi Negelle woreda in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia is host to thousands of such houses, where families depend on areke generated in-come. On a recent visit to Arsi Negelle, we wit-nessed firsthand the areke compounds, where cows often idled next to the smoke-emitting areke rooms, chomping on areke by-products. Areke comes in a variety of flavors for people to enjoy. But for the young women who pro-duce the areke, the working conditions often cause severe health hazards. From the constant smoke inhalation, the women develop chronic respiratory and eye problems.

Areke production is currently powered by fuel wood from nearby forests. Demand for fuel wood has stripped even protected forests of trees and is rapidly escalating deforestation. At the same time, due to dwindling supply, pric-es have crept up at the four local wood mar-kets, where donkeys haul piles of eucalyptus and black wood for sale. In the local markets, women usually sit sheltered under umbrellas as areke producers scour for fuel.

Recent research findings reveal that around 3,500 households in Arsi Negelle produce the local alcohol-ic drink, which is sold at market in colorful jugs and transported across Ethiopia, as well as to neighboring Kenya and Djibouti.

The above households each produce 150 liters of areke in six working days on average consuming a minimum of 450 kg fuel wood. In a simple way, dur-ing the areke production 3 kg of fuel wood is used to produce 1 liter of areke.

“Currently, the demand for fuel wood for areke is high,” said Mr. Kemal Kedina, an energy expert at Arsi Nature Conservation and Environment Development Association (ANCEDA), a local non-governmental or-ganization. “At night, some suppliers cut wood from the protected forest to distribute to their customers” he added

A pile of fuel wood in the market, Arsi Negele

Briquette stoves pilot project for areke production, Arsi Negelle

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Having a great concern for the surrounding environ-ment protection, it is ANCEDA that brought the issue to HoAREC&N. Consequently, as part of its Demand Driven Action Research (DDAR) Programme, HoA-REC&N sponsored four MSc researches to take scien-tific and sustainable solution to this problem.

Mr. Negib Mohammed (2008) was the first to conduct a research on the impact of areke production on the ecology. The findings of his study indicated that 87% of the respondents are engaged in areke production. The fuel wood consumption rate of areke distillers is 76 kg per day while non-distillers consume 17 kg per day. This high consumption rate is subject to environ-mental degradation.

The next research conducted by Mr. Girma Gezahegn (2008) assessed the possible ways of the provision of efficient Fuel Saving Stoves (FSS) toward fuel wood consumption reduction. The improved stoves have shown a reduction of 4.4% and 22% fuel wood con-sumption and time taken for distillation respectively. Mr. Solomon H/Eyesus (2011) investigated the poten-tial of solar energy for areke production. The finding of the experiment revealed an average boiling point of 74°C. It took about 2:30 hours to reach at this tem-perature which was longer than the time needed to boil pure ethanol.

Mr. Aysheshum Abebaw’s study (2010) focused on the potential of biogas to replace the fuel wood con-sumption. The result of study revealed that 97.8% of the households who produce areke in Arsi Negelle

have an average of five (5) cattle per household. If sustainable biogas energy development is imple-mented, the biomass dependency of the area can be reduced by 28% by replacing 19, 769 tons of fuel wood annually.

These researches are the major courses of HoA-REC&N’s intervention. Even though all these re-searches were done, their findings remain insignifi-cant to be potential energy sources and a sustainable solution for the problem could not be found.

The search for an alternative energy source to po-tentially replace the fuel wood has not been in vain, thus using Briquette stoves and a Briquette as a fuel was found as a better solution. Cognizant of this, HoA-REC&N is working with ANCEDA to pilot the Areke Briquette stoves in Arsi Negelle, hoping that a cleaner way to manufacture areke could not only improve the health of workers but also protects and conserves the forest.

The new stove runs on Briquettes, which are made of compressed agricultural waste like coffee husks and saw-dust. Briquettes areke stoves are designed and developed at HoA-REC&N by Mr. Eyobel G/Senbet, Energy Project Officer. The Briquettes emit no smoke and produce a more even heat, which is highly ben-eficial to areke production. In the old areke cook-stoves setup, women must constantly adjust the fire to ensure that heat is evenly distributed.

Fuel wood consuming traditional Areke production process, Arsi Negelle

A pile of fuel wood in the market, Arsi Negele

Ms. Atsedu Belay, owner of local Areke stove setups

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hoA-rEc&n is working together with its Partners to bring about sustainable development

Left to Right: Dr. Araya, Mr. Josep Coll, Chargé d’Affaires of EU Delegation to Ethiopia

HoA-REC&N handed over different equipment that worth over 7.5 million birr for various organizations on March 29, 2013

HoA-REC&N works with its projects such as Sustainable Tourism Based on Natural Resource Management with Gender Balance Towards Women (STRONGBOW), Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), European Union Energy Facility Project and Energy Programme for their progress with respect to key activities in partnership with net-work members and bringing optimal impact on the ground.

In highlighting the activities, STRONGBOW project (2011 - 2014) is working with the goal of building the capacity of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) engaged in Natural Resources Management, Tour-ism and Ecotourism in Ethiopia. In this regard, Jimma, Arba-Minch, Mizan – Tepi, and Addis Ababa Universities received 88 advanced computers, four photocopy machines, four printers, LCD projector and various IT accessories to implement the STRONGBOW project. Moreover 11 PhD and 50 MSc students will receive full scholarship through this project. The project is funded by the Netherlands Initia-tive for Capacity Development in Higher Education, in collaboration with the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NICHE).


In addition to this, IRBM project (2009 - 2012) was designed for Capacity Building in Higher Education Institutions to establish graduate programmes on Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in eight selected universities mainly: Addis Ababa, Arba Minch, Mekele, Bahirdar, Hawassa, Haremaya, Jimma and Dilla, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology as the lead institution in partnership with HoA-REC&N.

The objective of the IRBM project was to produce water experts for the river basin authorities under establishment. PhD and MSc programmes in river basin management have been estab-lished in partnership with UNESCO-IHE, Wageningen University, MetaMeta, Free University of Amsterdam and International Wa-ter Management Institute. Through this collaboration two PhD and four MSc students were trained and the eight universities received 384 books and laboratory equipment. .

European Union Energy Project on the other hand, works hard to provide modern energy access to rural households to meet the cooking and lighting needs.

The project is being run by 13 partners and associates in six dis-tricts of Amhara, Tigray and Oromia regions. The Environmen-tal Development Action in the Third World – Ethiopia (ENDA), Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA), Arsi Nature Conservation for Environmental Develop-ment Association (ANCEDA) and Relief Society of Tigray (REST), grass-root level interventionists, each have received one Toyota Hilux pick-up truck to implement the projects successfully.

To enhance the usage of biogas in rural areas, 37 biogas back-packs have provided to Abebech Gobena Hitsanat Kibikabena Limat Mahber (AGOHELMA) by the Energy progamme of HoA-REC&N. The use of biogas will contribute in reducing the use of fuel wood charcoal and kerosene. These biogas backpacks will aid to transport gas generated from the Guder AGOHELMA bio-gas plant to households in the neighborhoods

Ledet S. Abera


hoA-rEc&n supports community ecotourism enterprises

Aimed at achieving biodiversity conservation through ecotourism development, Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) launched its two Community Tourism Destinations, Ziway and Lephis Community Conservation Areas (CCAs) in the Central Rift Valley on March 21, 2013. The official launch was opened at the Ziway welcome Tukul situated near Lake Ziway.

The project was financed mainly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-Ethi-opia) and it was implemented by a consortium of US-based development organizations and Ethiopian partners.

Ato Bedilu Shegen, Chief of Party, ESTA, in the inaugu-ral speech acknowledged HoA-REC&N for the gener-ous financial support, which he said, helped ESTA to organize various trainings for different tourism enter-prises and to produce Map Guide of the Central and Southern Rift Valley in partnership with HoA-REC&N and the National Geographic Society.

Various government officials, CBOs and community representatives visited the sites. Senior Vice Presi-dent, Counterpart International Tim Ogborn, USAID Ethiopia Agricultural Officer Cullen Hughes and high level officials from the Ministry of Culture and Tour-ism also attended the event.

The sites are preferred to promote the natural attrac-tions and activities there in the eco-friendly manner that will boost up the benefit of the local community. Ziway and Lephis are part of an innovative network of six community conservation areas and, these two new sites not only create ecotourism opportunities, but will also attract other businesses and can benefit 40,000 local inhabitants.

To date, through this project, 34 community-based associations have been established to benefit from

Ato Bedilu Shegen – Chief of Party, Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) delivering the inaugural speech

Lunch at Tulu Gudo Restaurant, Tulu Gudo Island

Tulu Gudo Restaurant, Tulu Gudo island


sustainable livelihood generation through biodiver-sity conservation in the Central and Southern Rift Valleys.

Andenet Handcrafts Shop

Left to Right: Ato Sisay Getachew – Advisor, Representative for the Minister of Culture and Tourism; Tim Ogborn, Senior Vice President, Counterpart International; Ato Bedilu Shegen – Chief of Party, Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA); The Honorable Weizero Fetiya Yusouf – Member of the parliament, Culture and Tourism; Ato Abu Jarso, Batu (Ziway) town culture and tourism office head; Mr. Cullen Hughes – Feed the Future Team Leader, Repre-sentative for the Mission Director, US Agency for International Development/Ethiopia.

at Bochessa Village. Again during the official launch on the first day, Lake Ziway Tourism Ticket office and Andenet Handicraft shop were also part of the visit and officially opened at the main shore of Lake Zi-way.

At Lephis, participants enjoyed the waterfall hiking and horse riding activities of the destination. The participants also visited the Mishike Handcraft Cen-tre, Lephis Animal Fattening Enterprise, beekeeping activities, Lephis agribusiness/agroforestry nursery business enterprises.

Finally, the Chief of Party pronounced that the two beautiful community tourism destinations are ready for tourists

Asegedew ShemelisIn the next day of the event, March 22, partners, stakeholders and supporters of the project witnessed visiting the Lephis and Ziway Community Conserva-tion Areas. In Tulu Gudo Is-land, Lake Ziway, the group visited Tsion Handcraft Asso-ciation and workshop, Mary-am Tsion Monastery and its Relics. The group had also the short hiking on the high-land and all the participants had an excellent fresh grilled fish lunch at Tulu Gudo Tour-ism Cooperative Restaurant on the top of the mountain with a nice view over the Lake.

The Hara Denbel Handcraft Association, and Bochessa Animal Fattening also visited


‘tEA time’ brings together energy advocates to debate new ideas

Often people who work on energy issues are in one of two places – in the field, monitoring, measuring one of their programs or working fervently behind a computer screens analysing data and new findings.

Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center & Net-work (HoA-REC&N), GIZ Energy Coordination Office (GIZ ECO), Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), and Forum for Environment (FfE) are actively working on the development, promotion and dis-semination of wide range of renewable and efficient energy technologies in Ethiopia. This is principally geared to improve the access, quality and efficiency of household energy. The technologies include, bio gas, fuel saving stoves, photovolital (PV), biofuels, gasification, biomass, landfill methane recovery and power generation, micro hydro, etc.

Before May 2010, many new national initiatives were taken and the momentum for renewable energy is picking.

However there is no regular and structured platform to share information, exchange ideas and experiences and to network among actors in the energy sector.

To bring people working on energy sector develop-ment in Ethiopia together, Dr. Araya Asfaw and Mr. Abiy Ashenafi from HoA-REC&N first took the initia-tive. Having discussed with GIZ ECO, SNV and FfE they decided to initiate an informal energy discussion platform called Talk Energy Ahead (TEA). TEA is a plat-form for information exchange and networking in the Ethiopian energy sector. Currently, it is jointly organized by HoA-REC&N, GIZ ECO, SNV and FfE. GIZ has been facilitating and sup-porting the event for the past 3 years. Over the course of time, more than 400 individuals took part in TEA session with the average 60-70 persons at-tending every month.

During the past 32 TEA sessions a wide range of top-ics have been covered and the number of participants continues to grow.

In May 2013 TEA will cel-ebrate its 3rd year anniver-sary.

These are indicators of suc-cess and will continue to contribute to the energy sector development.

TEA aspires to become a community of proactive for energy sector actors.

Every other month, energy professionals and interest-ed individuals gather to sip TEA — 15th March 2013 participants registration


The second presentation was on the new Climate Change Innovation Center (CIC) to be opened soon in Ethiopia. The CIC is a new initiative supported by international donors and consisting of a network of climate change centers in developing countries.CIC act as hubs to support innovators and entrepre-

neurs who seek new tech-nologies and solutions to mitigate the impact of cli-mate change.

The mission of Ethiopia’s CIC is to, “provide a holistic set of early-stage financing, business support and capac-ity building services to the Ethiopian private sector, in-cluding women and rurally based entrepreneurs and business owners, working to develop, launch and grow innovative climate technol-ogy ventures that promote Ethiopia’s climate resilience and green growth.”

Grants of up to ETB 1,000,000 will be awarded to successful applicants.

After both presentations, the floor was opened al-lowed for questions and answers from audience members, as well as for informal networking

beverages and barter ideas. HoA-REC&N has spon-sored the recent gathering held on March 15 at the Itegue Taitu Hotel.

To kick-start the afternoon’s dialogue, participants first attended a presentation by Mr. Tesfaye Ale-mayehu from the Ministry of Water and Energy, on the

Caitlin Chandler | Dawit Dagnew | Ledet S. Abera

Mr. Tesfaye Alemayehu from the Ministry of Water and Energy Presenting about the cook stove plan - TEA — 15th March 2013

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Read More: TEA Concept NoteTo subscribe and for information about TEA informal event, please email: [email protected], or visit one of

the organizing organizations office.

Ethiopian government’s national plan to build a vibrant market for clean cook stoves investment plan.

In Ethiopia, 56,460 deaths are attributed each year to indoor pollution primarily from solid fuels, according to the World Health Organization. The government’s plan seeks to provide 4.5 million households with new stoves that do not create pollution.

“As I see it, there are a lot of partners involved at the ground level [with cook-stove programs], the idea is to bring everyone together to move towards achiev-ing a national goal and to unify efforts,” said Kidanua Abera of the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) in Ethiopia, who actively attend TEA event.


Group Photo: Participants of TEA — 15th March 2013

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Group Photo: Participants of TEA — 15th March 2013 Left to Right : Mr. Samson Atsbha, Head, Renewable Technologies Department, ECO and Dr. Araya Asfaw

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natural Forest conservation and indigenous community development workshop held at Jinka

Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network (HoA-REC&N) hosted a Participatory Forest Management (PFM) and indigenous

community development workshop in Jinka under a timely and relevant theme “Mount Buska Massif Natural Forest

Conservation and Indigenous Community Development” on 28th of February 2013.

The forest is one of the primary focus areas for the Ethiopian government as it is decreasing at an

alarming rate both in size and in type notably due to lack of proper management.

Recognizing this fact, HoA-REC&N in collaboration with concerned stakeholders at various levels has been committed to supporting and strengthening the efforts to conserve the forest resource and the com-munity’s livelihood that depend on these resources.

Moreover, in the face of changing climate, it is neces-sary to prioritize and implement a participatory natural

resource management and indigenous governance system that ensures sustainable resource utilization and enhances

resiliency of the ecosystem and the livelihood of the local community against climate change impacts.

South Omo zone is endowed with different natural and cultural resources that

have significance implication for the development of the region and the country at large.

With its historical, cultural and ecological significance, the amazing natural forest of Buska Massif Mountain in Hamer woreda has been a lifeline for the local community for many decades. Despite the growing threat of deforestation, the forest has remained relatively intact and dense. We may ask ourselves how the forest persisted for so long without being deforested and continue contributing to sustainable livelihood. This and other similar questions can lead us to investigate the type of socio-bio-cultural and economic ties that has existed within the local community and how such link contributed to the mutual existence of the natural resource and the people.

Ms. Wade Kolga, workshop participant


The answers to these questions can help other com-munities within the country to better preserve the forest as well. More important, these answers can be a valuable lessons not only in Ethiopia but also for the Horn of Africa countries.

In the wider perspective, it is crucial for all of us to investigate and learn from the timeless values of the indigenous system of natural resource manage-ment and environmental stewardship and incorpo-rate these values in our modern management tools. Equally important is the need to establish a system recognizing and promoting indigenous environmen-tal stewardship and local governance.

Degradation of natural resources has become the biggest challenge in the Horn of Africa at the moment and the case is no exception with South Omo Zone.

It is worth to pull every available means and resource to reverse this tragic phenomenon.

The workshop helped add fresh impetus to refine and further strengthen the already ongoing process of participatory forest management. It was also a good opportunity for sharing experience as the workshop brings together professionals from various fields.

This workshop, will not be the only action. Similar meetings and sharing of experiences will enrich and sharpen the envisioned approach thereby speeding up the pace to achieve the desired goals.

And to be successful, this approach needs joint com-mitment and cooperation from every sector, in line with the county’s effort to retain, conserve, preserve and develop its forests. The workshop looked into ways of widening the network of stakeholders so that others may join as well into this effort and contribute with their experience and knowledge

Group photo of participants

Ledet S. Abera

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let’s act ahead of the game to end wildlife crime

The availability of wildlife diversity in the Horn of Africa is a blessing by itself. This gift of nature -wild animals that are precious and attractive, adds more beauty to the region. However, a terrifying wildlife crime - poaching and trafficking - endangering animal species is becoming more and more prevalent in the Horn countries. This growing threat to species in the region is worsened by the absence of an organized inter-governmental effort to address it.

To respond to the serious and increasing threat posed by wildlife criminal networks, the horn countries (Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Ke-nya and Uganda) decided to cooperate to curb it.

To this end, the Horn of Africa Regional Environmen-tal Centre & Network – Addis Ababa University (HoA-REC&N-AAU), in collaboration with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), the United States Department of State, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has taken the initia-tive to facilitate the establishment of a Horn of Afri-can Wildlife law Enforcement Network (HAWEN) to scale up regional enforcement capacity and coordi-nation.

At the first Steering Committee meeting of this planned HAWEN convened in Addis Ababa between the 18 and 19 February 2013 at Desalegn Hotel.

HAWEN steering committee meeting at Desalegn Hotel, Addis Ababa

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Representatives of the Horn countries South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan and Uganda), chaired by EWCA discussed the devastating state of wildlife traf-ficking situation in the Horn region.

They also agreed that in order to successfully curb the disturbing rise in poaching and illegal trade and in tackling transnational organized criminal networks, the Horn countries must adequately and better co-ordinate their human and financial resources, share efficiently their know-how, raise public awareness in their countries and strongly enforce the law against wildlife trafficking. For this to happen, the Steering committee emphasized the need to establish a re-gional secretariat that will have the mandate to coor-dinate the fight against wildlife trafficking in the Horn of Africa region.

All the Steering committee representatives ex-pressed their government’s have the political com-mitment to this regional collaboration. During the meeting, participants have raised various up heav-ing wildlife related burdens and challenges that individual countries cannot handle alone such as:

Lack of inter-agency and regional cooperation • among member states ;Lack of enabling legislation to curb the trafficking • problem particularly the illegal market (e.g Kenya worked Ivory markets);Infrastructure deficit: remoteness, • long borders, ill-management of border forests and lack of techno-logically assisted wildlife surveil-lance;Lack of collaboration between law • enforcement agencies, Wildlife Au-thorities, police, civil societies, Cus-toms offices, different ministries and other stakeholders in each country’s context; andLack of frontline officers training • controlling conduits of the traffick-ing.

Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority, IFAW, Swedish Embassy, US State Department ambassador and EU representatives have observed the steering committee’s successful meeting.

The US Embassy, Freeland Foundation and IFAW of-fered their help to assist in the capacity building of this new regional network, while the Swedish Gov-ernment hinted to a possible financial support to strengthen the sustainable viability of the future HA-WEN.

The steering committee has set itself priorities, initi-ated the discussion about the future HAWEN struc-tural platform, devised communication strategies and developed the committee’s 2013 annual plan until the planned establishment of HAWEN in Octo-ber, 2013 in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the region

Asegedew Shemelis

A Herd of White Eard Kobs, Gambella


Bringing back the forests

The Horn Re-Greening Partnership Programme (HRGP) is working to address key environmental and social issues stemming from land degradation. The Horn of Africa has faced an alarming rate of environ-mental degradation, mainly caused by unsustainable natural resource management.

The Programme is facilitating implementation of Mount Wochecha Rehabilitation Project in partner-ship with Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise and Oromia Development Association since 2007 to re-habilitate the degraded landscape and conserve Sub-Sebeta State Forest.

Consequently this has produced famines, massive economic and social dislocations, and widespread resource-based conflicts. The degradation of the nat-ural environment has impaired the potential coping mechanisms of the most vulnerable rural inhabitants – who rely on the land to survive – to the challenges of climate change.

The project is implementing various activities includ-ing re-forestation, beekeeping, biogas development,

soil and water conservation, promo-tion of high value fruits and sustain-able tourism to achieve its objective.A total of 500,000 indigenous tree seedlings were planted on Mount Wochecha during the past three years to enrich the forest through the di-rect participation of the surrounding communities. These activities will be extended to the Addis Ababa Moun-tain Range to establish the ‘Addis Ababa Green Belt’ and improve the livelihood of the nearby inhabitants.

As a result, the Horn Re-Greening Partnership Programme has initiated

different projects to address the various causes and consequences of land degradation. Cur-rently it focuses on three geographic clusters - the Central Rift Valley, the Addis Ababa Mountain Range, and the Northern Highlands.

HoA-REC&N believes strongly in following the ap-proach of economic diversification, and one of the Programme’s focus areas is eco-tourism develop-ment. HoA-REC&N works closely with the Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) and the Ethio-pian Wildlife and Natural History Society and several other indigenous organisations to support the development of three community conser-vation areas. As part of this, a high-quality Map Guide of the Central and Southern Rift Val-ley was recently produced in partnership with ESTA and the National Geographic Society. The map was only the second of its kind in Africa to market and promote national parks and community conservation areas.

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Tree Plantation programme at Wechecha mountain

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The Programme also seeks to address proper land and water management in the Central Rift Valley, which comprises Lakes Zi-way, Abijata, Langano and Shalla as well as three major rivers: Bulbula, Meki and Katar. Competition for scarce land and water resources can result in conflicts, and HoA-REC&N is assisting to guide agricultural investments and devel- o p m e n t through holistic, participatory and integrated land use plan-ning. The Land Use Plan initiative, which HoA-REC&N started in 2009, will continue to develop a buffer zone and artificial wet-land along the shore of Lake Ziway to rehabilitate the lake’s ecosystems.

HoA-REC&N is now also looking to rehabilitate key watersheds in upstream areas. Efforts are underway to rehabilitate degraded

areas of the Guraghe and Arsi highlands which are water catchments for the Meki and Ketar Rivers. In line with the Ethiopian Govern-ment’s plans, HoA-REC&N will support evergreen agriculture on small farms in the CRV to im-

prove the food production and livelihoods of farmers.

Finally, the Programme will also expand its intervention to contribute to the biodiversity conservation of the Ethiopian highlands, which are part of the Eastern Afro-Montane Biodiversity Hotspots. The Programme will work in the prominent but unconventional protected areas of Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Monasteries. The sacred church and monastery lands have survived for many centuries as islands of natural biodiversity in a sea of deforested landscape

HoA-REC&N is assisting to guide agricultural investments and development through holistic, participatory and inte-

grated land use planning.


Kenya WASH Alliance (KWA) along with its counter-part Ethiopian WASH Alliance (EWA) visited WASH projects in Awash and Dire Dawa from January 21-25, 2013.

The team comprised of 12 delegates from KWA and seven representatives from the Ethiopian side partner organizations such as AFD, AMREF, HCS, HoA-REC&N, RiPPLE, and WASH Ethiopia Movement as well as EWA coordinator.

This exchange visit was a continuation of similar visit made by representatives of EWA to Kenya from 12 - 16 November 2012.

The theme of the exchange visit was to share experi-ences and learn lessons in WASH intervention activi-ties of the two alliances.

The exchange field visiting team visited the WaSH projects implemented in Awash town done by AMREF which included WaSH services at the bus station, waste collection and laundry services, and school WaSH project at Andedo

Elementary school in Amibara district. At An-dedo elementary school located in Amibara district the team visited the latrines and hand washing facilities made available to the student population of about 41 includ-ing 8 female students.

The team also visited subsurface dam proj-ects at German Kebele of Erer woreda around Dire Dawa city in Somali Regional

State were visited. The dam project is used for Mul-tiple Services of Water (MUS).

HoA-REC&N has presented and shared its experi-ence and program in the area of EcoSan and the use of Moringa for household water treatment. WASH Ethiopia Movement particularly highlighted the me-dia related activities it has carried out through WASH Media Forum to promote WASH issues among the society and the leadership of the country.

Representatives from the two sister alliances deliber-ated on the key undertakings to be carried out to suc-cessfully accomplish the mission of the national alli-ances by 2015 to ensure the sustainability of WASH projects beyond that

KwA and EwA Visit Awash and Dire Dawa wAsh Projects

Asegedew Shemelis

Hand dug well pump in Bochessa kebele, Adami Tulu Jido Kombolcha District


Asegedew Shemelis | Caitlin Chandler

However, with the user friendly Briquette stoves such adjustments are not required as it regulates itself.

Local Areke manufacturer Ms. Atsedu Be-lay has been producing areke for over 40 years, and her daughters now help sup-port the business. According to Atsedu, the wood is getting scarce. She is inter-ested in using the Briquette stoves as an alternative, but at the end of the day, “it’s all about the cost” said Atsedu. At another areke compound, the young woman interviewed had tested the new Briquette stove. “For us it’s easy to use once we get used to it,” she said. But she mentioned a potential downside to the Briquette stoves that new staff members require training. At this compound, the young woman mak-ing areke had migrated from a rural area to produce areke. She gets birr 10 per day.

HoA-REC&N and ANCEDA hope to provide ongoing guidance to ensure the new stoves are properly used and maintained. They also plan to ensure a supply chain from the Briquette factory in Dilla to the local Arsi Negelle markets.

This will help the users to have easy access to Bri-quettes, and in due course permanently replace the old stoves. Dilla is a town around 140 kilometers away from Arsi Negelle.

“It’s critical to pilot and fully implement these user-friendly Briquette stoves to protect the ecology” said Eyobel.

To reach into the possible apex of better environ-ment, spending effort to replace the natural fuel wood consumption by fuel saving stoves and other energy alternatives keeps going

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Areke distillation process using briquette stove


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Documents

Volume 2 , Issue 2 | April 2013 - HoA-REChoarec.org/docs/newsletter/Horn Blower (April - 2013).pdf · Volume 2 , Issue 2 April 2013 1 Message from the Executive Director Since the