Agriculture: from the knowledge of Ethiopian farmers the secret to producing better wheat

The knowledge of Ethiopian farmers, passed down from generation to generation, combined with advanced genomics approaches, can be the key to producing improved wheat and contribute to feeding the growing world’s population. It was demonstrated by a study conducted by Italian scientists at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and University of Bologna, published in Frontiers in Plant Science.

The study – carried out in Ethiopia with the collaboration of Ethiopian students – involved 60 Ethiopian farmers living in two locations in the Ethiopian highlands, who were asked to evaluate the traits of local interest of 400 wheat varieties. The data obtained was then combined with the molecular data derived from DNA sequencing of the wheat varieties under consideration, which led the researchers to identify the genetic basis of Ethiopian farmer preferences of durum wheat traits.

The study demonstrated that farmers’ traditional knowledge can help identify the genetic traits useful to improve wheat crops, bringing potential benefits around the world. “This study”, explained Matteo dell’Acqua, a geneticist at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and chief scientist of the study, “is the first to demonstrate that farmers’ traditional knowledge, developed and passed down over the centuries, can be a powerful tool at the service of the most advanced crop improvement techniques. The poor and illiterate farming communities of the Ethiopian highlands can make their knowledge available to produce crops that meet the needs of subsistence farming, thus contributing to food safety in the southern countries of the world”, concluded the researcher.

Publication date 08/08/2017
Source Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa
Tag Life Sciences

Ethiopian-American Singer Meklit Releases New Album

Meklit said her album was inspired by an encounter with Ethiopian  musician Mulatu Astatke.

Ethiopian-American artist Meklit has released her new album “When the People Move, the Music Moves, Too” on Six Degrees Records. A vibrant and inspired mix of Ethio-Jazz roots along with American pop, R&B and folk influences, Meklit’s record crosses both musical and generational borders to create a unified artistic vision, united behind her unique and unmistakable voice.

The album is the result of a fateful encounter Meklit experienced in Addis Ababa with the legendary vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke, who helped spark Ethiopia’s 1960s musical renaissance. She was deeply engaged with his music at the time, but he pushed her to think about how to bring her own experiences into her songs. “He was very pointed with me, saying several times ‘You keep innovating!’” she recalls. “He took me to task and he tasked me. It took me a while to digest that. It’s a big thing to have someone like that say that to you. I sat with it for a couple of years.”

“When the People Move, the Music Moves, Too” earned early acclaim from New York Magazine in their “Approval Matrix” feature, earning a coveted spot on the “Brilliant” end of the spectrum. The record made it’s debut on PopMatters, who said “With her latest masterpiece, Meklit has affirmed her place among her childhood heroes: at the shining crossroads of two cultures, making truly moving music.”

Meklit started performing at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House in the mid-2000’s. Born in Ethiopia, she moved with her family to Iowa at the age of two, and spent much of her adolescence in Brooklyn, soaking up the sounds of hip hop on the street. After studying political science at Yale she spent several years in Seattle before moving to San Francisco, looking to immerse herself in the city’s thriving arts scene.

“I’m always thinking about America and Ethiopia, about how the hybridization is going to work in both places,” she observes. The lapidary orchestrations on her new record were created by Meklit herself, with the help of her bassist Sam Bevan. But Meklit is quick to credit producer Dan Wilson’s lithe musical mind with a major role in shaping the ultimate sound of the record, in addition to his contribution of co-writing two songs.

A prolific songwriter, arranger and producer, Wilson seemed to know exactly which player to place where to accentuate Meklit’s sound. He brought in Ethio-Cali’s tenor saxophonist Randall Fisher, who plays a perfectly calibrated Ethio-jazz intro on “You Got Me.” And Ethiopian-born, LA-based keyboardist Kibrome Birhane’s spare piano work levitates “Yesterday is a Tizita.” Meklit describes how Wilson’s songwriting precision, and razor sharp, generous feedback helped to weave a remarkable clarity into the music, enhancing Meklit’s already vivid hues.

Since the release of her acclaimed 2010 debut album On A Day Like This… (Porto Franco Records), Meklit has become an international force. Meklit is the co-founder of both the Nile Project and the Arba Minch Collective, inaugurated the UN Campaign for Gender Equality in Africa with a concert in Addis Ababa, and sits on the board of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Find out more about Meklit and her album: http://www.meklitmusic.com

Up to 50 African migrants 'deliberately drowned' by smugglers, UN says

(CNN)A smuggler "deliberately drowned" up to 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants in the sea off Yemen's coast, the United Nations migration agency said.

The teenage migrants were trying to reach the Gulf countries via Yemen on Wednesday.

In a statement, the International Organization for Migration described the drownings in the Arabian Sea as "shocking and inhumane."

"The survivors told our colleagues on the beach that the smuggler pushed them to the sea when he saw some 'authority types' near the coast," said Laurent de Boeck, the Yemen mission chief for the International Organization for Migration.

Migrant crisis unfolding at sea looms over G-7 summit

"They also told us that the smuggler already has returned to Somalia to continue his business and pick up more migrants to bring to Yemen on the same route."

Shortly after the drowning, IOM staff found shallow graves of 29 migrants on a beach in Shabwa, the UN agency said.

"The dead had been quickly buried by those who survived the smuggler's deadly actions." Read more here

Corruption Is Holding Back Democracy and Prosperity in Ethiopia

By James M. Roberts

Ethiopia, a huge and beautiful country that straddles the Great Rift Valley just north of the equator in Africa, traces its history to biblical times.

Blessed with a long growing season and rich agricultural land, it is also a nation in political turmoil—albeit also one that is a key U.S. ally and partner in the fight against terrorism throughout that turbulent region of the world.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s political coalition claimed all 547 seats in May 2015 parliamentary elections that critics charge were conducted in an atmosphere of government intimidation.

Little remains of democracy in Ethiopia, especially since the hardening (beginning in 2015) of enforcement of laws that repress political opposition, tighten control of civil society, suppress independent media, and control online activity.

Although robust economic growth has reduced the percentage of the population living in poverty, the government’s violent repression of demonstrations in the past 12 months by the large Oromo tribe has claimed hundreds of lives.

In response to domestic and international pressure, in 2016 the government established the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission to investigate abuses.

Regarding the police’s aggressive use of teargas at a festival that triggered a stampede that killed dozens, the head of the Commission, Addisu Gebre-Egziabher, said that the state actors were “negligent.”

Speaking at an event attended by Heritage Foundation analysts in July 2017 at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, Gebre-Egziabher promised that those in power using excessive force are “being held accountable.”

This is a step in the right direction, but only time will tell if it is truly effective.

The commission is still largely connected to and dependent upon the government for substantial action. Freedom House reports that the media remains severely restricted in the country and that some journalists are among the political prisoners held by the state in grueling conditions.

Ethiopia’s overall score in The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom has risen by more than three points during the past five years, but if human rights conditions deteriorate, continued progress could be jeopardized.

Hopefully, the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission will be empowered to hold corrupt leaders accountable and lay a foundation for greater respect for the rule of law in the country to foster greater economic growth.

It is imperative, though, that the commission be more than just a public relations exercise by the government.

Source: Daily signal

Ethiopia govt 'redefined protesters grievances,' lifting curfew 'welcome news' - HRW

International rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says according to information available to them, it is just a matter of time before protests hit Ethiopia again if the government does not aver itself to the true demands of protesters.

According to HRW’s Senior Researcher for the Horn of Africa region, Felix Horne, the government used the October 2016 state of emergency rule to achieve the end of halting protests but it had failed to address the root causes of the mass action.

Horne in a statement reacting to the end of the state of emergency said despite the end of the curfew which he described as ‘welcome news, ‘‘Government Should Use Reform, Not Force, to Avoid More Protests.’‘

The government has largely redefined protester grievances in its own terms, ignoring more fundamental demands to open up political space, allow dissent, and tolerate different perspectives that are critical in such a large and ethnically diverse country.

‘‘In October 2016, at the beginning of the state of emergency, the government promised “deep reform” in response to the year-long protests that left over 1000 people dead. The reforms included tackling corruption, cabinet reshuffles, and a dialogue with what was left of opposition political parties.

‘‘The government also pledged youth job creation and good governance. But these are not the fundamental issues that protesters raised during the hundreds of rallies between November 2015 and October 2016.

‘‘The government has largely redefined protester grievances in its own terms, ignoring more fundamental demands to open up political space, allow dissent, and tolerate different perspectives that are critical in such a large and ethnically diverse country,’‘ he said.

He further reiterated the failure of Addis Ababa ‘‘to conduct even a remotely credible investigation into security force abuses since the protests began.’‘ Consequently, he renewed calls for an independent investigation into the deaths.

Horned averred that despite the opportunity the 10-month long curfew gave authorities to deal with issues that will bring durable peace, they failed via the use of brutal force. ‘‘Suppressing grievances through brutal force is more likely to provoke instability than to ensure Ethiopia’s long-term stability,’‘ he stressed.

He called on the government to release those arbitrarily detained or subject to politically motivated charges, including leading opposition politician Dr. Merera Gudina, Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress.

HRW has in the past voiced their concerns over the extent to which emergency powers had resulted in mass detentions across the country. The decried what they said were politically motivated charges and restrictions on movement and communication.

Ethiopia government’s spat with HRW

Addis Ababa has had cause in the past to accuse HRW of being behind the protests of last year due to their inaccurate reportage on issues in the country.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of World Health Organization and Ethiopia’s former Health and Foreign Affairs Minister in an October 2016 article titled, ‘Human Rights Watch encourages opposition violence in Ethiopia,’ asserted that the rights group was stoking the fire in the country.

Dr Tedros slammed HRW and opposition groups in the diaspora for misrepresentations that were worsening protests leading to the imposition of a state of emergency. He was responding to a report published at the time by Felix Horne – who he accused of being outside the country but pretending to know what went on inside.

‘‘In all of these, in order to support his (Felix) demands, he has deliberately given impressions and made claims he knows to be false about recent events, notably the Ireecha tragedy on October 2,’’ he wrote.

Read more here