Oppressed Kambaatas Envision an Independent Future Outside the ´Ethiopian´ Tyranny
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
July 09, 2008
An independent Kambaata Land would have the size of Luxembourg and more than 1 million inhabitants. A comprehensive description of the socio-economic troubles of the Kambaatas is offered through the pages of an informative website run by the Kambata Development Network (KDN).
In this first article of the Kambaata series, I republish from their website
a) a summary on the ´Current Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions in Kambata´,
b) a feature on the ´Population-Resource Imbalance and Resource Degradation´, and
c) a brief information about KDN (What is KDN?).
In several forthcoming articles, I will complete the portrait of the Kambaatas, who along with the Shekachos, the Sidamas, the Anuak, the Ogadneis, the Oromos and others struggle for preservation of their National Identity, Cultural Diversity, Linguistic Distinctiveness, Spiritual Individuality, Political Freedom and Socio-economic Emancipation.
The Tigray – Amhara Monophysitic Abyssinian exploitation of the Kambaata natural resources must end, and the Amhara and Tigray settlers must be expelled from the Kambaata Land. Before the aforementioned chapters of the KDN website, I include a brief entry of the wikipedia about the Kambaata Land as region comprised with the colonial state of ´Ethiopia´; the figures given illuminate the dire socio-economic consequences of the illegal Abyssinian occupation which started in the very last days of the 19th century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kembata_Alaba_and_Tembaro_Zone)
Kambata Land Asphyxiating in a Fake Administrative Region
Kembata Alaba and Tembaro (KAT) is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). While in their latest population estimates the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) includes it as a single Zone, the list of second administrative level bodies maintained by the United Nations Geographic Information Working Group categorizes Alaba as a "special woreda", that is a district that is not part of any Zone, and lists a Kembata and Tembaro Zone in place of the KAT.
KAT is bordered on the south by Semien Omo, on the northwest by Hadiya, on the north by Gurage, on the east by the Oromia Region, and on the southeast by Badawacho, an exclave of the Hadiya Zone. The administrative center of KAT is Durame; other important towns include Alaba Kulito and Shinshicho. Other local landmarks include the three mountains of Ambaricho, Kataa, and Datoo, and the hot springs at Motokoma. The longest river in the area is the Lagabora which means in Kambatinga the "river of Bora".
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 8,364 tons of coffee were produced in Gurage, Hadiya and KAT combined in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 8.33% of the SNNPR's output and 3.36% of Ethiopia's total output.
Based on figures from the CSA, in 2005 this zone has an estimated total population of 1,045,138, of which 521,274 were males and 523,864 were females; 92,377 or 8.8% of its population are urban dwellers. With an estimated area of 2,433.93 square kilometers, KAT has an estimated population density of 429.40 people per square kilometer.
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 2% of the inhabitants of KAT have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 109.8 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), the average rural household has 0.6 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR)[5] the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 10.7% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 73% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 23% in secondary schools. 74% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and none to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 320.
Current Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions in Kambata
http://www.kdneth.org/index.html
The Kambata-Tambaro (K-T) zone is one of the nine administrative zones in Southern Ethiopia, with a total surface of 2,434 km˛ and a population close to one million. The region is situated about 175 miles (280 km) south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. More than half of the total area is classified as hilly and mountainous.
Like most of the surrounding regions, such as Hadiya, Gurage, Wolaita, Sidama, Gedeo, Kambata's economy is based on enset, a perennial crop resembling false-banana. Used as staple food crop, enset covers about one-third of the total area of land in Kambata. The Kambatas are one of the most dynamic, hard-working, and highly skilled agriculturalists in Ethiopia. And yet, like many regions of Ethiopia and other developing countries, Kambatas suffer from unemployment, mass poverty, food insecurity, illiteracy, and communicable diseases. There is deep-rooted chronic food shortage and widespread starvation among the population. Click About Kambata for detailed background information on the region.
Population-Resource Imbalance and Resource Degradation
http://www.kdneth.org/about.html
At the outset, it seems logical to establish that the social and economic conditions which KDN aims to address in Kambata are not different from those prevailing in other parts of Ethiopia. What makes Kambata and other enset-growing regions unique is their demography. Kambata is one of the most densely populated and impoverished regions of the country. Its high man-land ratio has been documented in several studies. For example, a recent baseline survey revealed an average crude density of 277 persons/km˛, with agricultural densities exceeding 400 persons/km˛ in woredas (districts) such as Kacha Bira, Kedia Gamela, and Angacha. By comparison, in 1999, Ethiopia's national average density was estimated at 62.8 persons/km˛.
There is a strong conviction among planners, academics and the local population that the agricultural land in Kambata could not have supported such a large population density had enset not been a staple diet. However, the long-term sustainability of agricultural land is questionable as population pressure increases. The ecological balance between people and natural resources would be lost soon unless development programs that help maintaining the balance are not put in place immediately. In fact, KDN is much concerned that the current conditions in Kambata are signaling that the population-resource equilibrium has been badly affected.
Environmental stress and degradation of natural resources, resulting from the ever-increasing rural population, have lowered the quality of life in the region to such an extent that the survival of the present and future generations is greatly threatened. The dire socio-economic crises the Kambatas face are inextricably linked to and exacerbated by an imbalance between population and land resource. The evidence shows that every corner of the land is inhabited, tilled for generations and, hence, severely degraded. No public land is left for preservation. Grazing and forestlands have vanished. Even the hillsides and mountains tops, including that of Mt. Ambaricho, Kambata's holiest mountain, are intensively farmed and badly degraded.
Consequently, land productivity for cereal crops has been very low even with the use of fertilizers. The problem is compounded by the current land tenure system and the resulting land fragmentation that has reduced the farm size while discouraging long term investments in soil and water conservation, afforestation and terracing. The low land productivity has, in turn, resulted in meager farm income that could not support the rapidly growing population. The whole process has put the people in a vicious circle of poverty. Despite its green enset landscape, Kambata's future is grim indeed. Unless measures are taken to reverse the situation, without much exaggeration, it could be stated that the region will become a living example of the so called the "green famine."
High Rate of Youth Unemployment and Lack of Off-Farm Employment
In the meantime, field reports suggest that youth unemployment is rampant and rural poverty is pervasive in Kambata due to scarcity of farmland. Thousands of destitute young farmers have no farm plot, a basis of livelihood, and could not support their families. Most live on incomes less than $0.50 per day. Some have lost their traditional coping strategies including the well-known seasonal migration to other regions in search of farm jobs. The government's policy of ethnic-based regionalization has restricted inter-regional movement of labor, thereby limiting the rural exodus exclusively to one' home region. Current estimates suggest that more than half of the young farmers are either unemployed or underemployed. This is unacceptably high even by the third world standard. It is paradoxical to see Kambatas, one of Ethiopia's most dynamic, industrious, and leading agriculturalists, stricken by mass poverty.
Decline in Standard of Living
Another factor contributing to extreme rural poverty and deteriorating youth unemployment in Kambata is lack of alternative or off-farm employment opportunities. Massive public works programs are rare and cottage industries are non-existent. Population pressure and farming that takes place in all corners have resulted in serious deforestation and acute shortage of grazing land.
Consequently, the local population faces severe shortage of house construction materials, especially, timber and thatched-roof grass. The number of livestock that supports the farming population as a source of draught oxen and dairy has shrunk. The emerging overall picture then is a sharp decline in the standard of living of the Kambatas. In fact, recent anthropometric findings showed more than half of the region's children and women are undernourished. KDN is concerned that without nutrition interventions most of the undernourished will be exposed to the dangers of diseases and death.
To improve the standard of living, government, NGO, religious organizations have undertaken various development programs (resettlement, health services, water, education, soil conservation, road construction, etc.) in the region. However, the conservation and development programs undertaken so far are uncoordinated, untenable, unsustainable, insufficient, and ineffective to avert the increasing trend of resource degradation, unemployment and mass poverty.
In some localities, dry-weather roads constructed without prior environmental impact assessment have accelerated soil erosion, creating big gullies along the roads. After a few years, neither the road nor the land is usable for transportation or farming. Paradoxically, inappropriate use of pesticides and deforestation have contributed to the extermination of bees that used to supply honey to the local population living in various districts. KDN asserts that protecting the natural resources and environmental rehabilitation is an integral part of improving the living conditions of the people. It believes that a sustainable development program, especially investment on environment including reforestation, restorative terracing, construction of soil and stone-bunds on hillsides is needed to rehabilitate the environment.
Decline in Quality of Education & Massive School Dropouts
As a coping strategy for land scarcity and unemployment, the Kambatas have traditionally opted for sending their children to schools, even under very difficult conditions. In fact, schooling in Kambata has served as means to deflate population pressure on farming. To a certain extent, it helped minimizing scramble for scarce farmland by the young as the educated ones sought for non-farming employment elsewhere or migrated to settle outside the region.
However, in the absence of functional literacy campaign, the adult illiteracy rate is alarmingly very high, the quality of education has deteriorated, and the number of school dropouts has quadrupled. Both private and public elementary and secondary schools in the region are in bad shape.
In specific terms:
The existing school walls are collapsing and roofs are leaking.
The student-teacher ratio is extremely high. In many elementary and junior high schools, it is not uncommon to see more than 100 students jammed into one classroom.
There is an acute shortage of teaching materials including science laboratory equipment, libraries, and books. Audiovisual materials and computers are not available even where there is electricity. There is lack quality teachers, as more than three-fourth of teachers have poor education preparation, about 15% didn't complete grade 12, and only few (less than 9 percent) have college diplomas.
Training programs to upgrade skills of existing faculty are rare, preventing teachers from preparing better lessons plans.
The poor quality of education and lack of teaching materials are reflected on the poor performance of students in standardized tests. The number of school dropouts has recently quadrupled in both private and public schools that were formerly known for passing all their students in 6th & 8th grade national standardized exams. Each year, the number of dropouts has become incredibly high. Only a small proportion (about 10%) of students have succeeded in passing the national (6th and 8th grades) examinations and the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination (ESLCE) that enables admission to higher education.
Those who fail the examination each year join the army of unemployed, with no future. Currently there are between 35,000-40,000 school dropouts (post 12th grade) in KAT zone, placing an additional social and economic burden on the farming population in a geographically small region. In recent years, a few of these unemployed youth have been pushed to make unsafe international migrations to others countries, mainly South Africa, as a means of escaping poverty and famine. So far, locally, there is no a single vocational training or public works project designed either by private or public agencies to absorb the army of unemployed youth in a productive activity. KDN asserts that training the unemployed youth in cottage industries, auto-mechanics, electricity, rural technology, computing, etc. could create a better future.
Lack of Physical Infrastructure
Despite the fact the local people pay taxes regularly, infrastructure development is at its rudimentary stage and does not match with the number of people needing the services. The length of both dry-and all-weather roads was less than about 200 km, suggesting that most people in the region have no access to road transport. Lack of bridges (wooden, concrete, or steel) on major perennial and intermittent streams hampers communication and transportation of goods during rainy season.
Telecommunication and power services are underdeveloped and limited to certain localities. A more serious problem in this densely populated region is shortage of water sources in dry season and limited access to potable water supply. Kambata women spend a considerable amount of their productive time in search of water. Currently, a negligible proportion of the total population has access to potable water. The bulk of population uses dirty and polluted water that causes water-borne diseases.
Besides performing household chores, Kambata women engage themselves in various productive activities. they help men in farming, raise poultry, trade in local markets, and make local basketry, mats and pottery to earn cash for the family. However, such endeavors are often hampered by lack of micro-credits as well as scarcity of raw materials locally. KDN asserts that provision of micro-credits to rural women would help alleviate poverty and would empower rural women.
Another important role of Kambata women is food processing, particularly preparation of Kocho (enset food). Traditionally, enset decortications are performed only by women. It is a back-breaking job even for young women. To date, enset processing technology has not developed yet and the tools used for decorticating enset are primitive and ineffective, increasing the drudgery faced by rural women. To make the matter worse, the availability of wooden tools is limited with increasing deforestation. KDN asserts that improving the traditional enset processing techniques would reduce the burden from all women in enset growing regions of Ethiopia.
Prevalence of Communicable Diseases & Lack of Health Services
The availability and quality of health service is not encouraging. According to a recent baseline survey, the health coverage of the KAT Zone is inadequate due to lack of health facilities as well as health professionals. Currently, there is no a single hospital within the KAT jurisdiction to treat patients with serious illnesses. In 1999, only six doctors were serving nearly one million people. The available health care facilities are ill equipped, unevenly distributed, uncoordinated, insufficient and biased towards curative rather than preventive services.
The major identified diseases of the zone are malaria, intestinal parasite, tuberculosis, typhus, and respiratory infections. Most of these are communicable and affect mostly the poorest section of the poor. So far, there isn't much reported case of HIV infections or deaths due to AIDS. This could be due to lack of HIV testing and/or under-reporting. No doubt that the magnitude of health crisis has doubled recently with the spread of malaria and HIV/AIDS throughout the country. Nationally, it is estimated that 3.5 million people are infected with the HIV virus and a million children have been orphaned.
The congested living conditions resulting from high population density in Kambata have accelerated the spread of communicable diseases such as typhus and tuberculosis. Evidently, a considerable proportion of the patients visiting the Addis Ababa tuberculosis treatment clinic and in-patient hospital come from the Kambata region. Lack of immunization services and proper hygiene, combined with a high adult illiteracy rate have aggravated the prevalence of diseases and lowered the health status of the population.
KDN asserts that the spread of communicable diseases can be mitigated by providing immunization, health education, health services, and better housing conditions.
Acknowledgements: KDN is thankful to Kembatti Mentii Gezzima-Tope (Kembatta Women's Center - Ethiopia) for providing the baseline survey information that is used in the preparation of this web site.
What is KDN?
http://www.kdneth.org/index.html
Kambata Development Network (KDN) is a non-profit organization founded on March 24, 2001 in the United States by community members who are most concerned about the current environmental, social, and economic crises affecting the Kambata population. The organization was granted a tax exemption status by the Internal Revenue Service on June 21, 2002. While most founding members of KDN belong to the Kambata community living in Diaspora, the membership and supporters include people of diverse origins and all walks of life. Current members are spread across the continents and live in Ethiopia, East Africa, North America, and Europe. All KDN members and supporters are committed to give back to the people who educated them with meager resources. Contact the Executive Committee for more information about KDN.
Head Office:
P.O. Box 27175, Washington, DC 20038-9998, USA
www.kdneth.org, Email: Admin@kdneth.org
Note
Picture: A young Kambaata lady daily engaged in agricultural activities
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