When we traveled through Ethiopia last year (see our article on Wenchi Lake ecoreserve), this question came up again and again: Ethiopia is landlocked.

What surprised me wasn’t the frustration. It was how many Ethiopians openly welcomed closer ties with Somaliland as a practical way forward. This matters more now as Qatar, a state sponsor of terror, and China expand their influence across Ethiopia, investing in infrastructure, finance, and political relationships. With that growing presence you can see everywhere from Al Jazeera playing at every hotel to hundreds of unfinished Chinese infrastructure projects, the question of trade routes, ports, and national leverage has become more urgent, and more public.

In January 2024, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a Memorandum of Understanding that could reshape the Horn of Africa. Under the MoU, Ethiopia would gain access to Somaliland’s coastline for commercial shipping and possibly a naval facility, in return for Ethiopia agreeing to consider formal recognition of Somaliland’s independence. It’s not finalized, and it’s not without controversy, but it’s real. Yemen’s Houthis have been destabilizing the region since the 90s. They fire on passing oil tankers and they celebrate when Somali pirates capture ships passing through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, a manmade shipping lane that cuts through Egypt.

Related: Somali pirates like to steal oil tankers.

Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea’s independence in the early 1990s. Since then, nearly all imports and exports have flowed through Djibouti, creating vulnerability and cost. Over the past decade, Ethiopia has quietly increased its use of Berbera Port, the commercial capital of Somaliland, which has expanded and modernized enough to handle serious trade volumes. Ethiopia has also inflamed tensions with Egypt since building the GERD, a hydro-electric power plant at the source of the Nile river.

Somaliland, for its part, has operated as a de facto independent state since 1991. It has its own government, elections, currency, and security forces. It’s often described as one of the more stable and democratic political systems in the region, despite never being formally recognized internationally.

The MoU builds on years of trade and security cooperation. Ethiopia already relies on Somaliland’s ports. Formalizing that relationship makes economic sense, especially as regional competition intensifies and Red Sea access becomes more strategic for global shipping, energy, and exports. Having more Ethiopian presence in Somaliland, and now Israel, will help fight terror forces such as Al Shabaab, a Sunni Islamist religious extremist group based in Somalia.

Somalia, itself a lawless nation on the verge of becoming a terror state, has strongly opposed the deal, calling it a violation of its territorial integrity. Tensions flared quickly after the MoU was announced, and Ethiopia has since been careful to say that recognition is not immediate and that diplomacy is ongoing. Ethiopia, a predominantly Christian country, has to walk a fine line in order to keep the balance against insurgencies out of its

That caution reflects how complicated this is. Ethiopia wants access to the Red Sea. Somaliland wants recognition. Somalia wants to preserve its territorial claims. And outside actors, including Gulf states and China, are watching closely, each with their own interests.

What stood out during our visit was how openly Ethiopians discussed these tradeoffs. There was no sense of romantic nationalism, just a clear-eyed understanding that ports matter, trade matters, and sovereignty today is tied as much to supply chains as to borders drawn decades ago.

Whether the MoU leads to formal recognition remains uncertain. Regional politics move slowly, and sometimes sideways. But the direction is clear. Ethiopia is looking for options, and Somaliland is no longer viewed simply as a political question, but as a logistical one.

In a world shaped by climate stress, shipping disruptions, and global power competition, access to the sea is not a luxury. It’s infrastructure. And for many Ethiopians we met, working with Somaliland feels less like a provocation, and more like common sense.

Why Israel recognized Somaliland before Ethiopia

From conversations we had on the ground last year in Addis, what came through wasn’t uncertainty so much as a careful weighing of risks. Many Ethiopians we spoke with were openly supportive of deeper ties with Somaliland, yet they were equally clear-eyed about why formal recognition hasn’t happened. Ethiopia’s long and sensitive border with Somalia looms large, and recognizing Somaliland would be read in Mogadishu as a direct challenge to Somalia’s territorial integrity.

Every time we left the city our driver needed to check security along the roads as violent insurgencies are common in Ethiopia.

After decades spent trying to prevent further instability along that frontier—while coordinating on security and counter-militancy—few in Addis Ababa see value in provoking a diplomatic rupture at an already fragile moment. But Israel, on the other hand, can do it. Ethiopians already wave the flag of Israel in admiration and see an ancient thread of connection between their two sovereign nations –– back from when their Queen Sheba went to Jerusalem to meet the Jewish King Solomon.

Ethiopians also pointed to a more internal calculation. Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic federation still navigating its own political strains, and formally recognizing a breakaway state elsewhere in Africa risks opening doors Addis Ababa would rather keep closed.

As host of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is also steeped in the long-standing norm of preserving colonial-era borders, however imperfect they may be. For now, the country secures most of what it needs without crossing that line: port access, security cooperation, and deepening trade.

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Egypt is modernizing its massive irrigation network—lining canals, expanding drip and sprinkler systems across approximately 3.7 million feddans, about 6,000 square miles, and deploying smart irrigation technologies—not just for efficiency, but as preparation for potential reductions in Nile water. Sources highlight that Egypt’s modernization targets could slash irrigation waste by up to one-third, potentially saving billions of cubic meters annually. 

The urgency is fueled by growing water scarcity—Egypt now faces an annual deficit of around 7 billion m³, exacerbated by population growth, climate change, and upstream projects like the GERD a new dam built by Ethiopis. While Egypt remains deeply reliant on the Nile, fears of reduced flows—especially during drought years or due to unilateral actions—have reinforced the strategic urgency for domestic resilience.

Egypt’s irrigation overhaul isn’t just about modern farming—it’s a proactive strategy to stretch its diminishing Nile share and future-proof agriculture in a volatile water landscape. Its expansive irrigation modernization initiative aims to enhance agricultural efficiency and protect its water supply. The plan includes upgrading field-level irrigation systems, lining canals, and introducing smart water management—all aimed at transforming inefficient flood irrigation and securing the Nile’s vital flows.

The Ministry of Planning in Egypt has budgeted nearly EGP 144.8 billion (~$3 billion USD) for agriculture and irrigation in FY 2025–26, including public and private funding, targeting improved irrigation systems and increased yield per feddan. And it is also targeting modernization across 3.7 million feddans, switching from traditional flood methods to semi-modern techniques like drip and pivot irrigation over the next few years. These changes could reduce water usage by up to 30% while boosting productivity by 30–40%.

Egypt’s top farm exports to global markets are led by citrus fruits (about 4.2 billion lb shipped in mid-2025, ≈1.9 MMT) with orchards covering roughly 152,000 ha (~375,600 acres); followed by potatoes (~2.9 billion lb exports; national harvested area ~213,000 ha or ~526,300 acres); fresh onions (~511 million lb exports; ~64,000 ha or ~158,100 acres under cultivation); table grapes (~351 million lb exports; harvested area ~73,000 ha or ~180,400 acres); and sweet potatoes (~273 million lb exports; 2023 area ~12,427 ha or ~30,700 acres).

Collectively, these crops drive roughly $4 billion in annual farm export earnings, underscoring Egypt’s pivotal role in regional food supply chains.

Cotton is still very much a thing in Egypt, though its role has shifted. Egypt is famous for its long-staple and extra-long-staple cotton, often branded internationally as Egyptian Cotton. It has a reputation for high-quality, fine fibers used in luxury textiles and bedding. Production peaked in the mid-20th century, but land competition with food crops, water constraints, and global price fluctuations have reduced its cultivated area.

Yes—cotton remains a notable Egyptian crop. In calendar year 2024, Egypt’s raw cotton exports were valued at about $475 million, driven by the country’s famed long- and extra-long-staple fibers (“Egyptian cotton”). For context, USDA projects MY 2024/25 raw cotton exports at roughly 184,000 bales (480-lb bales).

If implemented well, the overhaul could save billions of cubic meters annually, relieve pressure on groundwater, and strengthen Egypt’s position in Nile water discussions. However, key challenges include financing costs, farmer acceptance, and ensuring “saved” water doesn’t simply expand water-intensive agriculture. Companies like Netafim, the regional and global pioneer of drip irrigation systems, could help Egypt achieve its goals.

Egypt’s irrigation system has roots in millennia-old techniques, from Aswan Dam regulation to historic canal networks. The current program builds on this heritage, blending tradition with pressure-based systems and digital monitoring. Watch developments on the GERD dam opening this year from Ethiopia as water volume from the Nile that goes to Egypt may drop dramatically.

Further reading on Green Prophet:

• • Saudi Arabia’s $650M bet on desalination
  • The Al Baydha Project: How regenerative agriculture revived green life in a Saudi Arabian desert

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The global import food import bill is expected to increase by 2.2 percent from the previous year to more than $2 trillion in 2024, pushed up by higher prices for cocoa, coffee and tea and also buoyed by higher import costs for fruits and vegetables, according to Food Outlook, a report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Import expenditures on cocoa, coffee and tea are anticipated to increase by 22.9 percent, accounting for more than half of the overall increase in value terms. That reflects soaring international prices for these commodities due mostly to weather conditions and logistics issues. Cocoa prices reached almost four times their ten-year average earlier this year, those for coffee nearly doubled, and those for tea rose 15 percent above their usual long-term levels.

Exports of these commodities play an important role in the economy of numerous countries, FAO economists noted. Coffee export earnings in Burundi and Ethiopia typically cover nearly 40 percent of their respective food import bills, tea does the same for more than half of Sri Lanka’s bill, and Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa exports more than offset all of the country’s food import costs.

Meanwhile, declining import bills for cereals and oilseeds offer relief to lower-income countries. High-income countries account for two-thirds of the global food import bill and will face a 4.4 percent increase in 2024, while the bills for upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income and low-income countries are likely to contract.

The FAO Food Outlook, a biannual publication, offers updated forecasts for the production, trade, utilization and stocks of major food staples as well as explores a series of topical themes. In particular, olive oil and fertilizers are featured in the latest issue.

FAO’s latest forecasts point to favourable output outlooks across most basic foodstuffs, although global production systems remain vulnerable to risks from extreme weather events and rising geopolitical tensions and policy changes which could tip delicate demand-supply balances and dampen prospects for international trade in food commodities and global food security.

Wheat and coarse grains output is expected to decline in 2024 from high levels but remain above utilization rates. Rice, meanwhile, is a bright spot, with the 2024/25 season poised to mark a record-breaking harvest, which could enable global rice utilization, reserves and international trade to increase. Per capita food intake of wheat and coarse grains is expected to decline somewhat in Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries while that for rice is expected to increase by 1.5%.

Global meat and dairy production is forecast to increase moderately while that for sugar declines. Worldwide fisheries output is set to expand by 2.2 percent driven by aquaculture. Soybean and palm oil outputs are on course to expand while those for rapeseed and sunflower seeds contract. Global vegetable oil consumption could exceed production and lead to stock drawdowns for the second consecutive season, while robust crushings are expected to result in expanding global inventories for oilmeals.

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Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia has a lot to see and do in terms of local culture, markets, and nightlife – if you can handle urban pollution from cars and trucks. We arrived Friday morning, and by afternoon, I was choking on the smoke from cars and trucks without catalytic converters.

The capital city of Africa hosts the Mercato, the largest open-air market in Africa, and it will make your head spin. Thousands of people and cars, carrying mattresses, carpets, clothes, hats, electronics, water bottles for recycling, dresses, and food, weave in and out in every direction, risking their lives between the cars. We took an hour or two to visit a fraction of it by car, jumping out if we wanted to buy something along the way. While I hadn’t read much about the security situation in Ethiopia, my senses said it was better to stay in the car with the kids.

If you find yourself in Addis Ababa for a few days, first of all, find a guide and driver (you can message me, and I will connect you to mine); it’s recommended to go out of the city on day trips. There are a number of volcanic lakes to explore, and on two day trips we visited, there were no other foreign tourists on the lakes we explored. Our guide spoke English and was able to determine what roads were safe. He negotiated things we wanted to buy in the local currency and overall made our stay more than pleasant. Amanuel felt like family.

We chose Wenchi Lake, a nature reserve that includes a volcanic lake, Lake Wenchi, about 3,450 meters (11,320 ft) above sea level. We drove about 4 hours to get there. Could this be the actual spot that is known as the cradle of humanity? It looked like heaven.

The inactive volcano lake has islands and an ancient church from the 14th century, a popular tourist destination. We arrived during a downpour and were reluctant to get out, but the clouds cleared over. It was a bit of heaven, its scale enough to hold in your mind.

The hours we drove to get there passed through endless villages and dusty savannah, but Wenchi was its own heaven, home to about 90,000 people, all Christian. A local warden took us to an office, and we registered for the park.

Noticeable from a lookout point overseeing the lake was a new so-called eco-resort, not yet operating, but built by Ethiopian Airlines. With so little developed for local people in Ethiopia, we wonder how the opening of this resort will affect local dynamics and its fragile ecosystem.

Warqee (also known as ensete) is by far the most important staple crop in the area, and our guide pointed out the “banana” like trees, of which they eat the seed, he explains.

We drove down to the almost-open eco-resort being worked on by dozens of people, and where we were supposed to meet our horses to take us to the lake, but only one was available. We returned to the car for a new meeting point close to the lake.

I was reluctant to take the horses as the newly paved road and the horses’ hooves would mean it would be dangerous for the horse and its rider. The kids jumped on, and then my “guide”, a five-year-old kid, suggested I jump on his horse, and he gently escorted me and my horse down the lake.

Some locals were swimming in the lake, and luckily for us, we weren’t tempted. Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic worms and is common in Ethiopia. But I’d only read about that later when we returned home.

But we weren’t thinking about these things as we were rowed to the quiet island where we met a monk who has been there for 14 years, guarding the church and a small temple that is supposed to symbolize Bethlehem.

The boat we took was paddled to the island by 4 local men from the village of Wenchi.

Our guide Amanuel told us of the first Ethiopian horror movie he saw as a young man featuring the white building on the island. I wanted to go over and peek in.

Wenchi in this 2006 Amharic horror film:

He told us about the priests who planted trees on the island hundreds of years ago and how locals come for school trips and festivals and enjoy the island. I collected some large seeds from a type of eucalyptus tree I haven’t seen before.

We walked quietly around the island, feeling the nature of the place. Our boatmen then took us around the island, and we returned to a mud house serving as a cafe and community center. A party had started with young people listening to music, drinking beer, the Muslim friends sipping on Fanta. Two-thirds of Ethiopia is Christian, the other third Muslim.

While we noticed no tensions between the two groups during our time there, if you read the news, flare-ups are not uncommon. Our guide checked the news regularly to make sure our roads were safe.

Wenchi is a great idea for a family day trip in Ethiopia. The locals all smiled at us as we drove and walked around, although there was some fighting over who was going to take us back up the mountain on the horses.

There is no consensus on who gets to work with locals when they arrive, and the local young men seem troubled that others got work and they didn’t.

I expressed to our guide that once the resort is open, the fighting over tourism might become worse. He said that he spoke with them about creating a system for each guide and that the elders already decided against motorized boats on the lake. We spoke about plastics, noise, and what happens when too many people are on the lake. What’s great about this “heaven” is that there aren’t many people.

Read Related: Ethiopian dam on the Nile to destroy Egypt’s agriculture

Going to visit Ethiopia for a few days was humbling and exciting. We’d arrived from Japan, one of the richest countries on earth, to Ethiopia –– one of the poorest. When it comes to happiness, I can’t say for sure, but the Ethiopians smiled a lot more,

Ethiopia, the only African country to have escaped European colonialism, has retained much of its authentic, ancient cultural identity and is considered by many to be the cradle of humanity: Lucy was one of the first hominin fossils found in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is also considered one of the earliest sites of the emergence of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens.

If we acknowledge this, the world should do a better job of supporting Ethiopia in developing itself in industry, agriculture and tourism. China is an obvious partner in Ethiopia for its own reasons. We’d like to see more involvement from democratic nations helping the good people of Ethiopia, a landlocked country, develop its future.

Consider the intricate interdependence between Egypt and Ethiopia, where Egypt’s economic stability hinges significantly on developments in Ethiopia. Ethiopia serves as the primary source of water and sediment for the Nile, contributing 90% of the water flow and 96% of transported sediment, notably through the Blue Nile and other tributaries like the Tekezé and Atbarah. Ethiopia’s ambitious plan to intermittently dam the Nile for power generation purposes adds a layer of complexity to the situation.

The longstanding dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile has spanned twelve years, creating a volatile situation. Any decision by Ethiopia to disrupt the Nile’s flow to Egypt could quickly escalate tensions. Positioned just 19 miles (30 km) from Sudan’s border, GERD stands as Africa’s most extensive hydroelectric dam endeavor, stretching over a mile in length and reaching a height of 145 meters.

Ethiopia’s motivation behind GERD lies in its aspiration to provide electricity to the 60% of its population currently devoid of access. The project aims to potentially double Ethiopia’s electricity production, offering a reliable power supply to businesses and fostering developmental growth. Yet, the project’s implications extend far beyond Ethiopia’s borders, impacting neighboring countries like Egypt and Sudan and sparking concerns about water security and regional stability.

The post Ethiopia and Wenchi Lake nature reserve appeared first on Green Prophet.

Harvesting water from the air is not a new idea. Arid countries like Yemen are already using low tech watercones to funnel sea water to drinking water. Another funnelling device is being developed by an Italian designer to trap water vapor in a Warkawater tower to harvest potable water directly from the air.

Still another device, called the Roots Up Dew Collector, is now being developed for Ethiopia in a project together with the University of Gondar. The device, which can also be used to grow vegetables and other crops, is dew trapping and will be used in the country’s arid northern regions.

The dome-like structure uses plastic sheeting to trap water vapor  during the day, turning it into dew which is then changed into water when exposed to cool evening air.

Roots Up is an organization based in northern Ethiopia that is working together with local farmers to help them use more sustainable agricultural methods to produce crops.

The greenhouses can be placed over planted crops to provide them wth water as well as producing needed drinking water. Due to not needing any mechanical components (motors, etc), the device can be quicky moved from place to place and then erected quickly without needing any external power sources.  Their overall simplicity makes them a good solution in undeveloped arid regions.

Read more on ways to create drinking and irrigation water from water vapor:

Warka water towers pull drinking water out of thin air
Time to drink water from aircon units
Yemen funnels seawater to drinking water with the low tech watercone

Update 2024: looks like someone needs to make this happen. 

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Investments in solar energy innovations are not dead! Remember those weird and wonderful solar energy harvesting tulips planted in Israel and Spain? Seen miles away the sky-high tulips have found a new commercial home – in Ethiopia, the company announced last week in a press statement.

We’ve covered Aora over the years and thought possibly that this CSP, or concentrated solar thermal power innovation didn’t grow. We were wrong.

The Ethiopian Government, looking for resilient off-grid systems, is now piloting Aora’s system for sustainable development.

Aora’s tulips collect solar energy from 50 small mirrors and then focus the energy to heat oil and air, creating pressure to drive turbines in the tulips. The turbines create electricity. The solution runs without steam and water, important for off grid locations where there is no water.

We all may know that Ethiopia has grand ambitions to grow its economy fast and is creating the Renaissance Dam to hold back water from Egypt’s Nile to create hydro power. But even when this goes online, getting the power to the people through the grid can take 20 years or more.

This is where Aora’s solution may help:

Rural communities and villages in Ethiopia, and all over Africa for that matter, have not been able to develop themselves due to inefficient access to electricity. This affects the daily lives of people, from needing power to run schools, hospitals, and industry, to providing refrigeration for food processing and post-harvest storage.

Aora’s solar tulips collecting solar power in Samar, Israel

We see solar power solutions for Africa out there already like Nova Lumos which has a novel business model to provide solar power for phones and limited residential use (individual units). Where people are poor and not able to invest in the one time fee, Nova Lumos lets people pay in increments – for the energy and system through the phone. Read here about how Nova Lumos from Israel puts power pimps out of business in Africa.

Aora however operates on the community or village level, giving electricity even during cloud cover or rainy days where the unit switches seamlessly to biofuels.

Unlike huge CSP systems (think Brightsource – also from Israel) Aora needs less than acre, or  3,500 square meters per module. Each module can provide 100kWh of solar electricity as well as 170kW of thermal power. The system’s heliostats follow the sun.

Built to be off grid the Aora system doesn’t require intensive investment to hook it up to the energy grid, nor does it require expensive energy storage operations since it can be hybrid and run on alternative power when the sun doesn’t shine.

The Aora systems are modular and farms of Aora tulips can be connected to generate larger amounts of power, together.

How Aora solar energy works in residential areas. So pretty!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9qO33wGgVM[/youtube]

Aora collecting solar power in Almeria, Spain

The post Aora’s solar tulips start shining in Ethiopia, without water! appeared first on Green Prophet.

In a strange and surprising twist, Egypt says it will consider participating with its neighbour Ethiopia in the construction of the Renaissance Dam, a project which it had staunchly opposed (and even suggested sabotaging).

The dam known formally as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will provide much-needed hydro-power to Ethiopia, but downstream it is expected to change the face of the Mighty Nile and the Fertile Crescent as we know it.

According to Al Monitor, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced that his country welcomes the participation of Egypt and Sudan in the construction of the dam and stressed that his government considers the dam will be jointly owned by Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Cairo viewed this statement as a positive step toward reaching a consensus on the Nile project, despite its earlier sharp criticism of it.

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdul Muttalib said: “Egypt doesn’t mind joining the Ethiopian government in building the dam for the service and development of the Ethiopian people. But we must agree on a number of items in a clear way to prevent any damage to Egypt as a result of the dam construction.

“During the coming negotiations with Ethiopia over the dam, we will clarify our position regarding the policy and method of operating the dam, the size of the storage lake attached to it, and how to fill it with water in times of flood and drought.”

He stressed, “Egypt will definitely not participate in the construction unless these policies are agreed upon and agreements regarding them are signed.”

The Renaissance Dam is an under-construction gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. It is located in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 40 km (or 25 mi) east of the border with Sudan.

Currently Egypt gets about 55 million cubic meters of water from the Nile each year through agreements it had signed with Sudan and Ethiopia in 1959. But times have changed, populations have grown and the power needs of the region have outpaced their desire to maintain old contracts.

The majority of the Nile water that Egypt receives comes through Ethiopia, a people who are clearly passionate about how they want to govern their future.

Safety concerns of the future dam, which will generate 6,000 MW, have been brought up; lasting effects to the people who sustain themselves with the Nile are an obvious concern especially for Egyptians.

Meanwhile the media speculate that this move by Egypt is less goodwill than playing its cards while the political turmoils that have taken over the country simmer down.

While dams are a straightforward and somewhat “green” source of hydro-power, there are lessons to be learned from countries that construct them. Thailand, China, Canada, the United States have all constructed major hydro-electric dam projects which have resulted in massive changes to the natural and built environment.

For a country like Egypt which seems to be hanging precipitously by a thread, a change to its precious Nile could spell out disaster.

There is a wonderful historical and academic article here on Origins if you want to delve deeper into the significance of the Nile to countries like Egypt and Sudan.

According to Origins, “Since the twelfth century C.E. Christian Ethiopian kings have warned Muslim Egyptian sultans of their power to divert waters of the Nile, often in response to religious conflicts. But these were hypothetical threats.

“Today, however, Ethiopia is building the Grand Renaissance Dam and, with it, Ethiopia will physically control the Blue Nile Gorge—the primary source of most of the Nile waters.”

Any changes to the Nile will force world powers in the region to adjust. This Green Prophet would rather see Ethiopia (defiant about its dam) develop solar power than to make sweeping changes to the ebb and flow of the mighty Nile.

When completed, the Renaissance Dam – formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam – will be the largest hydro electric power plant in Africa.

Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian ministers will soon meet to discuss the dam, hopefully under civil terms.

According to Wikipedia Egyptian tactics weren’t so diplomatic in the recent past: “On 3 June 2013 while discussing the International Panel of Experts report with President Mohammad Morsi, Egyptian political leaders suggested methods to destroy the dam, including support for anti-government rebels.”

The speakers didn’t realize they were being televised live. Oops.

Image via seeker

The post The Dam that May Damn Egypt’s Future appeared first on Green Prophet.

But the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) recognizes the danger of relying too much on hydropower, which is an erratic and possibly endangered source of energy. While the country has the staggering potential to produce 45,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity, geothermal also offers promise – so much so that the World Bank has backed a plan to conduct preliminary exploration and drilling.

Towards the end of last month, the Development Bank of Ethiopia unveiled plans to spend USD 20 million to explore sites in the country that have especially good geothermal potential.

The bank has plans to spend an additional USD20 million at a later stage, The Guardian reports.

This initiative is made possible by a USD40 million World Bank grant issued in May last year designed to spur renewable energy generation in Ethiopia and environmentalists are no doubt hopeful that a new focus on geothermal may relax hydroelectric ambitions.

International Rivers, which has been following Ethiopia’s dam boom very closely, paid a recent visit to the construction site of the Grand Renaissance Dam and expressed a number of concerns namely.

These include the probable displacement of more than 5,000 villagers, the risk of erosion and sedimentation and an apparent dismissal of these risks ahead of construction, as well as habitat loss.

“Ethiopia has been heavily deforested, but the Benishangul-Gumuz region where the dam is being built is one of the few places in the country where remnant forest vegetation still exists,” the environmental advocacy group wrote in a field report.

“The local community depends heavily on forest resources for their livelihoods (e.g., hunting, gathering of fruits, honey, firewood, medicinal plants, etc). The dam reservoir is expected to flood 1,680 square kilometers, 90% of which is forest. Road construction to the site will also impact forests.”

Geothermal, by contrast, is one of the most benign sources of renewable energy available.

When initial exploration is complete, certain private companies will be invited to build and operate geothermal power plants, including Britain’s Cluff Geothermal.

Managing Director George Day told the paper that they have already conducted a “scoping environmental impact assessment” near the town of Metehara, and that the country’s regulatory framework is not yet prepared for independent power producers.

They are hopeful, however, that these barriers will come down within the next six months or so.

:: The Guardian

Image of Dallol Geothermal Area, Shutterstock

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Land grabs are old news, but National Geographic has taken a closer look at Saudi’s African interests in particular and the resulting story is startling. The world’s favorite nature magazine visited two massive dairy farms, including the world’s largest, that were built in one of the driest and hottest parts of earth – roughly 100 miles southeast of Riyadh. Here, Friesian cows survive amid temperatures of up to 110 degrees fahrenheit.

The cows raised at the Al Safi and Almarai farms live better than some humans in air-conditioned sheds and water misters that keep them cool. But feeding them with grain grown nearby has depleted 4/5th of the Kingdom’s ancient aquifer in the last 30 years. For milk. The farms are facing closure as a result of water shortages, but instead of giving up altogether, the Saudis are buying up land and water elsewhere – including the already vulnerable Nile.

Water is free to farmers in Saudi Arabia so they have no incentives to use less or to conserve at all.

The Nile was apportioned in 1929 by colonial powers, an issue that has created great tension among Nile River Basin countries in the last few years. Egypt relies almost entirely on this river for its population’s survival, but upstream countries feel that they have been shortchanged by that country’s monopoly.

Ethiopia has been particularly vociferous, though the main instigator of a slew of new damns and hydroelectricity projects, former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, died in August, 2012. But not before allowing Saudi Star, owned by Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al Amoudi, to purchase large tracts of land near the headwaters of the Nile in Gambela.

Member of the local Anuak Tribe talked to National Geographic about the firm’s usurpation of land and water. At the time of writing, the company was digging a canal to drain nearby wetlands and their 24,711 acre relies on a reservoir built in the 1980s by Soviet engineers.

Tribesmen told the magazine that they intended to farm their ancestral land anyway. When they moved in to do so, gunmen shot and killed several Saudi Star workers, unleashing a vicious government crackdown in the nearby villages.

Men were killed, women were raped. Many people fled to neighboring Southern Sudan.

The Saudi government offers shiny incentives for firms to seek out arable land outside of the Kingdom. According to National Geographic, the King Abdullah Initiative for Saudi Agricultural Investment Abroad has catalyzed projects as far afield as Senegal River in West Africa and Indonesian New Guinea.

And the reason? The Saudis are concerned to secure a steady food supply in the decades to come now that their own resources are depleted as a result of chronic mismanagement. Other Gulf countries such as Abu Dhabi are pursuing a similar track.

Meanwhile, several reports show that Gulf Arabs are among the fattest people on earth, which begs the question: will Saudi, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar purge other resources the way they destroyed their own in order to satisfy their overgrown waistlines?

The post Saudi takes the Nile to feed grass-fed cows appeared first on Green Prophet.

This past April, MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The memorandum is aimed at addressing food security through partnerships with farmers in Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Israel will contribute expertise in irrigation, water technologies, agricultural production and climate change.

Israeli experts have experience with desertification and hostile, dry environments. The Negev Desert makes up around 60 percent of Israel’s total landmass. Yet, since its establishment in 1948, Israel has managed to create a thriving agricultural economy. This experience could be particularly valuable in African countries with scarce water resources.

According to reports by Agri-pulse Communications, an American industry media group, Israel’s agricultural sector annually contributes $5 billion to the nation’s GDP and exports over $2 billion worth of fresh and processed products. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that Israel produces 93 percent of its domestic food requirements.

“We were a developing country and now we are a developed country,” said Daniel Carmon, head of MASHAV. “We know how to do it.”

Technological Innovation for Poverty Alleviation (TIPA) is one of MASHAV’s primary programs in Africa. It helps small-scale farmers install water-saving irrigation systems. While MASHAV has similar programs in Benin, Kenya, Ethiopia and Niger, TIPA is devoted primarily to farmers in Senegal, where 75 percent of the population is involved with farming.

“We especially want to devote resources to women,” said Carmon. In Sub-Saharan Africa women make up an estimated 70 to 80 percent of small-holder farmers. MASHAV is also implementing major, joint agricultural projects dealing with citrus in Ghana.

Over the past five years, MASHAV experienced what Carmon called a revolutionary change. “We used to have a menu of activities and trainings to choose from. Now we have demand-driven activity,” said Carmon. “We shouldn’t tell the developing world what they need. We need to listen. Now we ask what is needed first.”

But MASHAV represents only a tiny fraction of Israel’s annual $14 million foreign assistance budget. Carmon stressed MASHAV’s emphasis on developing Africa’s human capacity.

“We don’t bring money to the table. We don’t bring high-tech where high-tech is not needed,” he said. “Israelis share their experience, roll up their sleeves and work alongside the people on the ground.” Over 100,000 African professionals have participated in MASHAV’s training activities. In addition, private Israeli businessmen, such as Gilad Millo in Kenya, are spearheading entrepreneurial ventures in African agriculture and education.

Corporate Interests

Many skeptics believe that Israel’s recent surge of diplomatic attention devoted to Africa has self-serving motivations. Among them is President of the New Israel Fund and former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Naomi Chazan. She also formerly served as a visiting scholar and lecturer for both the University of Ife in Nigeria and the University of Ghana.

Chazan described the recent developments as a mild shift. “The shift began when Avigdor Lieberman [Israel’s Foreign Minister] visited Africa,” she said. In 2010 and 2011 Israel enjoyed the fastest economic growth in the developed world. African markets were only marginally affected by the crisis in the west. Lucrative African markets have gained obvious appeal.

Chazan has been highly critical of private Israeli businesses operating in Africa, especially those involved in the purchasing and managing of natural resources, warning against the privatization of Israeli involvement in the region. Her writings also denounce the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arguing that its Africa division is woefully understaffed. For example, the Embassy of Israel to Cote d’Ivoire is also responsible for relations with Liberia, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin.

In 2011, Global Witness, an international NGO established to publicize links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty and corruption, alleged that Zimbabwe’s secret police, the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), received clandestine financing from individuals linked to corporations owned by Israeli business moguls, including Lev Leviev, his brother, Moshe Hallak, and Eliezer Nefussy, an Israeli living in Namibia. Global Witness reports denounced recent purchases of vast natural resources, predominately diamonds and oil, in both Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

National Interests

Israel’s economic future depends on stability in Africa. The Horn of Africa – including Ethiopia, Kenya, both North and South Sudan – influences the shipping lanes to Eilat in southern Israel. Israel is the only country in the world land-linked to the African continent. “Events in North Africa obviously affect Israel,” said Granot. In Febuary 2012, pollution from North Africa drifted towards the Jewish state and shut down Israeli airports for two weeks.

Africans are now also part of Israel’s human landscape. Over the past two decades, Israel has absorbed over 120,000 immigrants from Ethiopia and at least 60,000 asylum-seekers, predominately from North Sudan and Eritrea.

“African crises are no longer happening far away,” said Schler. “Israel can’t afford to ignore problems in Africa.”

According to Granot, both Mubarak and Gaddafi were obstacles to establishing deeper connections in Africa. Recent revolutions have created new opportunities. “We hope to reestablish those ties between Israel and African nations,” said Granot.

There are currently over 1,000 university students in Israel taking courses in African studies, what Schler referred to as a revival.

“I’m also interested in what role Africa will play in Israel’s future,” said Schler.

“What can we learn from Africa?”

Images from Tel Aviv via Idit Keren, image of African farmer via Shutterstock

For more on Israel’s increasing influence throughout Africa read:

Israel Strengthens Environmental Ties to Africa: Part 1

Agriculture and Water Connect Israel to Africa

Israelis Design Cardboard Wheelchairs for Africa

The post Israel Strengthens Environmental Ties to Africa: Part 2 appeared first on Green Prophet.