naturalfeature:omo river

Dam on Ethiopia’s Omo River Causing Hunger and Conflict | National Geographic (blogs)
▻http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/02/dam-on-ethiopias-omo-river-causing-hunger-and-conflict

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2015/12/herdman-bring-cattle-to-Omo.jpg

In the lower Omo River Valley of southern Ethiopia, a spreading humanitarian emergency that threatens to spawn conflicts in the region is largely being met with silence from both the Ethiopian government and the international community.

The filling of the reservoir behind Gibe III Dam on the Omo River is holding back the flows needed by some 200,000 indigenous people in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya to sustain their food production and livelihoods.

“People are starving and dying,” according to a trusted source who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from speaking out. “They need international support.”

#Éthiopie #barrage #peuples_autochtones #terres

Ethiopia dam will turn Lake Turkana into ’endless battlefield’, locals warn | Global development | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/13/ethiopia-gibe-iii-dam-kenya

http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/1/12/1421079979486/a2474fe1-b8bc-4706-8694-0b3160695ac7-620x372.jpeg

The downstream impact of the dam is hotly contested. Some hydrologists have predicted that Ethiopia’s expansion of water-intensive sugar and cotton plantations on the Omo river, which the Gibe 111 dam allows, could reduce flow to Lake Turkana by up to 70%. This would kill ecosystems and greatly reduce the water level of the lake.

This, says International Rivers, could make the difference between marginal livelihoods and famine for the tens of thousands of already vulnerable people who depend on the lake for their livelihoods.

When told of the possible impact of the project, ethnic groups and communities near the lake predicted widespread conflict, hunger and cultural devastation. “If the Gibe III dam is constructed, the lake will dry up and this will lead to desertification and there will be depletion of resources: there will be no fish, no farming, and low humidity [and less rain]. If that is the case, the community will be finished,” said Sylvester Ekariman, chairman of the council of elders in Kakalel pastoral village.

#grand_barrage #Gibe_III #agrobusiness #agriculture