Veteran Journalist Mulugeta Lulle dies at age 75

Veteran journalist and political analyst Mulugeta Lule

WASHINGTON, DC - Mulugeta Lulle, a veteran journalist and political analyst, died October 4 at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 75.

Mulugeta Lule was a contemporary of the great novelists of the ’70s, standing tall among the iconic figures of the time: Ba’alu Girma, Sebhat Gebregzabher, Berhanu Zerihun, among others. Unlike his colleagues, Mulugeta spent much of his time in Ethiopia as a government official. Before the change of regime in 1991, Mulugeta was general manager of the influential Ethiopian Press Department, the office which published the leading newspapers of the country such as ‘The Ethiopian Herald’, ‘Addis Zemen’ and ‘Yezareitu Ethiopia.’

As head of the Press Department, Mulugeta was also a participant in journalism workshops, teaching the basics of writing news and commentaries to young employees of the different newspapers, including the Arabic Al-Alem and the Oromiffa Berisso. There was no doubt Mulugeta was a master in his field.

In 1991 when the EPRDF overthrew the Derg regime and took the reigns of power, Mulugeta Lulle authored Atfeto Metfat, a book that chronicles the failings of the Derg military regime. Despite his experience as a veteran journalist, Mulugeta was never spared of being expelled from his job.

Yet after his departure from the Information Ministry, Mulugeta and friends launched Tobia, an Amharic magazine that would be the darling of the public readership but a bone in the throat of the ruling party.

Despite EPRDF’s ‘press freedom’ rhetoric, Tobia staffers suffered numerous setbacks in the hands of the EPRDF regime. Editors and reporters were spending much of their time in courts, defending their cases that either landed them in jail or exacted heavy fines.

After an uphill battle, Mulugeta realized that he had no chance of escaping arrest, and went into exile in the United States. Despite the hurdles of life for an immigrant, Mulugeta had the time to write engaging articles under the pen names of Tsegaye Gebremedhin Araya and Seneshaw Tegegn. Almost all commentaries were shots fired at the TPLF/EPRDF regime.

As a family man, friends remember Mulugeta as reserved and yet forthcoming, aloof and yet engaging, withdrawn and yet joke-cracking. Mulugeta is survived by his wife and children

Source: http://www.ethiomedia.com/1000parts/7353.html

Ethiopia: ERA Head Zaid Removed by PM Office

Zaid Woldegebreil, the person who has been on top of Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) and led the organization at a Director General level for the past ten years, was removed from his position on Friday, October 31, 2014 by a letter from the Prime Minister Office.

The reason given for the removal of the Director General from his post was that there is a need to restructure the management of the Authority. The letter reads, “We appreciate the efforts you have done in the Authority but as there is a need to restructure the management of the Authority, you are not going to stay on the post after now”.

The decision by the Prime Minister Office was made after three days a letter from Ministry of Transport (MoTr), headed by the Workneh Gebeyehu, came to the Office requesting for the approval of Zaid’s removal from his position stating the whole Authority needs a restructure. The letter from MoTr was dated Wednesday, October 29, 2014.

Zaid went to Addis Ababa University (AAU) for his undergraduate studies and holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Economies. He furthered his studies and went to United Kingdom (UK) for his graduate studies and earned a Masters Degree in Transport Economics from Leeds University.

According to Fortune, he worked in the transport sector for the past 30 years and started his trek at the Federal Transport Authority (FTA) and MoTr as planning head. He later in 1998 joined ERA where he became the director general of the Authority in 2004.

Source: Fortune

Regreening program to restore one-sixth of Ethiopia's land

Regreening program to restore one-sixth of Ethiopia's land

Regreening program to restore one-sixth of Ethiopia's land
Fifteen years years ago the villages around Abrha Weatsbha in northern Ethiopia were on the point of being abandoned. The hillsides were barren, the communities, plagued by floods and droughts, needed constant food aid, and the soil was being washed away.

Today, Abrha Weatsbha in the Tigray region is unrecognisable and an environmental catastrophe has been averted following the planting of many millions of tree and bush seedlings. Wells that were dry have been recharged, the soil is in better shape, fruit trees grow in the valleys and the hillsides are green again.
The “regreening” of the area, achieved in just a few years for little cost by farming communities working together to close off large areas to animals, save water and replant trees, is now to be replicated across one sixth of Ethiopia – an area the size of England and Wales. The most ambitious attempt yet to reduce soil erosion, increase food security and adapt to climate change is expected to vastly increase the amount of food grown in one of the most drought- and famine-prone areas of the world.

“Large areas of Ethiopia and the Sahel were devastated by successive droughts and overgrazing by animals in the 1960s and 1970s,” says Chris Reij, a researcher with the World Resources Institute in Washington.

Source:  Sodere.com

PROFESSOR TEKALIGN MAMO ASSEFA AWARDED THE YARA PRIZE 2014

PROFESSOR TEKALIGN MAMO ASSEFA AWARDED THE YARA PRIZE 2014

The Yara Prize honors leadership for the future of farming

By Ingrid Helsingen Warner
Tigrai Onlne - August 27, 2014

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(Oslo 2014-08-27) The Yara Prize 2014 is being awarded to Professor Tekalign Mamo Assefa. Currently state minister and adviser to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture, Professor Mamo has long been a key contributor to the country’s food security, soil health and natural resources programs.

For 2014, the Yara Prize Committee has focused on the future of farming in Africa. Special attention has been given to food and nutrition security and the twin challenges of employment and income generation.

“As a laureate, Professor Mamo stands out for his remarkable effort across levels, but always rooted in a profound understanding of how transformation must always include the farmer. As a scientist, leader and practitioner, Professor Mamo’s innovative and inclusive efforts have been instrumental in lifting millions of farmers’ income,” says Jørgen Ole Haslestad, President and CEO of Yara and Chairman of the Yara Prize Committee.

Over the past three decades, Professor Mamo has endeavored to improve the livelihoods of Ethiopian farmers, leveraging his scientific knowledge and exhibiting leadership. Developing targeted interventions for management of waterlogged soils, rehabilitating acidic soils and degraded landscapes, winning farmer acceptance of technologies and modernizing Ethiopia’s fertilizer advisory service are important hallmarks of his engagement.

“By awarding the Yara Prize, we salute the champions of sustainable agricultural development. I wish to extend my personal congratulations to Professor Mamo,” says Haslestad.

The laureate will be celebrated during the Yara Prize Ceremony in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 2 September in connection with the African Green Revolution Forum 2014.

About the Yara Prize laureate

Born in 1956 in Lekemt, Ethiopia, Professor Mamo graduated as Ph.D. in Soil chemistry and fertility at Aberdeen University, Scotland. From a strong academic basis, Professor Mamo has expanded beyond a purely academic role. In 1985, he and a team of experts launched a national project to improve the country's vast clay soils, especially those that get waterlogged and impair crop productivity. The results have benefited millions of farmers to date.

In 2005, he led the work on a watershed development strategy, focusing on community ownership and the use of proven technologies. Using this approach, Ethiopia reversed degradation on about 13 million hectares of land, and turned them into productive assets. The rehabilitated watersheds are now being legally transferred to landless and jobless rural youth, who can use it to generate income while preserving the environment.

He has also engaged in several initiatives on soil fertility, addressing both acidic soils and nutrient deficiencies. Through his recommendations and leadership, a new conceptual and operational framework for fertilizers has been developed. A national mapping of soil fertility at a district level has been undertaken, and new fertilizers have been introduced which improve past approaches. Over 40,000 new fertilizer demonstrations have been conducted. Many consider this the beginning of a new era of fertilizer use in the country.

Professor Mamo’s achievements have also led to his position as one of 13 global commissioners for Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, and him serving as one of 27 leading global experts in the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils. He still guides and supervises graduate students, and he is the founder of the Ethiopian Journal of Natural Resources.

About the Yara Prize

The Yara Prize for an African Green Revolution seeks to contribute to the transformation of African agriculture and food availability, within a sustainable context, thereby helping to reduce hunger and poverty. The Yara Prize is based on nominations of candidates who are carefully evaluated by the Yara Prize Committee. The Yara Prize consists of USD 60,000, a crystal trophy and a diploma. The Yara Prize was handed out in Oslo from 2005 to 2009.

From 2012, the prize ceremony was moved to Africa where it is handed out as part of the African Green Revolution Forum, which took place in Arusha, Tanzania (2012) and Maputo, Mozambique (2013).

For more information, please contact:

Bernhard Stormyr, Director of Communications, Yara International ASA

Phone: +47 9010 7685

Mail: bernhard.stormyr@yara.com