Showing papers in "Ethiopian journal of the social sciences and humanities in 1970"

Integrated Water Resources Management as a System Approach for Water Security: Evidence from the Awash River Basin of Ethiopia

Abstract: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is one of the systems thinking approaches that emerged in the 1990s to achieve water security. Ever since, it has been applied in various countries and contexts. However, the implementation of the IWRM is contested. There is paucity of literature and guidelines as to how the concept can be operationalized. In Ethiopia, there is no evidence that IWRM is successfully instituted. The study generated data from household and expert surveys, in-depth interviews, focused group discussions, observations, workshops, and secondary sources. We found that pragmatic water resources management through system approach helps to resolve the problem of fragmentations among various actors, sectors, interest, and priorities. It also enables the operationalization of IWRM as a system approach to secure water resources through strengthening of the interactions of various systems, subsystems, and the elements within the entire basin system. In addition, it is important to facilitate institutional environments such as overcoming financial constraints, considering the scarcity value of water resources and equity issues, as well as ensuring progressiveness of water institutions to emerging circumstances. To this end, strengthening water resources information systems, recognizing and balancing water as economic and public goods, creating awareness among key stakeholders, encouraging the engagement of private sectors in water resources development and management should be considered as mediums of realizing IWRM. Keywords : IWRM; system thinking; water security; Awash basin; Ethiopia

Rise and Fall of Essentialist Social Theories: Recapitulation and Critique

Abstract: This article is a recapitulation and critique of the rise and fall of essentialist social theories from the Antiquities through the modern period; more emphasis will, however, be placed on modern social theories. The article tries to give an overview of discourses that would cumulatively lead to the eventual development of intercultural discourses. It will also devote a section in which it goes back to the Antiquities in order to test for any subjectivist marks that are identifiable with ancient proto-anthropological representations of the cultural other; and this, in order to see if they are said to lend problems for modern day theories of representation. This article will also note both the lowlights and the highlights of the period under consideration through estimates made from the view point of humanism; it hopes to establish a background against which an interpretive attitude would take shape in later periods which would develop hand in hand with the emergence of critical voices that animate twentieth century discourses. Accordingly, while I take as the lowlights of the essentialism of modernity the institutionalization of discourses that promote monologue and alterity, I take as the highlights the beginning of ruptures in modern train of thoughts; a beginning that is especially marked by the decline of idealist metaphysics and the attendant rise of hope owing to the turning up of critical vantages that seek to help concretize the human spirit in the primacy of openness, interpretation, communication, fusion, etc. Keywords : modernity, anthropology, critique, other, self

Ethiopian and Eritrean Askaris in Libya (1911- 1932)

Abstract: A number of books and articles were published on the three consecutive Italian wars in Libya and its resistances during the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, the role and experiences of the Ethiopian and Eritrean askaris were rarely studied. Thus, this article is an attempt to disclose their role in the wars, why they were interested in being employed by the Italians and why Italy relied heavily on them instead of the Italian soldiers and the Libyan askaris. Historical sources, like the memoires of Italian military commanders and the askaris, travellers’ accounts mainly that of journalists, correspondence documents, and popular songs particularly that of Tigrigna were consulted to write this article. Moreover, publications produced by military historians on the Italian wars in Libya were also referred. While starvation and famines, poverty, unemployment and maladministration were the driving force from Eritrea and Ethiopia; salary, military uniform, guns and bullets, rations, protections and relative freedom were some of the attractions from the Italian side for the Ethiopians and Eritreans to be employed as askaris. In relation to these, political expediency or loose aversion, cost, fighting skill and courage, adaptability to Libyan topography and loyalty were some of the qualities of Ethiopians and Eritrean askaris that initiated the Italians to rely on. As a result, about 68 battalions fought in the wars. In the process, the askaris were identified by their Italian commanders as “warlike race” and best soldiers in contrast to the Italian soldiers and Libyan collaborators. Keywords : Askaris, Mercenaries, Resistances, Libyans, Italians

Illicit Cross-border Migration in Ethiopia: Causes, Patterns and Policy Responses

Abstract: The overriding objective of this research was to assess the status, major origins and contributing factors of cross-border migration and human trafficking in Ethiopia with the intention of identifying key policy lessons to address the problem. To meet the intended objectives, desk review and key informant interview data gathering techniques were employed. The results of the assessment disclosed that Ethiopia is one of the largest origins (transit and destination as well) of trafficked persons from Africa. The most common drivers are found to be an amalgam of socioeconomic, political and environmental factors. It was also found that the journey is often dangerous leading to physical assault, sexual abuse, abduction, robbery and even death. In most destination areas, illegal migrants face restricted mobility, exploitative working conditions and harassment of different kinds. The ultimate mechanism to address the problem was found to be adequate job creation and poverty reduction through intensified development efforts involving governmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Furthermore, enhanced democratization of the government system, political tolerance, improved access to legal travel authorization (visa) for safe migration, awareness creation campaigns, improved monitoring of private employment agencies, bilateral agreements with major destination countries and increased co-operation among stakeholders were found to be vital solutions to minimize illicit cross-border migration and human trafficking from Ethiopia. Keywords : Human trafficking, illegal migration, cross-border migration, informal activity, policy response, Ethiopia

Does Federalism Reduce Ethnic Conflict? Evidence From the Ethiopian Experience

Abstract: This paper discusses the issue of federalism and conflicts in Ethiopia by posing the question: to what extent does the current system of ethnic Federalism help to reduce ethnic tensions and conflicts? Although federalism is taken by many as a typical strategy for avoiding ethnic conflict and promoting democracy in multi-ethnic societies, the Ethiopian experience largely suggest that the system is not reducing ethnic tensions and conflicts. Ethnicity being the major organizing principle of the federal system in the country, promotes conflicts stressing the primordial notions of ethnicity and mobilization. It has encouraged differences and competition over the control of power and resources at a local level. Thus, conflicts are increasing, becoming more decentralized and protracted. These suggest that in the Ethiopian context, there is a need to move away from using ethnicity as a sole criterion and to organize the federation using geographical and economic considerations. This would further help to reduce the current ethnic strife by encouraging civic nationality and trust among people. Keywords : Conflict, Ethnicity, Federalism, Ethiopia

Is there an Ethiopian Philosophy? Rereading the Hatetas of Zara Yaecob and Walda Hewat in the Context of Knowledge Production

Abstract: The hatetas of Zara Yaecob and Walda Hewat are widely regarded as the precursors of societal enlightenment and written philosophy in Ethiopia. Mainly taking a form of an autobiographical exercise that tries to reflect on inherited horizons and conventional authority, the hatetas are seen as philosophical treatises that establish the need for societal rationality. Earlier on debates existed on the originality of the hatetas and whether or not the idea found within the hatetas qualifies as a philosophy. Claude Summer could be regarded as the ardent advocate of the position which celebrates the hatetas as original works of Ethiopian philosophy. Based on an attempt to refute the originality of the hatetas initiated by the Italian orientalist Carlo Conti Rossini, Daniel Kibret recently argued that the whole idea of an Ethiopian philosophy founded on the works of Zara Yaecob and Walda Hewat is a Western fabrication. He proceeded to argue that it was an Italian Jesuit by the name of Giusto d'Urbino who wrote the hatetas and that the hatetas had a hidden motive of initiating a reformist movement within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In this paper we will try to evaluate the credibility of such arguments by initiating a rereading of the hatetas.

"Recasting the Golden Rule: Claude Sumner's Philosophical Contribution Reconsidered."

Abstract: The analysis of the treatise of Zar'a Ya’Əqob and Walda HƏywat is one example of Claude Sumner's contribution to Ethiopian philosophy that deserves more recognition than the little attention it has attracted in contemporary scholarly engagements. Of particular significance is his analysis of the treatise’s social philosophy as condensed in the universal ethical dictum: the Golden Rule, which is a “precept that one should do as one would be done by." The purpose of this article is to inquire what this particular analysis could contribute to the broader discourse of the Golden Rule to resolve interpretational difficulties, and to the social dimension of human life, focusing on the value of respect that binds people together. To this end, the article begins by clarifying how this moral precept is set in a religious perspective to establish it as a supreme moral principle. Subsequently, the discussion will focus on how such a moral rule fosters the conceptual passage from the teleological (ethical aim) to the deontological (moral norm) and from respect to just relations, serving as a ligament that links both subjective and objective norms. Here, I will argue that this supreme moral principle has a comparative advantage over the Kantian Categorical Imperative. Finally, the paper will conclude by accentuating the moral-philosophical implications of the discussion pertinent to diversity and social cohesion.

Addis Ababa/Finfinee: A Blueprint towards Twin-city Administration

Abstract: This article analyses the challenge of Addis Ababa´s double status – both as capital of Ethiopia and that of the Regional State of Oromia. It delves into the unresolved issue of the special interest of Oromia in Addis Ababa/Finfinnee. This article propounds that, where there is no separate capital city administration directly responsible to the State of Oromia, it is constitutionally nonsensical and hierarchically incongruent to require the State of Oromia to join hands with the Addis Ababa city government for joint administration. Thus, it seeks to address the so-called “special interest” of Oromia in Addis Ababa/Finfinnee through two-city administrations. This stems from a critical reading of the constitutional provision which calls for the establishment of joint administration of Addis Ababa/Finfinnee (see: Art 49 (5) of the FDRE Constitution). Furthermore, the Indian model of city administration is taken as a lesson to supplement twin-city administration. This article finds that, for the State of Oromia to ensure not only the so-called “special interest in Addis Ababa” but most importantly its right to the city, it shall, a fortiori , undertake a structural adjustment. Keywords : Addis Ababa/Finfinnee, India, Special Interest, Twin-city Administration

The Intellectual Legacy of Prof. Claude Sumner in Western, Ethiopian and African Thought

Abstract: Keynote Speech—Workshop: Revisiting Professor Claude Sumner’s Contribution to Ethiopian Philosophy: A Centenary Memorial, 8 th July, 2019

Cultural Translation of Technologies in Ethiopia

Abstract: The principal objective of this article is to show how technologies would be reconstituted in the social and cultural milieu in which they function. Focusing on the period from the last decade of the 19th to the mid-20th century, the aim is to discuss the cultural appropriation of technologies in the context of modern history of Ethiopia through exemplary ventures such as the first piped water supply, installing telephone lines, and introducing the first airplanes to the country. Mainly my endeavor being a study in philosophy of technology, sources supporting the core of my argument include books, newspaper articles, and popular lyrics narrating the adoption of specific technological artifacts in the country. The paper argues that, during technology “transfer” (a transfer across regions or cultures), technological artifacts do not only impact cultures but are also actively appropriated by them. Keywords : cultural appropriation/reconstitution/translation, mediation, technology, technology transfer, Ethiopia

The Effect of Rural Road Transport on Crop Commercialization: Evidence from the Ethiopian Living Standard Measurement Survey

Abstract: Ethiopia has adopted commercialization of smallholder agriculture as a policy tool for agricultural development and rural transformation thereby to improve rural welfare. Towards this end, the government has given policy focus to rual road infrastracture. The objective of the study is, therefore, to estimate the effect of acess to rual road on commercialization of smallholder farmers in the country. The study used the Ethiopian Socio- Economic Survey, a nationally representative panel data prepared by Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia and the World Bank. Descriptive statistics as well as Econometric techniques are used to analyze the effect of rural accessibility and mobility on agricultural market participation and commercialization. The descriptive statistics reveals that the commercialization index for households in villages with access to all weather roads is 19 percent against the corresponding figure of 16 percent for their counterparts. The econometrics estimation also tallied with this finding. More interestingly, mode of transport used for agricultural purposes is found to have a positive and significant effect on commercialization. The result indicates that commercialization level for farmers using modern mode of transport is 17 percentage points higher than those who did not use any. In the same manner, the result indicates that commercialization level of farmers using traditional mode of transport is 12 percentage points higher than those who did not use any. Thus, integrating remote areas with urban centers through rural transport infrastructure development that addresses both access and mobility demand of rural communities should be given priority. Keywords : commercialization, market participation, rural road access, mobility

Peace Education: A Missing Link in the Adult Education Sub-sector of Ethiopia?

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore whether peace education has been incorporated into the integrated functional adult education program of Ethiopia. To this end, qualitative research design was employed. Phenomenological approach and qualitative content analysis were used. The required data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. A total of 53 respondents were selected by using purposive, availability and snow-ball sampling techniques in this qualitative study. Instruments of data collection were semi-structured interview guide, focus group discussion and open-ended questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed, triangulated, and interpreted qualitatively. Bias was overcome by using triangulation, member-checking, and tick description. The findings indicated that peace education as a theme was not integrated into the functional adult education program of Ethiopia even though there are peace education related concepts. It had also identified opportunities to integrate peace education into the educational program and also indicated the challenges like the lack of peace education in academic programs could lead to shortage of qualified professional peace education teachers; and integrating peace education into functional adult education program of the nation might incur huge financial costs. Based on the major findings, it was safely concluded that even though there are some peace education-related contents in the IFAE program, the lack of peace education as an independent theme in the adult education subsector of the country could hamper the development of the required modern conflict resolution techniques among adult learners. Keywords: peace education, integrated functional adult education, stakeholder participation