Federated Ethiopia - Stemming Demographic Trials and Resource Conflicts - ACM - RL Vol XII No 363 MMXVIII

Federated Ethiopia - Stemming

Demographic Trials and Resource Conflicts

Could these spin to Ethnic Cleansing? What are the Requisite Policy Introspection to Create an Enterprising Society and Polity? Alternative Conflict Management

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 363 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Chair, Lem Ethiopia, the Environment & Development Society

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Ethiopia’s population is estimated by projection 107.5 million, while total fertility rate is at 4 in 2018. While population explosion could be a dividend, the economic carrying capacity that has resulted in human insecurity. Ethiopia has seen the highest number of people forced to flee their homes within their country in the first half of 2018, according to the IDMC report on global displacement. It beggars belief that 1.4 million people fleeing violence isn't making global headlines. The world has turned a blind eye to Ethiopia, warned Nigel Tricks, Regional Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Families we've met who have fled fighting are living in dire conditions, and dismal international funding is being channelled to help them (Reliefweb, 2018).

Despite the success the new charismatic Prime Minister Abiy, some regions are locked up in a round of vindictive ethnic violence. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Ethiopians are caught between ethnic violence and shadowy politics. Ethiopian police force has uncovered mass grave with 200 bodies along the border between the strife-torn Oromia and Somali regions. Critics point to the formal transition activity that constituted the central instruments of ‘democratisation’ - the unlimited right of any nation, nationality or people to self‑determination, including the right to secession. More than ideology, it is the everyday social and economic life, which has come under stress and strain in the highly ethnicized political order. For many, particularly, but by no means exclusively, the city elite, the values, sentiments and symbols of national unity they cherish and take for granted have suddenly become objects of controversy and deconstruction. Many often grumble at their country having to endure another “social experiment” after seventeen years under dictatorial Marxist-Leninist rule. The relevant policy instruments of the state to this discussion include the National Population Policy of Ethiopia (where between the policy statement and operationalisation, a concrete implementation action plan to guide it is required that should deal with questions such as resource requirements, timetable. The food security policy is consistent with current food-security theory. However the lack of specific recognition of the need to control the population growth rate to achieve food self-sufficiency merits further consideration. The land use and land tenure policies, land use planning and land tenure have been hotly debated. These are extremely complex issues with a far-reaching impact on the future of Ethiopia. The lecture proposes policy review and alternative conflict management approaches derive from several basic premises about the nature of conflict, change and power. It is essential to launch a truth commission. Efforts must focus in creating an enterprising society.  

Key words: ethnicity, demographic dividend, livelihood security, alternative conflict management, policy review

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/37836799/Federated_Ethiopia_Stemming_Demographic_Trials_and_Resource_Conflicts_ACM_RL_Vol_XII_No_363_MMXVIII