Water, sugar, and growth: the practical effects of a ‘failed’ development intervention in the southwestern lowlands of Ethiopia

Kamski, Benedikt

doi:10.1080/17531055.2019.1669374

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The different actors, processes, and relationships involved in making, remaking, and unmaking contemporary land deals are rooted in, and reproduce, structural asymmetries of power. The "liminality" of land deals (Chung 2020) can enable host states to consolidate and expand their power in the countryside (Moreda 2017;Kamski 2019;Schlimmer 2020). As this forum demonstrates, even when projects do not generate profits, they can also allow (white) foreign corporate actors to assert their authority over local populations, replicating racialized patterns of dispossession.…”

Section: Conclusion: Why Should We Care About Land Deals In Limbo?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In light of this trend, researchers and activists have begun calling attention to the nature, causes, and implications of these "failed land deals" (Schönweger & Messerli 2015;GRAIN 2018;Gagné 2019;Persson 2019;Nolte 2020). However, the parameters of what counts as "failure," and for whom, are often more ambiguous than straightforward (Chung 2020;Kamski 2019;Schlimmer 2020). To the extent that land acquisitions vary considerably in their trajectories and outcomes, this forum asks: through what actors, processes, and relationships do land deals become stalled or partially implemented, and with what consequences for the various parties involved?…”

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confidence: 99%

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Understanding Land Deals in Limbo in Africa: A Focus on Actors, Processes, and Relationships

Chung¹,

Gagné²

2021

Afr. Stud. Rev.

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Section: Conclusion: Why Should We Care About Land Deals In Limbo?mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Land Deals in Limbo in Africa: A Focus on Actors, Processes, and Relationships

Chung¹,

Gagné²

2021

Afr. Stud. Rev.

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“…Apparent consequences with implications for the food security of pastoralist populations include desiccation of the Delta, loss of fisheries livelihoods, and loss of forests (Hodbod et al 2019a). Related large-scale irrigation agriculture projects are expected to further reduce the water flux of the Omo River (Avery and Tebbs 2018;Kamski 2016), although their implementation has fallen behind schedule (Kamski 2019).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data

Amos

Mengistu²,

Kleinschroth

2021

Hum Ecol

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River deltas provide important livelihoods to local populations, but at the same time are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. The opening of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia in 2016 attracted international attention due to the importance of the free-flowing River for pastoralist communities in the Omo Delta. Sustainable river basin management requires spatially explicit, long-term information about human settlements to mitigate negative impacts on people’s livelihoods. Based on remote sensing time-series, and supplemented with ground-truthing, we mapped settlement-dynamics of the pastoralist Dasanech tribe. The inhabited area more than doubled from 1992 to 2009. From 2009 to 2019, settlements became more permanent and concentrated in the North of the Delta. Our results indicate that the Omo Delta has overall gained in importance as a livelihood area, but that the livelihoods of the traditionally nomadic people are shifting in the context of increasing investment in infrastructure. Management of future river flow at dams should consider the location and the trajectory of change in downstream settlements.

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“…Another dam of a similar size, Koysha, is currently under construction (Wolka et al 2018). Further downstream, the Kuraz sugar development project will bring an estimated area of 80,000 ha of former wood-and grassland including some land within Omo and Mago National Parks into sugar cane production (Kamski 2019). The Kuraz sugar plantation project is currently excavating irrigation canals that are, thus far, 190 km in length (Fig.…”

Section: The Case Of the Omo-turkana Basinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives underlying research in African river basin management

et al. 2021

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River modifications through hydropower dams and other infrastructure have far-reaching economic, ecological and social effects that are viewed in highly contrasting ways depending on underlying narratives. As part of a Euro-African research consortium funded by the European Commission we studied pathways for sustainable river basin management in the Omo-Turkana basins in Ethiopia and Kenya. Based on a literature review, stakeholder workshops, targeted interviews and considering our own positionality, we identified underlying narratives related to (a) economic transformation and modernization, (b) indigenous rights and (c) nature conservation, which were all connected through water, energy, food and ecosystems within a (d) landscape nexus. Yet, we also identified a (e) living museum narrative suggesting that international advocacy for indigenous rights and nature conservation is a means through which Western societies want to preserve African societies in an “undeveloped” state. National governments use this narrative to silence external critique, while the tourism industry promotes it to advertise visits to pastoralist tribes. This narrative reveals powerful, yet largely ignored hindrances for collaborative projects resulting from cultural and historical biases in Euro-African collaborations. Based on our analysis, we argue that international research projects in sustainability sciences need to increase the transparency of open and hidden narratives that influence research directions and power relationships between scientific partners, also those using mostly technically-driven approaches. We emphasize that African landscapes are not to be viewed as living museums, and collaborative research should be based on fairness, respect, care, and honesty to allow for multiple narratives that underlie research.

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Water, sugar, and growth: the practical effects of a ‘failed’ development intervention in the southwestern lowlands of Ethiopia

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Understanding Land Deals in Limbo in Africa: A Focus on Actors, Processes, and Relationships

Understanding Land Deals in Limbo in Africa: A Focus on Actors, Processes, and Relationships

Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data

Narratives underlying research in African river basin management

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