Stories written by Ed McKenna

‘Humanitarian Crisis’ for Ogaden Living Near Ethiopia’s Oil Fields

New allegations of scorched earth evictions of the Ogaden people have raised concerns that a lack of benefit sharing could escalate instability in the region and reinforce separatist tensions as foreign energy companies prepare to extract oil and gas from troubled southeastern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Swamped by Tidal Wave of Returned Migrants

The return of 120,000 young undocumented migrant workers from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia has sparked fears that the influx will worsen the country’s high youth unemployment and put pressure on access to increasingly scarce land.

Creating a New Norm in Non-Circumcising Ethiopian Province

Chiang Both from Gambella, a remote and a traditionally non-circumcising province in Ethiopia that borders Sudan, volunteered to undergo the procedure despite his community’s initial mistrust.  

Ethiopia’s Indigenous Excluded from Rapid Growth

As the construction of a major transmission line to export electricity generated from one of Ethiopia’s major hydropower projects gets underway, there are growing concerns that pastoralist communities living in the region are under threat.

India Illegal Mining Enquiry Cut Short

A nationwide enquiry into illegal mining in India was aborted before it completed its investigation into the failings of the country’s mining industry. The study had prompted the government to ban mining in two states and arrest high-ranking politicians.

Ethiopian Government Choking Muslim Unrest

The refusal by the Ethiopian government to redress grievances harboured by the Muslim community here, which comprises about 34 percent of the country’s 91 million people makes this Horn of African nation vulnerable to extremism.

Seeding Ethiopia’s Future Food Security

Datta Dudettu and his seven children know what is like to go hungry. They live in Woliyta, a drought-prone area in southern Ethiopia that has experienced chronic food shortages. But hopefully, thanks to the successful use of hybrid seed, that is now firmly in the past.

Seeding Ethiopia’s Future Food Security

Datta Dudettu and his seven children know what is like to go hungry. They live in Woliyta, a drought-prone area in southern Ethiopia that has experienced chronic food shortages. But hopefully, thanks to the successful use of hybrid seed, that is now firmly in the past.

Bright Ideas Will Help Feed Africa’s Poor

Across Africa, smallholder farmers, who are some of the world’s most impoverished people, are slowly being introduced to innovative approaches, such as entrepreneurial loan schemes and conservation practices, to combat food insecurity.

Examining the Depths of Ethiopia’s Corruption

Ethiopia may be one of the fastest-growing, non-oil producing economies in Africa in recent years, but corruption in this Horn of Africa nation is a deterrent to foreign investors looking for stable long-term partnerships in developing countries.

Landgrabbing to Provide Horn of Africa with Electricity

Ethiopia’s long-term hydropower strategy is proving to be both a source of economic sustenance and contention. In becoming Africa’s leading power exporter through the construction of a series of dams across the country, Ethiopia could threaten the lives of millions who depend on the Nile River’s waters.

Wind Brings Light to Somaliland

A wind turbine, situated some 20 kilometres outside of Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa, has become a significant totem of the country’s changing energy landscape.

Ethiopia Leads the Bamboo Revolution

A combination of an abundance of bamboo and eager foreign investment is making Ethiopia a frontier for the bamboo industrial revolution in Africa, according to this country’s government.

India Undercuts Tribal Rights

Over a decade ago, the Dongria Kondh tribe – tucked away in the Niyamgiri hills, a mountain range in the eastern Indian state of Orissa – found itself under attack.

The Rise of Ethiopia’s Sole Rebels

Innovative Ethiopian footwear manufacturer Sole Rebels will open its second retail outlet in Taiwan this year. With ambitions to open 30 more franchise stores across the world in countries like the United States, Australia, Italy and Japan, Sole Rebels, the largest African footwear brand, is now fast becoming a global competitive brand.

Africa Cashes in on Mineral Wealth

Many of the fastest-growing countries in the world are in Africa, the poorest continent on the planet, but the potential for recently-discovered resources to generate broad-based inclusive development opportunities is massive and remains under-exploited.


The Industrialisation of Africa’s Smallholder Agriculture

Africa’s smallholder farmers, who contribute 80 percent of food and agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa and much of the world’s food supply, are being encouraged by big business, governments and NGOs to become less subsistence based and more entrepreneurial by tailoring production to market forces.

Ethiopia Throttles Rights Organisations

The world received contradictory signals about Ethiopia’s human rights record when in the same week it was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, a major German charity closed its Ethiopian office in protest against a restrictive political environment.

Ethiopia Charts a Chinese Course

The death of Ethiopia's leader of 21 years has raised fears of instability in one of Africa's fastest-growing non-oil producing nations, which could potentially slow investment activity.



summary hello beautiful