The Resettlement of Konso Farmers in the Land of the 8001 Agro-Pastoralists, Southwest Ethiopia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2006-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AAU
Abstract
The
"Salamago Resettlement Scheme" is one of the several state sponsored
r
e
s
ettl
e
m
ent
schemes undertaken by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) since 2003. In government documents, the scheme is also called "Guyo-Dakuba
Resettlement," named after one of the six resettlement villages (the administrative center)
established by the program. However, I have chosen to call it
"Salamago resettlement" aft
er
the name of the host woreda (district). I preferred to use "Salamago" since it
is more
official and well-known name in the area.
The study has tried to show that the Salamago Resettlement is underway having some
positive features but riddled with a series of setbacks and replete with a host of problems.
The existence of a significant number of self-motivated and determined res
ettl
e
rs
is an
important advantage of the scheme. The resettlers who belong to the hard working
community of the Konso ethnic group are also famous for their traditional soil conservation
system (terracing). Moreover, the sanction of the free movement of resettlers coupled with
the proximity between the resettlement area and their area of origin enabled them to
maintain their contact with their area of origin. This is, of course, one of the distinct
features of the present resettlement program (from Salamago re
settlement perspectives)
from the past (military regime) resettlement experience. The suitability of the area for human habitation is also another important advantage of the area. The above positive aspects of Salamago Resettlement shows that the scheme could have a better prospects if it would have been supported by proper feasibility study, practically observed criteria for selection of resettlers, sound planning and adequate inputs. In actual fact, however, similar to past resettlement experience in the country, the scheme has suffered from rushed out feasibility study, poorly observed selection criteria, unsound
planning and inadequate inputs. As a result, deadly conflicts between resettlers and host
communities are occurred. Moreover, large number of resettlers, 756 heads households out
of a total of 2897 heads of households, which is about 26 percent, abandoned the
resettlement area in the last 20 months following their arrival in
J
anuary 2004.
Description
Keywords
Resettlement, Resettlers, Host Communities, Departure, The Bodi, The Konso