Government statistics indicate more than 13 million of Ethiopia’s 80 million people will receive some sort of nutritional assistance this year. About 4.5 million are in urgent need of help, and emergency food stocks are stretched by the arrival of an additional 150,000 refugees from famine-stricken Somalia.

By Associated Press ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — When Ethiopia’s government imposed price controls in January to combat the spiraling cost of staples like meat, cooking oil and bread, butcher Wabe Habse had a long line of customers, but could barely make a profit. Now, after price controls were dropped earlier this month, Wabe is still [...]

Jon Evans Seems like it’s Sub-Saharan Month around here: first Sarah Lacy went to Nigeria, and now here I am inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and Africa’s fourth-largest city. It feels like a boomtown. There are cranes and construction sites everywhere, throwing up gleaming new glass-and-steel buildings full of shops selling computers and mobile phones. The major [...]

There are numerous reasons why chef Marcus Samuelsson, owner of Harlem hot spot Red Rooster, loves his apartment. For one thing, it’s smack in the heart of Harlem, where he’s wanted to live ever since he was a boy growing up in Sweden. For another, it boasts a copper Blue Star stove, which he calls [...]

In the remote hillside town of Lalibela, almost 400 miles north of Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, a new communications mast and the odd tumbledown shack advertising internet access are rare indications that the 21st century has arrived. Otherwise, life in these dusty streets in the shadow of the distant Bugna mountains seems almost Biblical. [...]

በዚህ ሳምንት የሚጀመረው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ጉባኤ ጵጵስና ለመቀበል በመቶ ሺዎች የሚቆጠር ብር በጉቦ መልክ የሰጡ እጩዎችን እንዳይሾም ተሰግቷል። “ደጀሰላም” የተባለው ለቤተክርስቲያኒቱ ቅርበት ያላቸውን አወዛጋቢ ዘገባዎች በማቅረብ የሚታወቀው ድረ ገጽ ሰሞኑን እንደዘገበው የጵጵስና መእርግ ለማግኘት ተስፋ የተሰጣቸው ግለሶቦች ከ300000 እስከ 500000 ብር የጉቦ ቀብድ ሰጥተዋል። ነገሩን እጅግ አሳፋሪና አደገኛ የሚያደርገው ደግሞ ጉቦ ተቀባዩና የሙስናው መሪ የቤተ ክርሲቲያኒቱ ፓትርያርክ አባ ጳውሎስ መሆናቸው ነው።

* Ethiopia’s April inflation rate jumps to 29.5 pct

* Soaring prices in region have triggered protests

ADDIS ABABA, May 10 (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s year-on-year inflation rate rose for a second straight month to 29.5 percent in April, from 25.0 percent a month earlier, driven by a sharp rise in food prices, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.

“The total price index of cereals in April 2011 has increased by 14.6 percent as compared to the same month last year, which significantly contributed to the rise in the indices of food and the general consumer price index,” the Central Statistical Agency said in a statement.

Ethiopia has imposed price ceilings on more than a dozen commodities including some essential foodstuffs. Food accounts for just over 57 percent of the basket used to measure the inflation rate.

Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has resulted in a decline in livestock exports from Ethiopia, the United Nations said Thursday, causing the struggling country’s income to fall even more when its people are facing hunger.

“The Ethiopian Government has requested an additional $75 million for humanitarian assistance this month and in May,” the UN said in a statement emailed to journalists, “while UN agencies and their partners have called for more resources to meet increasing needs and expand operations in the coming months to avoid gaps in aid delivery.”

Dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored their cries for help, the Guardian has learned. A boat carrying 72 passengers, including several women, young children and political refugees, ran into trouble in late March after leaving Tripoli for the Italian island of [...]

  የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት “በስግብግብ ነጋዴዎች” የኑሮ ውድነት ተከስቷል በሚል ምክንያት በመላ አገሪቱ ድንገተኛ የሸቀጦች ዋጋ ተመን ይፋ ካደረገ በኋላ በተለይ የምግብ ዓይነቶች ከገበያ አንዲጠፉ አሊያም አለቅጥ እንዲወደዱ ምክንያት ሆኗል። በመላ አገሪቱ ስኳር ብርቅ ሸቀጥ ኾኗል፤ ዘይት በጥቂት አስመጭዎች እጅ ላይ በመውደቁ ከተተመነለት ዋጋ በላይ ተሽጧል። በስተኋላ ላይም መንግስት “ስግብግብ ነጋዴዎች” ኅብረተሰቡን እንዳይጎዱት ሲል ዘይትን ወደ [...]

(ብዙአየሁ ጸጋዬ)
ይህ ሲኾን አንድ የተረዳኹት ነገር ቢኖር ለነጻነቴ የመታገል አቅሙ ባይኖረኝ እና መንገዶቹ ቢጠቡም፣ በወቅቱ ላደርገዉ እችል የነበረዉ የመጀመርያ ርምጃ ቢያንስ የዚሁ የጥፋቱ ተባባሪ እና አባል ከመኾን መቆጠብ ነበር። ነገሩ በዚህ ከቀጠለ መዉጫ እንደሌለኝ ስለተገነዘብኩ፣ ምንልባትም “ምንም እንኩዋን ጉዳት ሊደርስብኝ ይችላል” የሚል ስጋት ባይለቀኝም፣ በዚሁ ከገፋሁ የባሰ ችግር እንደሚገጥመኝ በማሰብ በግል እና በቤተሰብ ምክንያት ወደ ተመደብኩበት ቦታ ሄጄ ልሠራ እንደማልችል ገልጬ የሥራ መልቀቂያ እስገባሁ። በጊዜዉ የነበረዉ የሥልጠናዉ አስተባባሪ ጥሩ ሐሳብ እንዳልኾነ ነገረኝ። ከዚያ በኋላ በመረጃ ቡድኑ አስተባባሪ ተጠርቼ ወደ ተመደብኩበት ስፍራ ሄጄ የመሥራት ድርጅታዊ ሐላፊነት እና ግዴታ እንዳለብኝ ተነገረኝ።

አንተነህ ዘውዴ
(ጃፓን)

መከረኛ ቪዛዋን አሳድሳ ወደ ቤት በብስክሌት ስታቀና የመኪና አደጋ ያጋጠማት ገንዘብ ወቅታዊ እና ተገቢው የህክምና እርዳታ ስላልተደረገላት ብቻ ይህው በስቃይ እና መከራ ውስጥ ሆና ወደ ሁለተኛ አመት እያዘገመች ነው። “በአደጋው ጊዜ ራሴን ስቼ ስለነበር ምንም አላውቅም ነበር። ስነቃ ራሴን ያገኘሁት ቤቴ ውስጥ ነው። የህክምና ባለሙያዎችም ብዙ ትኩረት ሳይሰጡኝ እና በተገቢው መንገድ ሳይረዱኝ ነበር ወደ ቤት እንድመለስ ያረጉት” ስትል ገንዘብ በወቅቱ የሆነውን በማዘን ታስታውሳለች። “ ምንም ቢሆን ሰው ነኝ እና ይህን ያህል ከባድ አደጋን ዜጋቸው አድርሶብኝ ስደተኛ ስለሆንኩ ብቻ እንደ እቃ ሊወረውሩኝ አገባም ነበር። ቢያንስ በህግ ፊት ከለላ እና ተገቢውን ፍርድ በተገቢው ጊዜ ማግኘት ይገባኛል”ትላለች ገንዘብ ።

We had just sat down for Sunday brunch at Red Rooster, on Lenox Avenue, Harlem. It was 11.10am and our waitress asked whether we would like a drink before ordering. “Two Bloody Marys and a beer,” we replied innocently and, as it turned out, optimistically. Here, no alcohol may be served on a Sunday before [...]

By William Easterly
Bad statisticians make a lot of measurement mistakes. Average growth over 1960-2008 might have zero mistake ON AVERAGE, but there will randomly be some countries with a string of exaggerated growth rates. Other countries will randomly have a string of underestimated growth rates. So the variance of growth will be higher the worse the data quality – which is exactly what we see in the picture.

(ካሳሁን ይልማ) የአሸዋው ጉም ላንድ ክሩዘሯን እንደ ሸራ አልብሷታል።  40 ዲግሪ ሴልሺየስ የሚጠጋው ሙቀት እንደ ዕቃ ተጠቅጥቀው የተጫኑትን ተሳፋሪዎች ትንፋሽ አሳጥሯቸዋል። አንዳቸውም ከሌላ ጋራ አይነጋገሩም። በረኀውን ሰንጥቆ እንደ ምንጣፍ የተዘረጋው አስፋልት የት እንደሚያደረሳቸው በማሰላሰል አዕምሮአቸውን ያስጨነቁ ይመስላሉ። ለሰዒድ ሐጎስ ግን እንዲህ ያለ ጉዞ አዲስ አይደለም። ወጣትነቱ ያለፈው ሲኳትን ነው። ቢሆንም የአሁኑ ለየት ይላል።  በዕድሜ ዘመኑ [...]

Government statistics indicate more than 13 million of Ethiopia’s 80 million people will receive some sort of nutritional assistance this year. About 4.5 million are in urgent need of help, and emergency food stocks are stretched by the arrival of an additional 150,000 refugees from famine-stricken Somalia.

By Associated Press ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — When Ethiopia’s government imposed price controls in January to combat the spiraling cost of staples like meat, cooking oil and bread, butcher Wabe Habse had a long line of customers, but could barely make a profit. Now, after price controls were dropped earlier this month, Wabe is still [...]

Jon Evans Seems like it’s Sub-Saharan Month around here: first Sarah Lacy went to Nigeria, and now here I am inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and Africa’s fourth-largest city. It feels like a boomtown. There are cranes and construction sites everywhere, throwing up gleaming new glass-and-steel buildings full of shops selling computers and mobile phones. The major [...]

There are numerous reasons why chef Marcus Samuelsson, owner of Harlem hot spot Red Rooster, loves his apartment. For one thing, it’s smack in the heart of Harlem, where he’s wanted to live ever since he was a boy growing up in Sweden. For another, it boasts a copper Blue Star stove, which he calls [...]

In the remote hillside town of Lalibela, almost 400 miles north of Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, a new communications mast and the odd tumbledown shack advertising internet access are rare indications that the 21st century has arrived. Otherwise, life in these dusty streets in the shadow of the distant Bugna mountains seems almost Biblical. [...]

በዚህ ሳምንት የሚጀመረው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ጉባኤ ጵጵስና ለመቀበል በመቶ ሺዎች የሚቆጠር ብር በጉቦ መልክ የሰጡ እጩዎችን እንዳይሾም ተሰግቷል። “ደጀሰላም” የተባለው ለቤተክርስቲያኒቱ ቅርበት ያላቸውን አወዛጋቢ ዘገባዎች በማቅረብ የሚታወቀው ድረ ገጽ ሰሞኑን እንደዘገበው የጵጵስና መእርግ ለማግኘት ተስፋ የተሰጣቸው ግለሶቦች ከ300000 እስከ 500000 ብር የጉቦ ቀብድ ሰጥተዋል። ነገሩን እጅግ አሳፋሪና አደገኛ የሚያደርገው ደግሞ ጉቦ ተቀባዩና የሙስናው መሪ የቤተ ክርሲቲያኒቱ ፓትርያርክ አባ ጳውሎስ መሆናቸው ነው።

* Ethiopia’s April inflation rate jumps to 29.5 pct

* Soaring prices in region have triggered protests

ADDIS ABABA, May 10 (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s year-on-year inflation rate rose for a second straight month to 29.5 percent in April, from 25.0 percent a month earlier, driven by a sharp rise in food prices, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.

“The total price index of cereals in April 2011 has increased by 14.6 percent as compared to the same month last year, which significantly contributed to the rise in the indices of food and the general consumer price index,” the Central Statistical Agency said in a statement.

Ethiopia has imposed price ceilings on more than a dozen commodities including some essential foodstuffs. Food accounts for just over 57 percent of the basket used to measure the inflation rate.

Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has resulted in a decline in livestock exports from Ethiopia, the United Nations said Thursday, causing the struggling country’s income to fall even more when its people are facing hunger.

“The Ethiopian Government has requested an additional $75 million for humanitarian assistance this month and in May,” the UN said in a statement emailed to journalists, “while UN agencies and their partners have called for more resources to meet increasing needs and expand operations in the coming months to avoid gaps in aid delivery.”

Dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored their cries for help, the Guardian has learned. A boat carrying 72 passengers, including several women, young children and political refugees, ran into trouble in late March after leaving Tripoli for the Italian island of [...]

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት “በስግብግብ ነጋዴዎች” የኑሮ ውድነት ተከስቷል በሚል ምክንያት በመላ አገሪቱ ድንገተኛ የሸቀጦች ዋጋ ተመን ይፋ ካደረገ በኋላ በተለይ የምግብ ዓይነቶች ከገበያ አንዲጠፉ አሊያም አለቅጥ እንዲወደዱ ምክንያት ሆኗል። በመላ አገሪቱ ስኳር ብርቅ ሸቀጥ ኾኗል፤ ዘይት በጥቂት አስመጭዎች እጅ ላይ በመውደቁ ከተተመነለት ዋጋ በላይ ተሽጧል። በስተኋላ ላይም መንግስት “ስግብግብ ነጋዴዎች” ኅብረተሰቡን እንዳይጎዱት ሲል ዘይትን ወደ [...]

(ብዙአየሁ ጸጋዬ)
ይህ ሲኾን አንድ የተረዳኹት ነገር ቢኖር ለነጻነቴ የመታገል አቅሙ ባይኖረኝ እና መንገዶቹ ቢጠቡም፣ በወቅቱ ላደርገዉ እችል የነበረዉ የመጀመርያ ርምጃ ቢያንስ የዚሁ የጥፋቱ ተባባሪ እና አባል ከመኾን መቆጠብ ነበር። ነገሩ በዚህ ከቀጠለ መዉጫ እንደሌለኝ ስለተገነዘብኩ፣ ምንልባትም “ምንም እንኩዋን ጉዳት ሊደርስብኝ ይችላል” የሚል ስጋት ባይለቀኝም፣ በዚሁ ከገፋሁ የባሰ ችግር እንደሚገጥመኝ በማሰብ በግል እና በቤተሰብ ምክንያት ወደ ተመደብኩበት ቦታ ሄጄ ልሠራ እንደማልችል ገልጬ የሥራ መልቀቂያ እስገባሁ። በጊዜዉ የነበረዉ የሥልጠናዉ አስተባባሪ ጥሩ ሐሳብ እንዳልኾነ ነገረኝ። ከዚያ በኋላ በመረጃ ቡድኑ አስተባባሪ ተጠርቼ ወደ ተመደብኩበት ስፍራ ሄጄ የመሥራት ድርጅታዊ ሐላፊነት እና ግዴታ እንዳለብኝ ተነገረኝ።

አንተነህ ዘውዴ
(ጃፓን)

መከረኛ ቪዛዋን አሳድሳ ወደ ቤት በብስክሌት ስታቀና የመኪና አደጋ ያጋጠማት ገንዘብ ወቅታዊ እና ተገቢው የህክምና እርዳታ ስላልተደረገላት ብቻ ይህው በስቃይ እና መከራ ውስጥ ሆና ወደ ሁለተኛ አመት እያዘገመች ነው። “በአደጋው ጊዜ ራሴን ስቼ ስለነበር ምንም አላውቅም ነበር። ስነቃ ራሴን ያገኘሁት ቤቴ ውስጥ ነው። የህክምና ባለሙያዎችም ብዙ ትኩረት ሳይሰጡኝ እና በተገቢው መንገድ ሳይረዱኝ ነበር ወደ ቤት እንድመለስ ያረጉት” ስትል ገንዘብ በወቅቱ የሆነውን በማዘን ታስታውሳለች። “ ምንም ቢሆን ሰው ነኝ እና ይህን ያህል ከባድ አደጋን ዜጋቸው አድርሶብኝ ስደተኛ ስለሆንኩ ብቻ እንደ እቃ ሊወረውሩኝ አገባም ነበር። ቢያንስ በህግ ፊት ከለላ እና ተገቢውን ፍርድ በተገቢው ጊዜ ማግኘት ይገባኛል”ትላለች ገንዘብ ።

We had just sat down for Sunday brunch at Red Rooster, on Lenox Avenue, Harlem. It was 11.10am and our waitress asked whether we would like a drink before ordering. “Two Bloody Marys and a beer,” we replied innocently and, as it turned out, optimistically. Here, no alcohol may be served on a Sunday before [...]

By William Easterly
Bad statisticians make a lot of measurement mistakes. Average growth over 1960-2008 might have zero mistake ON AVERAGE, but there will randomly be some countries with a string of exaggerated growth rates. Other countries will randomly have a string of underestimated growth rates. So the variance of growth will be higher the worse the data quality – which is exactly what we see in the picture.

(ካሳሁን ይልማ) የአሸዋው ጉም ላንድ ክሩዘሯን እንደ ሸራ አልብሷታል።  40 ዲግሪ ሴልሺየስ የሚጠጋው ሙቀት እንደ ዕቃ ተጠቅጥቀው የተጫኑትን ተሳፋሪዎች ትንፋሽ አሳጥሯቸዋል። አንዳቸውም ከሌላ ጋራ አይነጋገሩም። በረኀውን ሰንጥቆ እንደ ምንጣፍ የተዘረጋው አስፋልት የት እንደሚያደረሳቸው በማሰላሰል አዕምሮአቸውን ያስጨነቁ ይመስላሉ። ለሰዒድ ሐጎስ ግን እንዲህ ያለ ጉዞ አዲስ አይደለም። ወጣትነቱ ያለፈው ሲኳትን ነው። ቢሆንም የአሁኑ ለየት ይላል።  በዕድሜ ዘመኑ [...]