Dry farming in the Ethiopian Rift Valley30.04.2010 15:10
Ethiopia, very often war, hunger and misery comes to our mind, when we hear the name of this east african country.
At least nowadays this is not true. Martin Zwick spent several weeks in this country and was pleasently surprised. During his expedition he focussed on the high mountain plateaus of the Southern Nations and the ethiopian part of the Rift Valley.
One of his destinations was the fascinating man made landscape of the Konso people living close to the Rift Valley. The landscape is comprised of terraces on steep vulcanic slopes and a network of trails to access the fields based on dry farming. Sorghum, sunflower and cotton are cultivated on bare vulcanic soil, depending completley on the sporadic rain. Their villages follow still age old traditions, but modern times are approaching in the form of education, tourism and economy.