Lori Pottinger
Africa Campaigns, International Rivers
（Huffington Post）In a remote part of East Africa, the Ethiopian government is furtively transforming a pastoral landscape populated by indigenous agro-pastoralists into an industrial powerhouse of dams and plantations. While the government says these developments are intended to reduce poverty, those on the ground see their land and water being taken from them, their homesteads bulldozed, their choices narrowed. Impacts will be felt all the way to Kenya.
The developments in the Lower Omo Valley pivot on the construction of the huge Gibe III Dam, a hydropower project that also regulates river flows to support year-round commercial agriculture. The dam’s reservoir could begin filling in May, bringing major changes to the Omo’s flow. A new film by International Rivers, A Cascade of Development on the Omo River, reveals the hydrological havoc that could ensue. Read more on Huffington Post…