Mereja.Forum

[Zmeselo]

GENERAL
Eritrean Youth Shine at Global Competition

Simon Woldemichael

https://shabait.com/2023/10/18/eritrean ... mpetition/

Oct 18, 2023

Young Eritreans in the Diaspora interact intensely with their homeland and represent their country in different global forums and competitions. Recently, five high school students from Calgary, Canada, who represented Eritrea at the 2023 FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition held in Singapore from October 7-10, competed with their peers from across the globe in the field of robotics and won gold medal to become the pride of their country.

The five young students, between 14 and 18, organized themselves as a team to represent Eritrea and achieved a remarkable victory. Eritreans at home and abroad have expressed their delight through social media and see the victory as a significant achievement for the country. They reacted with great pride to the creativity and problem-solving skills of the five young Eritreans.

The Singapore annual robotics event brings together thousands of students from all over the world and provides a platform to collaboratively compete in a thrilling game. During the event, the young students compete, collaborate, and exchange ideas. The Eritrean team, made up of Adonai Habte, Heyab Samson, Niyat Dimtzu, Rafael Abraha, and Yosan Woldeghebriel, displayed outstanding talent and innovation at the competition. The team raised the Eritrean flag high among the victorious nations.

The victory of the young Eritreans in Diaspora at the international robotics competition reveals the potential of young Eritreans in science and technology. The talent of Eritrean Diaspora could help address the country’s pressing issues in its development efforts. It could also serve as an impetus to young Eritreans at home and abroad to become innovative and creative. The five high school Eritrean students, who have been able to test their talents at the global competition, were hosted by various media outlets.



Young Eritreans in the Diaspora are actively involved in the social, economic, political, and diplomatic life of their homeland. They show their Eritrean identity in their use of Eritrean languages, knowledge of Eritrea’s history, their homecoming, family ties and closeness to Eritrea. What is remarkable is that they feel at home in both their homeland and their host country. Trans-nationalism, is a prominent feature of the Eritrean Diaspora.

Having strong family ties, is one of the main drivers of strong relationships of the Diaspora with their homeland. The Eritrean Diaspora are known for their frequent visits of their homeland and empathy toward their compatriots.

Adonai Habte, member of the team, said,

It [the victory] definitely means a lot to our families and the community; it’s an honor to represent Eritrea.

Although migration entails problems related to identity and belongingness, Eritreans in Diaspora have time and again demonstrated their sense of belonging and self-confidence.

The young that were born abroad know their national culture and history very well. Eritrea’s Diaspora invest heavily on educating the young generation about the history and culture of their country. They organize events that allow their children to be active citizens. The five young students’ decision to represent Eritrea at a global competition demonstrates their affiliation with the homeland.

Many suggest that there should be a platform to boost cooperation between the youth inside Eritrea and those in Diaspora to be able to share innovative ideas and best practices. There is no doubt that by enhancing the already existing link, the potential of innovation in all fields could be increased, which in turn could contribute toward social and economic development by stimulating the transfer of knowledge and the exchange of best practices.

The Eritrean Diaspora maintain connections and conduct various forms of transactions to influence national events in a positive way. Besides their economic assistance, they are active in transferring technology. Many believe that technological assistance of the Eritrean Diaspora are an under-utilized development resource that have the potential to produce desirable socioeconomic outcomes. The transfer can happen when Eritreans in Diaspora return to live in or visit Eritrea and when Eritreans visit their relatives abroad. Many Eritreans in Diaspora possess vital skills that are needed in the ongoing development efforts. Today, the transfer of skills, technology and ideas are viewed as important benefits one can expect from the Diaspora. The knowledge, skills and technology that the Eritrean Diaspora bring back home are as important as or even more important than their financial assistance.



Eritreans living abroad are an important extension of the homeland, and they contribute, out of their volition, both in human and material resources for the development of the country. In the past, the primary focus might have been on financial support to their families. This may need to be complemented by paying equal attention to the transfer of knowledge and technology in order to reverse brain drain into brain gain, benefitting Eritrea from its highly skilled Diaspora.




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ሰላም ክቡር ህዝብና፡ I’m trying to get in touch with Tigre or Tigrigna or Arabic speaking Biomedical Engineers with prior experience focused on biomedical/medical equipment design, innovation, installation, and maintenance. I appreciate your help. Menghis Bairu, M.D: @DrMenghisB




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[Zmeselo]

EDITORIAL
ዕርቃን ድርብ ዕያር

https://shabait.com/2023/10/18/%e1%8b%9 ... %e1%88%ad/

Oct 18, 2023

ብ7 ጥቅምቲ ዝተወልዐ ኲናት ቓዛ፡ ካብ ክልቲኡ ወገን ልዕሊ 4,000 ሰባት ቀዚፉ፡ ልዕሊ 10,000 ኣቚሲሉ፡ ገዚፍ ዕንወት ኣውሪዱ፡ ኣማኢት ኣሽሓት ኣመዛቢሉ ኣሎ። ሰላማዊ መዕለቢ እንተዘይተገይሩሉ ድማ፡ ዝኸፍአ መቕዘፍትን ዕንወትን ከውርድ፡ ኣብ ኣዝዩ ተኣፋፊ ክፋል ዓለምና ሰፊሕ ዞባዊ ግጭትን ህውከትን ከባርዕ ዓቢ ተኽእሎ ኣሎ።

ነዊሕ ድሕረ-ባይታ ናይዚ ግጭት’ዚ ንጎድኒ ገዲፍና፡ ኣብዚ ኲናት’ዚ፡ ህዝቢ ዓለም ዝዕዘቦ ዘሎ ድርብ ዕያር፡ ነቲ ኣብ ጽውጽዋያት ሃንስ ክርስትያን ኣንደርሰን እነንብቦ፡

ምዕሩግ ልብሲ ተኸዲነ – መሩቑለይ

ክብል ኣብ ቅድሚ እኩብ ህዝቢ ጥራሕ ነብሱ ዝኸደ ሃጸይ ዘዘኻኽር እዩ።

ተሓለቕቲ ኣድማሳዊን ኣህጉራዊን ሕግታት፣ ጠበቓታት ስልጡን ዓለማዊ መትከላት፣ ሃዋርያ ደሞክራሲን ሰብኣዊ ሓርነትን ኢና’ ዝብሉ ተመጻደቕቲ፡ ኣብ ብዙሕ ግጭታት ብሰብኣውነት እምብዛ ተጨነቕቲ መሲሎም ክዋስኡ ምርኣይ፡ ህዝቢ ዓለም ዝረብረበሉ እዩ። ግደ ሓቂ ግን፡ ስለ ኣህጉራዊ ሕጊን ሰብኣውነትን ቅንጣብ ተጨኒቖም ኣይፈልጡን። እቲ ምኡዝ ስብከት ዝካየደሉ፡ ካብ ቻርተር ሕቡራት ሃገራት ጀሚርካ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣድማሳዊ ሕጋጋትን ውዕላትን ዝሰፈረ በብዓይነቱ ኣስማት ዝተዋህቦ መሰላትን ሓርነታትን፣ ‘ዘይምእዙዛት’ ንምጽቃጥን ንምፍርራሕን እምበር፡ ንኣታቶም ወይ ‘ወገንና’ ንዝብልዎ ዝምልከት ኣይኮነን። ኣብኦም በጺሑ፡ ብስሩ ክርጥረጥ ወይ ድማ ከም ዝጥዕመካ ገይርካ ክስርሓሉ ዝኽእል’ዩ። ሰብ ድርብ ዕያር፡ ዝኾነ ክስተት፡ ቅኑዕነቱን ፍትሓውነቱን ብዘየገድስ፡ ዝባኖም ቀሊዖም ጸግዒ ክሕዙ ስክፍታ የብሎምን።

• ከምዝፍለጥ ባይቶ ጸጥታ፡ ኣብ ብዙሕ ዓበይቲን ንኣሽቱን ግጭታት ብህጹጽ ክእከብ እናተጸውዐ ውሳነታት የሕልፍ እዩ – ንኣብነት ኣብ ግጭት ሊብያ። ኣብ ኲናት ሩስያን ኡክረይንን፡ ሃገራት ተኣኪበን ንሩስያ ኪዂንና ዝተቐሰባሉ ናይ ቀረባ ፍጻመ ኣሎ። ካልእሲ ይትረፍ ኣብ እዋን ግጭት ሰሜን ኢትዮጵያ፡ ባይቶ ጸጥታ ልዕሊ 10 ግዜ ተኣኪቡ ምንባሩ ኣይርሳዕን። ኣብ ጉዳይ ቓዛ ግን፡ ክሳብ ክንድኡ ሻቕሎትን ተርባጽን ኣይተራእየን። ትማሊ ኣብ ዝተጋብአ ኣኼባ ባይቶ ጸጥታ ድማ፡ ብሩስያ ዝቐረበ

ንስለ ሰብኣዊ ምኽንያታት ተኹሲ ደው-ምባል

ዝጠልብ ንቡር እማመ (Humanitarian ceasefire) ብብዝሒ ድምጺ ሃገራት ምዕራብ ተነጺጉ።

• ሓደ ሃገር መጥቃዕቲ ምስ ዝገጥሞ፡ ብዓንቀጽ 51 ቻርተር ሕ.ሃ. መሰረት ናይ ርእሰ ምክልኻል መሰል ኣለዎ። ድሕረ-ባይታ ናይቲ ኩነታት ብዘየገድስ፡ እስራኤል ከም ግብረ-መልሲ ናይቲ ብምንቅስቓስ ሓማስ ዝወረዳ መጥቃዕቲ፡ ሰብኣዊ ሕግታት ኲናት ብዘይጥሕስ መገዲ ተመጣጣኒ ግብረ መልሲ ክትህበሉ ይከኣል ይኸውን። ሃገራት ምዕራብን ኮሚሽን ሕብረት ኤውሮጳን ግን፡ ነቲ ኲናት ብዘይዕቃበ ክደፍእሉ እዮም ተራእዮም።

• ብጸቕጢ ህዝቢ እኳ እንተተኸለሰ፡ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ ኣብቲ መጀመርታ መዓልታት ንፍልስጤም ዝህቦ ዝነበረ ገንዘባዊ ሓገዝ ክቋረጽ ወሲኑ ነይሩ።

• ፈረንሳን እንግሊዝን፡ ብመምርሒ ሚኒስተራት ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያት፡ ንፍልስጤም ዝድግፍ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍታትን ምንብልባል ባንዴራ ፍልስጤምን ከም ገበን ብምቑጻር ክኽልከላኦ ፈቲነን።

• ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ፡ ኣብ ማሕበራዊ ሚድያ (እቲ ኣውራ ማዕከናት ዜና ብተዘዋዋሪ ስለዝቆጻጸርኦ) ንተግባራት እስራኤል ዝምልከት ‘ዝንቡዕን ዘይሕጋዊን’ ዝብላኦ ሓበሬታ ክእገድ ወሲነን።

• ኮምሽን ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ፡ ኣብ ኩናት ኡክረይን፡ ንሲቪላዊ ትሕተ-ቅርጽን፡ ቀረብ ኤለክትሪስቲን ዝትንክፍ ተግባራት ሩስያ፡ ‘ገበን ኩናት’ዩ’ ከምዘይበሎ፡ ምኽርዳን ቓዛ ሕጋዊ መሰል ግብረ-መልሲ’ዩ ክብል ሞጒቱ።

ማዕከናት ዜና ምዕራብ፡ ኣብ ግጭት ቓዛ ብዛዕባ ምቁራጽ ተዂሲን ሰላማዊ ፍታሕን ብጩቕ ክብላ ኣይተሰምዓን። ሓቅነት፣ ውድዓውነት፣ ሚዛናውነት እናተባህለ ዝስበኸሉ ዜናዊ ስነ-ምግባር ኣሰሩ የለን። ብቅሉዕ ጸግዒን ሻርነትን፡ ዓበይቲ ዝበሃላ ማዕከናት ዜና ክብረን ሓሲሩን ፈዂሱን፡ መጋበርያነተን ህዝቢ ዓለም ብኣርምሞ ይዕዘቦ ኣሎ። እቲ ድርብ ዕያር ዓይኑ ዘፍጠጠ’ዩ። እቲ ጽቡቕ ነገር ግዳ፡ ሎሚ ህዝቢ ዓለም ነቲ ብምስሉይ ስብከት ቀልቢ የዋሃት ክስሕብን ከጋጊን ዝጸንሐ ኣምሰሉነት ነቒሑሉስ፡ ድርብ ዝዕያሩ ፖለቲካ፡ ከምቲ ሃጸይ ብዘይ ጉልባብ ጥራሕ ዕርቃኑ ወጺኡ፡ ህዝቢ ዓለም ኣብ ዝኽዕቦ ደረጃ ምብጽሑ እዩ።

ቦርድ ክፍሊ ጋዜጣ

[Zmeselo]

GENERAL
Food for today and the future

Dr. Fikrejesus Amahazion

https://shabait.com/2023/10/18/food-for ... eaPrevails

Oct 19, 2023

On 16 October, World Food Day (WFD) was observed in countries across the globe, including Eritrea. Among the most celebrated days on the international calendar, WFD is all about

promoting worldwide awareness of hunger and mobilizing global action for the future of food, people, and the planet.

In accordance with the underlying goals and general significance of the special occasion, the following paragraphs seek to provide a small snapshot of food and agriculture in Eritrea.

Eritrea is mainly arid and semi-arid, with torrential and erratic rainfall in rainy seasons. About 60% of the country’s population resides within rural areas, although urbanization is increasing, and population density in the country stands at approximately 35 people per km² of land area, which is less than the global and Sub-Saharan Africa averages. An important part of the national economy in Eritrea is rain-fed agriculture and pastoralism, and it is estimated that farming, animal herding, and fishing are the mainstay of livelihoods for approximately 65 percent of the population.

Overall estimates suggest that the country possesses around 2.1 million hectares of potential land for rain-fed agriculture and around 600,000 hectares for irrigation. According to reports conducted in recent years, around 500,000 hectares of land are cultivated, with more than 93 percent under modified rain-fed farming (cultivated with on-farm soil and water conservation measures), while the rest is irrigated.



Notwithstanding a wide range of challenges, Eritrea has been able to register important progress in improving food and agricultural production and productivity, as well as ensuring food and nutrition security, in the three decades since independence was achieved. Compared to the early 1990s, for example, the proportions of poor people and those suffering from food insecurity in the country are believed to have declined substantially.

In terms of cereal production and productivity, a key area, considerable strides have been made. The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), established shortly after independence and working under the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), has conducted many trials in the pursuit of developing improved crop varieties, particularly types resistant to drought, resilient against disease, and high-yielding. To date, NARI has managed to develop 45 crop varieties (comprising 16 varieties of wheat, 10 varieties of sorghum, 7 varieties of barley, 6 varieties of pear millet, 3 varieties of maize, 2 varieties of legume, and 1 variety of oilseed), with many more currently at different stages of analysis. For most crops, these improved seed varieties, which are distributed to farmers across the country, in combination with effective agronomic practices and other inputs have helped to more than double productivity.

Meanwhile, within horticulture, an increasingly significant area, the number of farmers engaged in the production of fruits and vegetables on a semi-commercial basis now stands at well over 11,500, a dramatic jump from around 1500 years ago. What is more, the total area of coverage for horticulture nationwide has increased fourfold, while the total production of fruits and vegetables has increased by 71 times and about 6 times, respectively.

The production of potatoes has likewise witnessed tangible improvements. Over the years, more than 70 potato varieties have been imported for adaptability trials, with the most successful being distributed to local farmers in communities across the country. At present, not only has Eritrea secured adequate potato seed for the entire year, farmers have also begun to grow potatoes in the lowlands, while the production of sweet potatoes continues to be a prominent area of focus.



Notably, poultry production, which has historically been extremely limited, has tremendously grown and it is now increasingly common within households and communities nationwide. Similarly, beekeeping has also expanded significantly; the number of beekeepers and apiaries in Eritrea has continued to steadily rise, their coverage has spread to more areas, and total honey production has maintained an upward trajectory.

Another area that is demonstrating promise is date palm cultivation. It has great potential, particularly due to the favorable climate along Eritrea’s long coastline. Thus far, approximately 21,000 date palm trees have been planted in the country, predominantly within the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions. (The MoA plans to reach 200,000 date palm trees by 2026.) In addition to helping address food security, growth in date palm cultivation will help to provide income-generating opportunities and improve livelihoods, as well as serve as a carbon sink to reduce the impact of climate change.

In addition to being largely arid and receiving low annual rainfall, Eritrea is also negatively impacted by climate change, as well as decades of land degradation. Accordingly, a key part of the government’s strategy is reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture, promoting on-farm and off-farm soil and water conservation activities, conducting afforestation programs, and modernizing the agricultural sector to increase productivity and adapt to agriculture to climate change.

Through the efforts the government, communities, and various other national institutions, the number of dams and ponds has been increased from 138 at independence to nearly 800, with much greater nationwide coverage. This has helped to massively raise the availability of water for irrigation and household consumption. Eritrea is also steadily shifting from furrow irrigation to pressurized irrigation.

In order to minimize the cutting of trees (as well as reduce health risks), “the Adhanet”, an improved traditional stove, was designed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Since 1998, approximately 170,000 of these special stoves have been distributed to households across the nation, mainly in rural areas.

As well, a variety of programs and initiatives are conducted by the MoA to assist farmers in increasing productivity and output, including water harvesting, increasing arable land, introducing better seeds, applying more efficient farming techniques, containing soil erosion, and applying environmentally- and health-friendly fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, technical experts from the MoA and local colleges also regularly conduct workshops and provide consultations to farmers and communities throughout the country.



Beyond these efforts, Eritrea has designed and implemented several initiatives to help promote agriculture, reduce poverty, and improve livelihoods. Perhaps the flagship is the Minimum Integrated Household Agricultural Package (MIHAP). Through this support package, each rural household receives 1 improved cross-breed dairy cow or 12 goats, as well as 25 chicken, 2 beehives, 20 trees (comprising 10 fruit trees, 5 leguminous trees, and 5 trees for firewood), a vegetable plot, land for crops, and regular support with modern inputs and management. Over the years, the MIHAP has reached thousands of households, many of them poor and headed by women, ultimately promoting food and nutrition security, reducing poverty and inequality, and ensuring that more families can lead lives of dignity.

Other highly successful support initiatives include, among others, the voluntary resettlement of vulnerable households and groups to fertile, productive areas near the newly constructed dams in Kerkebet, Gerset, and Logo, transforming the conditions and circumstances of isolated settlements and villages in pastoralist and semi-pastoral communities, and the Savings and Micro-Credit Programme, which extends loans and credit through a nationwide network of 538 village banks.