The Gift of Salt: a Personal Story from Lake Afdera
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IDD NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2017 ETHIOPIA 13 The gift of salt: a personal story from Lake Afdera Lorenzo Locatelli-Rossi I have in front of me a 4.8-kilogram file Massawa saltpans. In the early 1990’s, large Djibouti, where another depression salt-lake filled with documents that trace the story of was being exploited for local use, and both how Lake Afdera in the Danakil depression, governments hoped that a large joint ven- Afar region of Ethiopia has developed into ture would profit both countries. But while the largest source of salt in the country. the venture had potential, other matters With a volcano in the background, which took priority for the Ethiopian government once shaped the landscape we see today, the at the time. lake lies 102 meters below sea level and has Over the years, much has been writ- a surface area of around 100 sq. kilometers. ten about salt in Ethiopia, but one report At a time of my first visit, the only that mentioned Lake Afdera as a potential presence in the area was a small milita- source of halite (rock salt) was what brought ry post up on the hill and some scattered Lake Afdera, January 1999 me to the site. But the real beginning was nomadic groups camping amongst the rocks a story told to me by Benito Capodacqua, and boulders. The nomads were exposed an Ethiopian-Italian salt technician whom to serious health risks and were under the I met and befriended in the course of my care of the Afar Pastoralist Development work there. Association (APDA) under the fervent lea- dership of Ismail Ali Gardo and his wife First saltpans in Afdera Valerie Browning, known as the ‘Angel In the late 50’s and early 60’s, Benito of the African Desert’. This is how I was worked for an Italian businessman, Mr. introduced to the area on the day of my D’Alessandro. An adventurer and dreamer, arrival: the Angel of the Desert was lectu- D’Alessandro was also a passionate and ring to a large group of nomadic women, all creative enterpreneur with a keen eye for huddled in a cave, listening to her eagerly: opportunity. His project to produce salt in Taking a refreshing dip in Lake Afdera Afar, desolate, silent and of an extraordinary Afdera was not only successfully approved beauty. Like the Dead Sea, the lake is super- by the Ethiopian government, but it also saturated saline water. The lake is fed by won him a 5-year tax concession on pro- very hot freshwater streams, with palm trees duction. And so in this lunar (and possibly along their banks that offered the only shel- sligthly lunatic) landscape, without any ter and comfort during the extremely hot machinery but filled with determination, days. I was told that until I arrived, no one D’Alessandro built the first saltpan, along had dared to swim in the lake until by jum- with a 250 km dirt road connecting his ping in, I proved there were no predators in business with the main road to Addis Ababa. the water, and that sinking was impossible. After the five year period of grace, the This was in 1999, and today Afdera is a very government began to tax D’Alessandro, and different site and sight. as the years went by and production grew The first supplies of building materials arriving from strength to strength, the tax demands Historical background on at Lake Afdera. became higher and more aggressive. At least, Ethiopian salt until D’Alessandro was told that the only In the north of the Danakil depression is way his taxes would be lower is if he would an open-pit salt mine, which has been in investments were made to enable salt iodi- sell a part of his enterprise. As the story use since the ancient times when salt was zation. However, the war between Eritrea goes, at this point, he opted to close down a currency. Low quality salt blocks or slabs and Ethiopia, which broke out in May the entire oprations. are still mined there today. In more modern 1998, left the latter without a salt supply. It was Benito who showed me the times, when Eritrea and Ethiopia were For a short time, the salt came to Ethiopia foundation of D’Alessandro’s house, the Abissinia, most of the region’s salt orgina- from Djibouti and Yemen; one of their location of the freshwater tank and work- ted from the Eritrean coast of Assab and most interesting ventures was at Lac Assal in shop, and most important of all, the neat IDD NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2017 ETHIOPIA 14 network of 15 salt ponds with an access road Production & Iodization Proposal” was for the workers to bring their harvest back agreed, and the implementing agencies DIA onto dry land. It was a haunting sight: one and UNICEF funded the US$ 54,000 bud- could still almost feel the vibrant energy of get. More visits to the site were undertaken the place and hear the tools and voices of in the intervening months. The ASWA the men at work, harvesting the salt. But membership grew to 57 (including myself), the saltpans had been laid to rest under and as a result the association was able to years’ worth of sand, their outline now raise funds to the tune of US$ 15,000. barely traceable. By the year 2000, with the appoint- ment of Mr Alimira Helem, a local Developing the Ethiopian salt industry manager, and Benito, the team was now The first document I find as I open the The first store for building goods and equipment 16-strong, and the construction work at the was small but did its job. file is titled “Discussion on the Iodization lake could begin in earnest. Food cost and of Salt,” dated 9–10 November 1998. salaries were paid to the workers through It is the minutes of a meeting between their membership fee, while donors funded Tigray Development Agency (TDA), the materials and equipment needed to build Dutch Interchurch Aid (DIA), UNICEF, lake-site lodgings, a cafeteria, and a storero- Afar Relief Association, and Afar Literary om. Smaller equipment, including bamboo Association, convened to discuss salt iodi- mats, nails, wood, shovels, wheelbarrows, zation. As salt was a key part of the pro- inlet pumps, pipes, generator and other ject, one of the listed action points was to goods were shipped in mostly by caravans discuss the plan with the clan leaders of of camels. There was, of course, no lack of Afdera. This, in my view, was the point serious issues such as a shortage of mosquito that marked the beginning of a new era of nets, provisions not arriving in time, or arri- Benito and his salt pans salt production at the lake. A follow-up ving late and spoiled. But there was no lack meeting on 15 December 1998 brought of enthusiasm either, and by May 2000, the together another stakeholder group: mostly first 200 quintals or 20 metric tons of salt salt workers from the newly formed Afar were produced. This experience positively Salt Workers Association (ASWA) and the motivated the workers and ASWA, who Afar Pastoralist Development Association were now even more keen to build new (APDA). Spearheaded by Bob Hedly of pans. Unfortunately, the project expanded DIA, the other agencies (ASWA, APDA out of control, and the over-eagerness of the and UNICEF) all had crucial roles in dri- local salt association attracted the interest of ving the project forward. As a result, the external businessmen, causing serious diffi- first assessment mission to Lake Afdera (and culties. Nevertheless, it forged ahead and has my contract there as a Salt Consultant to become what it is today: a major source of UNICEF) was scheduled not long after, in Pilot salt production project at the lake was a salt in Ethiopia. January 1999. This was when I first met my success. team: Ishmail Ali Gardo (APDA), Benito In the aftermath Capodacqua, and Nur Murale (ASWA). I returned to Ethiopia in November 2002, The assessment report detailed the by which time the production sites had lake’s surroundings, which we scouted for simply gone “viral,” smashing even the suitable salt production sites, although it was most optimistic forecasts. Today Afdera is evident that salt could be produced easily. a sprawling town, and the lake area once The report was visionary and optimistic described as desolate, silent and of an extra- about the prospects, even recommending ordinary beauty is no more. But perhaps the that the salt association build a shed where impact it’s had on the region was as inevita- salt could be iodized and sold directly to the ble as the passing of time. And the benefits passing trade on the main road, on its way of iodized salt bestowed upon the region’s to Addis. In fact, it went as far as to suggest My return to Lake Afdera in September 2002 population are indisputable. that a large billboard should be erected to inform the truckers they don’t need to drive of a meeting with the salt groups keen to for hours to reach the lake! develop production and iodization at the Next to the report from this initial scouted site. As Bob Hedly said at the time, visit is another document, a letter from DIA although the project was very feasible, there dated 26th February 1999, addressed to were some logistical doubts, and it required UNICEF-Addis Ababa, notifying the office funding. In May 1999, a “Region Two–Salt *This article is dedicated to Ato Benito Capodacqua.