Indigenous and Modern Environmental Ethics
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Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series II, Africa, Volume 13 General Editor George F. McLean Indigenous and Modern Environmental Ethics: A Study of the Indigenous Oromo Environmental Ethic and Modern Issues of Environment and Development Ethiopian Philosophical Studies, I by Workineh Kelbessa The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2010 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Workineh Kelbessa. Indigenous and modern environmental ethics : a study of the indigenous Oromo environmental ethics and modern issues of environment anddevelopment / by Workineh Kelbessa. p. cm. -- (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series 2, Africa ; v. 13) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Oromo (African people) – Attitudes. 2. Oromo (African people) – Agriculture. 3. Oromo (African people) – Ethnobotany. 4. Indigenous peoples – Ecology—Ethiopia. 5. Traditional ecological knowledge—Ethiopia. 6. Environmental ethics—Ethiopia. 7. Ethiopia—Environmental conditions. I. Council for Research in Values and Philosophy. II. Title. III. Series. DT390.G2W65 2008 2008021994 179’.10899355--dc22 CIP ISBN 978-1-56518-253-0 (pbk.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms and Abbreviations v Preface vii Acknowledgements ix Part I. History and Literature Chapter I. Introduction 1 Chapter II. A Short History of the Oromo People 15 Chapter III. Review of the Literature 27 Part II. Basic Concepts Chapter IV. The State of the Environment in Ethiopia 49 Chapter V. Oromo Ecotheology 61 Chapter VI. The Oromo Conception of Divination and Time 79 Part III. Attitudes to Nature Chapter VII. Western and Oromo Attitudes Towards Wild Animals 95 Chapter VIII. The Place of Forests in Western Environmental Ethics 109 and Oromo Culture Chapter IX. Indigenous Water Harvesting Systems as 121 Systems of Indigenous Knowledge and Practice Chapter X. Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge 127 Part IV. Environmental Ethics: Traditions and Progress Chapter XI. The Role of Oral Traditions in Oromo Environmental 135 Ethics and Related Issues Chapter XII. Challenges to and Limitations of Indigenous 153 Environmental Knowledge Chapter XIII. Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and 164 Intellectual Property Rights: Integrating Two Systems of Innovation Chapter XIV. Indigenous and Modern Environmental Ethics: 177 Towards Partnership Chapter XV. Conclusion 223 About the Author 235 References 237 Index 275 Appendices 283 Maps 321 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS BABO Biiroo Aadaa fi Beeksisa Oromiyaa [Oromia Bureau of Culture and Advertisement] CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CIP Collective Intellectual Property Rights CLIMA Center for Legumes in the Mediterranean Agriculture COICA Coordinating Body for the Indigenous People’s Organisations of the Amazon Basin CPGR Commission on Plant Genetic Resources CSA Central Statistical Authority ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council EPLD Environmental Protection and Land Use Department EPA Environmental Protection Authority EC Ethiopian Calendar EEC European Economic Community ECTDME Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing Enterprise FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation (UN) FFW Food For Work FSS Forum for Social Studies GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GTP Gumaro Tea Plantation ILCA International Livestock Center for Africa ILO International Labour Organisation IPRs Intellectual Property Rights IUCN The World Conservation Union (formerly the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) MOA Ministry of Agriculture MWRD Ministry of Water Resource Development ND No Date NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OBAD Oromia Bureau of Agricultural Development O B PED Oromia Bureau of Planning and Economic Development PA Peasants Association PBR Plant Breeder’s Right PRR Property Rights Regime RAFI Rural Advancement Foundation International (Canada) RPK Rural People’s Knowledge SPP Several Species TGE Transitional Government of Ethiopia TNCs Transnational Corporations TRIMS Trade-Related Investment Measures TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights vi Acronyms and Abbreviations UN United Nations UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UPOV Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants WCED World Commission on Environment and Development WEN Women’s Environmental Network WIPO World Intellectual Property Organisation (UN) WTO World Trade Organisation PREFACE This book investigates the Oromo environmental ethic and the relationship between indigenous and modern environmental ethics. It aims to sift useful ideas within Oromo indigenous beliefs and practices which are relevant to environmentally and socially sound development. This process undercuts some of the modern arguments and opinions about what counts as authority, who counts as an expert, and who counts as a scientist. It is the result of some years of field research carried out among the Oromo people, for it is among the cultures of Africa that I have first-hand or inside knowledge through both natural upbringing and deliberate reflective observation. Attention was paid to what the people actually believe, practise and say, rather than to what they are supposed to believe, practise or say. Besides seeking information from different groups of people, I made direct observations and drew conclusions. Oromo environmental knowledge has never received a full-scale study. There have been books on Oromo history, religion and culture, but no exposition of the Oromo environmental ethic and environmental ethics. Some individuals who were handicapped by ignorance, total or partial, of the Oromo language and culture, and who approached their study with preconceived notions, have produced distorted views. It is time to critically approach these works and provide a more correct account of how people really perceive and protect their environment. This book has attempted to do this as a contribution to the ongoing debate on the subject of indigenous environmental knowledge and ethics. Its major findings and conclusions are that there have been indigenous environmental and developmental experts among the Oromo people. The Oromo people have developed complex systems of agriculture and intensive soil, water, vegetation and wildlife management that have survived the test of time and the vagaries of the environment. It is also argued that the Oromo world view has included an environmental ethic that can serve as the basis for a contemporary environmental ethic. Unlike anthropocentrists the Oromo have deep concerns for the future and health of both human and nonhuman creatures. The book further shows that indigenous and modern knowledge are not mutually exclusive. Indigenous and modern environmental ethics have their own limitations and cannot be a panacea for all ills in isolation; both have something to teach as well as something to learn. The book also suggests that the principles of conventional intellectual property rights should be revised, and include local knowledge entitlements. This book also suggests that the present power relations at the local and international levels should be changed in the direction of just and environmentally and socially sound development. Whatever may be the force with which some of the views are expressed in this book, they remain largely suggestions which are open to viii Preface debate and are not, by any stretch of the imagination, the final word on the subject. It is expected that this preliminary work will serve as a gateway to further serious study of the issue. The study relies on various available relevant documents, including oral literature, questionnaires, interviews and personal observation. It relies mainly on fieldwork and first-hand information gathered from informants and my previous works on indigenous environmental knowledge. I have learned much on the topics discussed here over the last few years from conversations with Dessalegn Rahmato and Robin Attfield, and reading their works and those of other environmental theorists, as well as from talking to Oromo peasant farmers and pastoralists. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Oromo people in the study sites who extended their hospitality and gave of their time freely and enthusiastically and shared their experiences with me. In particular, I would like to thank Obboo Borbor Bule who has taught me Borena history and culture in detail, and served as my guide in Borena. My thanks also go to Nuradin Gobana, Boru Kuruta, Kararssa Guracha and to other local guides and assistants in the study sites. I am also grateful to agricultural development and extension workers, Oromo intellectuals, members of Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority, environmental theorists and other individuals who have provided me with information for this study. My thanks also go to government officials at the zonal and district levels and Peasant Association leaders in the study sites for supporting my fieldwork. I am also greatly indebted to Dessalegn Rahmato, my former professor at Addis Ababa University, who encouraged me to study indigenous environmental knowledge and its impact on development and environmental protection. I owe many thanks