Introduction

Of all the peoples in that ethnic tapestry which makes up the Southern Nations of Ethiopia (SNNPRS), perhaps most remarkable are the Cushitic people of Konso; an industrious farming culture who populate a barren and rugged basalt outcrop, strung from east to west across the bowl of the Great Rift Valley, roughly parallel to the southern extremity of the main Ethiopian plateaux.

The Konso are a notoriously hardy farming culture; the final outpost of settled agriculture, as one descends into the arid badlands of Borena and the Omo valley, stretching down and away to the Kenya border. Their lowland neighbours to south, east (the Borana) and west (the Hamer, Bena and Erbore) are nomadic pastoralists, historically prone to raid the Konso for livestock which has greatly affected their lifestyle. Their society is centred on walled hilltop villages, ringed by rough hewn walls of stone and broken up into fortified compounds, which cannot be too dissimilar from those of the Kelts in pre-Roman Britain.

Konso Special Woreda is one of the eight Special Woredas of the SNNPRS. Karat-Konso, is situated at 1600m altitude, located 85km south of Arba Minch, and around 590km south of Addis Ababa. It has an area of approximately 2,300km2 situated at latitude 5'15'N and longitude of 37'30'E). Its altitude ranges from 800m ASL to 2200m ASL, and its agro-climatology ranges from Beha to Woina Dega.

Konso’s Culture

Fisher (1990) described the highlands of Konso as “green and densely farmed mountains topped by orderly villages and neat round houses, which form an outpost of sedate, evolved culture in the midst of strange, wild country that grows ever more primal and savage as one journeys towards the Ethio-Sudanese Borders.” (REF)

The Konso people are intensely social and display a readiness for heavy physical work, immediately distinguishing from other Ethiopians. They speak an eastern Cushitic language, suggesting a link to other Cushitic speakers, such as the Oromos, with whom they claim kinship, but their exact origins are obscure, their own folk-law only vaguely indicating that they came from the east about 1000 years ago.

The Konso village is remarkable for the beauty and simplicity of its workmanship, constructed entirely from natural materials, cultivated or gathered from the surroundings. The village is ringed by dry-stone walls, at least a meter thick and two meters high. Pavements built from the black rock of the earth about them run between the domestic compounds, often polished to a shine by long years of service in the village’s transport system.

Houses are arranged into family compounds, each with three to five tukuls (huts) and grain stores, raised off the ground on wooden poles. Animals including goats, cattle and the distinctive Konso fat-tailed sheep, are tethered under the grain-store and fed on hand-cut food, especially sorghum straw. The family compounds are organised into sub-communities, which form sections of the village, each of which has its own community house or Mora. 

The mora is a two-storey building comprising an open sided sitting area beneath a huge thatched roof with a heavy wooden ceiling. Above the ceiling there is therefore ‘an attic’. The “ground floor” of the mora is expertly paved to form a public area where the men gather to govern the village life. It is also a place for recreation, the youth may gather here to play, chat and relax during the day when they are not working. The attic of the mora meanwhile is where all the adult men are obliged to sleep at night. This traditional mode of organisation meant that the men were grouped and ready to poor forth “as a swarm of bees” in the case of attack or a fire or any other threat. Although attacks by marauding nomads are no longer a great threat these days the tradition is still maintained.

Since Konso culture is very conservative and highly social there is thus little scope for people to indulge in extra-marital sex, meaning that HIV-AIDS has not ripped through Konso as it has through other people in Southern Ethiopia and if nothing else the tradition of the mora acts as a form of cultural contraception, since men must wait their turn to be allowed to go and sleep with their wives, and if they are not there, everybody else will know they must be up to something…

Society and Religion of the Konso

Kin Groups and Descent
The Konso are divided into nine patrilineal clans (called kafa), which are arranged into three groups associated with God, the Earth, and the Wild. The same system exists in the Borana Oromos and in the Darashie. The head of each lineage is the pogalla (pl. pogallada), who is the oldest male in line from the founder of the clan. The pogalla is responsible for blessing the lineage, settling disputes between its members, and for representing them in disputes with members of other clans. The pogalla and other wealthy members of the lineage may be called upon to assist poorer members, and the lineage will help to pay any fines imposed on its members by the village.

Men are prohibited from taking wives of the same clan as themselves. The Konso say that clan members do not like to live together and tend to separate within the villages. Each village has all nine clans, and when Konsos travel to other villages they seek their own clan’s representatives to accommodate them. http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Konso-Kinship.html

Marriage
Polygyny is permitted, but only about a tenth of men have enough wealth to have a second wife as it necessitates a second domestic compound. Marriages are arranged by parents, usually at the request of a young man and with the consent of the girl. Bride-wealth is not important as a compensation for rights over the bride or her children, but only as establishing friendship between the groom and his father-in-law. Divorce is easy in theory, rare in practice. If the husband was the eldest and he dies without an heir, his wife is expected to bear a son in his name by one of his brothers. The wife of a pogalla is not supposed to marry again.

The eldest son lives in his father's homestead after marriage, but younger sons are expected to set up new homes after they marry. Property is inheritable only within the lineage. The eldest son inherits his father's homestead and twice the share of land that is inherited by each of his younger brothers. If a man dies without heirs, the nearest male relative within the lineage will inherit. Women cannot inherit any form of property, nor can they transmit property rights.
http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Konso-Marriage-and-Family.html

Socialization
The mother is primarily responsible for disciplining the children, and her brothers may also punish them. The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is more relaxed than that between parents and children, yet great respect is given to the grandfather in particular. Older siblings, usually sisters, are delegated to look after small children and it is easy for children to play together in groups. http://www.answers.com/topic/waga-waqa-and-the-first-man

Religion and Spiritual Beliefs
Waga, the Sky God (once common to many Cushitic peoples such as Oromo, Somali and Afar), is the supreme deity of justice, the bringer of life-sustaining rain and the initiator of social order. His benefits are requested by the performance of ritual. He is withdrawn from the world, but his presence is detected in certain natural phenomena such as the rainbow. Though he is now remote, he remains the source of morality and continues to intervene to punish sinners and judge between those who have called on him by oath in a dispute. Waga is the creator, responsible for the life of humans. There are different explanations as to how man was born; some say that the first humans were born of snakes, others that they emerged from a gourd, but it was Waga who gave them breath. When man was born, he had all the familiar physical aspects of the human body, except one thing: he did not move, he did not eat, he did not speak. Waga's wife, when she saw this, asked if Waga had a cure for this, if he had some speech medicine so Waga provided humans with breath. When man dies the breath returns to Waga.

Spirits
Opposed to God are many evil spirits, who live in the lowlands, under certain trees and around the villages, where they are especially active at night. They can cause insanity and sickness and some people are said to be possessed, in consequence, they, too, are feared. Another kind of spirit is the Ela, which inhabit the wells. They are not considered evil, but are potentially dangerous if annoyed.

The Soul
The person is comprised of flesh, "vitality" (seen as the pulse), which disappears, and of the soul, which becomes a ghost. There are no rewards or punishments in the afterlife but the soul survives death as a ghost and may retain some contact with the living, through the dreams. Ghosts may be heard talking or flapping about at night and may cause sickness, but there is no cult of the ancestors. To dream of the dead is dangerous for ordinary people and may be an omen of their own death.

The Earth
Women are closely associated with the earth, which is a cosmological element, distinct from but complementary to God, who is associated with men. God is not regarded as the creator of the earth, but he nourishes it with rain. Earth is the source of food, whose preparation is exclusively reserved for women, whose symbol on graves and elsewhere is a clay pot. It will be recalled that the nine clans are divided into three groups, associated with God, the Earth, and the Wild. God is the source of the social and moral order, whereas the Earth supplies the physical necessities of life. The Wild is associated with the dangerous forces of spirituality, not only with those of a hostile nature—such as evil spirits and madmen—but also with priests. It is considered dangerous for priests to live in the towns (although most of them now do so) and the most sacred places are always outside the towns and overgrown with wild vegetation that must not be cut.
http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Konso-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html

 
Ceremonies and Waqaa Statues
The most elaborate ceremonies occur when age grades of the gada system are promoted and the entire population of any one area participates. The warrior grade is represented by a dead juniper tree, placed in one or more sacred places in a town. The erection of these trees is accompanied by a complex ritual.

Another ceremony is the annual blessing of the pogalla for his clan lineage, their crops, and livestock.

In Garati, the mothers of those in the warrior grade perform a ceremony to bless their sons, the only occasion on which women assume such a role.

Konso is also known for the erection of Waqaa statues, memorial statues which represent dead warriors who have killed an enemy or a dangerous beast such as a lion or a leopard in their lifetime.
http://www.pbase.com/sergio_pes/konso_people

Christianity

Since Icelandic missionaries arrived in Konso in the 1950’s with the Gospel of evangelical Protestantism most of the population has converted to Christianity from their traditional belief system. Certain traditional systems of knowledge and societal regulation that were tied up with the old systems of belief are subsequently being lost. “Despite the advantages the protestant Church provided to Konso people, the influences of Christianity have attacked Konso society’s original culture by categorizing all their unique aspects of that culture into those of ceremonial practises paid to evil spirits. Because most of young people are now Christians, they never any more pay attention to their own traditions; the decreasing number of wise old people adds to it with the result that Konso cultural practises are disappearing.” (Korra Garra, 2008) Konso’s ethnobotany (the traditional knowledge and use of plants) is highly sophisticated in comparison the other peoples in the region, but is being lost due to its association with witchcraft and subsequent rejection by the evangelical establishment.

Konso’s Agriculture

Konso’s most distinguishing feature is its renowned agricultural system. The area, classified as a semi-arid ecology (“kola”), sits in a dry belt with unreliable rainfall; averaging around 550mm annually, but varying between 300mm and 900mm. Most of that rain comes in torrential storms, usually during two periods; the big rains (“mehr”), between March and May and the small rains (“belg”) between September and November. The erratic rainfall causes rapid soil erosion and loss of fertility if land is cultivated ineptly or vegetation is removed by burning or over-grazing. (Webke Forch, 2003)

Konso land is poor quality and the country is cut up by deeply eroded gullies and canyons. The soil is generally very fragile. In the lower valleys alluvial deposits may be fertile, but the area is mostly mountainous, stony and prone to erosion. (Webke Forch, 2003) 

 
Konso’s solution to this is their famous terracing which reduce soil erosion considerably. They have been constructed across large tracts of the rugged landscape by centuries of communal labour, carefully crafted to balance the competing demands of maximising water infiltration with insuring adequate drainage so that they do not collapse in times of heavy rain.

The terraces are planted with sorghum, which is intercropped with a range of other species in a sophisticated system integrating annuals, perennials and livestock. Multiple cropping systems mean:

• Greater intensity of production,
• The ground is protected through vegetative cover over a longer period and
• The harvest is spread over a longer period
• The risk of total crop failure is minimised.
• The integration of nitrogen fixing legumes maintains soil fertility,
• A balanced diet is produced and
• Weeds are suppressed.

A great variety of cereals, pulses, root crops and cash crops are cultivated. Major pulses are Phaseolus beans, peas, chickpea, cowpea, lentils and especially important is pigeon pea, a important food, fodder and source of firewood. Among root crops, sweet potato, ‘irish’ potato, yams, taro (in gulley bottoms) and cassava are found. Regarding grains, wheat and barley are dominant crops above 1700m, while finger millet is found at lower altitudes. Maize can be grown at all altitudes, if water is available. Sunflowers are also widely grown. All in all, as many as 50 species have been reported around a single village and even up to 24 species in a single field. But Sorghum, said to be ancient in the region, is the major staple crop of the Konso. At least 24 cultivars are named and distinguished by Konso farmers. It is very drought-resistant. (Webke Forch, 2003) Sorgum grain is ground to flower and used to make dumplings, called dama, or fermented to make chegga a thick sorghum beer, drunk as a broth mixed with hot water. Chagga is drunk through the day. It is extremely rich in carbohydrate and provides plenty of energy for hard work, but also insures that people are generally drunk!

Unlike in many other parts of Ethiopia, dung is never used as fuel. The manure of animals and sometimes humans, is collected, composted and applied to the fields. It is an essential part of the system maintaining the intensive continuous cropping cycle. Furthermore the culture has better respect for plant than other peoples, and they maintain sacred forests (which, fascinatingly, are composed largely of succulent plants, such as cactus and Euphorbia species) in close proximity to the villages. (Unfortunately, however, they are frequently used as public defecating areas.)

Animals are kept penned within the villages. This practise may have begun as a security measure against marauding nomads, but it means that grazing is regulated. Animals are fed on hand cut fodder, including crop residues. This does however add to the human (female) labour burden.

The agricultural cycle depends on rainfall. Land preparation starts with the first rains in January/February. The main cultivation tool is a double-bladed hoe called a baira. Cereals and pulses are broadcast in a seed mixture and lightly covered with soil, followed by root and tuber crops. Harvest takes place in the dry months in May onwards, first roots and tubers, then cereals and pulses, finally in mid-September sorghum.

With sufficient small rains in October/November a second crop of maize is sown and sorghum ratooning (allowing the plant to re-grow from the stump). The second harvest brings essential yields (Norman, et al 1995). The harvested crop is stored in granaries, in the case of maize and sorghum, the heads are hung in the houses. (Webke Forch, 2003)

Perennials are also widely integrated into Konso agriculture, forming an indigenous agro-forestry system. The cabbage tree (Moringa stenopetela) is planted densely within villages and more sparsely on the terraces. Its leaves, which are incredibly nutritious, are boiled like spinach, forming an essential part of the Konso diet. It fills a gap in the annual food supply, continuing to yield through the dry season, and goes a long way towards preventing malnutrition in Konso. It plays a key role in maintaining the ecosystem, by stabilising soil and reducing erosion. The seeds can be used for water clarification and it has many medicinal uses and promotes resistance to malaria.

A high number of fruit bearing trees, i.e. papaya, mango and citrus can be found. Other trees planted for construction materials and fodder include Terminalia birowni, and Cordia Africana. Shrub perennials are also grown including coffee and chat (Catha edulis). Villages often contain large reserves of cactu (Opuntia ficus-indica), utilised as fodder bank and firebreak, and also Euphorbia tirucali, used as a fire retardant.

The Konso have a well-developed knowledge of wild food plants, which form an important dietary supplement. Their consumption is an important local survival strategy in periods of food shortage. Examples include Acacia spp., Huernia, Balanites, Dobera glabra, Portulaca quadrifolia and Cadaba. However, though wild foods are an effective short term coping strategy, they do not substitute for cereal-based diets.

 
The Konso Community Today (situation and future potentials)

Situation: Community Issues in Konso

Food Security in Konso

Despite Konso’s remarkable agriculture, the area is not free from problems. The UNDP’s Rapid Assessment Report: Konso Special Wereda, SNNPR (1999) states that; “since the 1950s, drought induced famines have hit Konso and the immediate area almost once every ten years.” “Konso was devastated by the droughts in 1973/74 and 1983/84”. The report states that: 58% of the total populations (107,722 people) were in need of immediate assistance in August 1999, due to a series of calamities, including 3 consecutive years of failed rains and an infestation of migratory Quelea birds (Quelea quelea) in 1998, which damaged the sorghum crop. At the time of writing, stocks of animal fodder were almost exhausted. The situation was exacerbated in 1998 by an outbreak of army-worm (Spodoptera exempta) in April/May 1999, which had damaged cereals and fodder crops at the time the Report was written.

Webke and Forch (2003) state that: “Droughts can turn into disasters with massive loss of life and serious reductions in household assets, which lead to further impoverishment of the community… from 1996 to 1999 the area was drought stricken and confronted with repeated and significant crop failures and harvest losses... Until June 1999 most Konso people managed to cope with these conditions and survived by consuming wild food plants and selling assets (UNDP, 2000). But after three severe years another harvest failure in 1999 was too much. From the 29 villages in the Konso Special Woreda 23 were very severely affected and more than 100,000 people were in a high-risk situation.”

A decade later, in 2008, Ethioipia was been back in the news: “Poor performance of both the belg and meher crops is expected to leave the chronically food insecure population even more dependent on external assistance during the coming year, until the arrival of the belg harvest in July. Similarly, the southern crop producing parts of SNNP Region, that rely on the belg rains (Konso, Burji, and Amaro Special woredas) for up to 80 percent of their total annual production, are expected to continue to remain highly food insecure as production from their main 2008 belg season failed and performance of meher crops is highly dependent on the extension of the rainfall season into November.” (FNews, 2008)

“In order to improve household economy it is important to create access to cash and non-agricultural income sources. The dependence on agriculture and the inability to create sustainable assets are the biggest threats to the area and result is vulnerability to drought and inability to cope with it. Sustainable development means to support the existing agricultural system, as it is environmentally sound, and improve it through utilizing indigenous knowledge, while at the same time keeping the population at a level the production can supply food for.” (Wiebke Förch 2003)

Deforestation, education and women’s labour burden

Some of the problems facing the Konso community are similar to those faced by other communities in Ethiopia. However in other ways their situation is unique. This stems from their lifestyle, which in turn stems from their tough environment. As previously explained, they inhabit fortified hill-top settlements and terrace the sloping lands around them, keeping their animals penned inside the villages.

Animals function to provide milk for the children, manure for the fields and are an asset base – a store of capital – which can be liquidated (sold) at important times (e.g. when a man needs to build a new house if he gets married.) Animals are kept penned for security reasons, but also so that they don’t damage the terraces, which are critical for Konso agriculture. Therefore animals are not used to till the land; all cultivation is done by hand and, unlike other areas in Ethiopia donkeys are not used to transport materials.

Everything is carried by people, mostly by women. Collecting and transporting fire wood, animal fodder and drinking water to the villages take up most of the women’s waking existence. This means that most girls and women have no time to go to school and get an education. Consequently, they frequently lack education, understanding of Amharic (the national language) and are illiterate.

Much of the wood is used for boiling water and the preparation of chagga, the fermented sorghum broth which is the main staple of their diet.

And the use of firewood by the Konso is now leading to extensive deforestation of the land. Any new observer will be astonished at the strength and endurance of the Konso women of all ages, who perpetually toil throughout the day, carrying enormous piles of fuel on their backs (often weighing as much as 70kg) to their villages, from ever increasing distances. And despite their cultural practise of maintaining sacred forest areas, these are fairly small while the natural woodland of the landscape is being stripped back all the time.

The familiar story of land degradation plays out with the loss of canopy and ground cover leading to exposure and loss of top-soil by wind and water erosion, leading to loss of fertility and of the capacity of the ground to infiltrate water. The result is a much greater level of run-off in times of rain, leading to reduced levels of soil moisture and falling aquifers as well as floods, which are perilous to structures, people (especially children) and livestock.

Stripped of forests, topsoil and water retention capacity the outlying lands of Konso are being rapidly degraded, contributing to food insecurity as the human (and animal) population continues to expand.

Water and sanitation

In Konso there is almost a complete lack of infrastructure to supply running water to family homesteads. In the dry season the wells closer to the villages will tend to dry up, meaning the women must trek further and further to collect water as the dry season goes on. Women frequently trek long distances down into the valley bottoms to collect water. In drought times the situation is worse, of course.

• Lack of Facilities
• Education
• Number of schools in Konso, population, class size etc.
• Healthcare; number of clinics, doctors, private/public
• Electricity, water, communications, transport
• Non-agricultural occupations (Khorra etc.) 
• Tourism – statistics; refer to business plan appendices.

Tourist flow through Konso Villages

Currently there are over 3000 tourists a year visiting the Konso villages. Many of these tourists are paying in excess of $400 a day on their trips around southern Ethiopia, covering the costs of vehicle hire, fuel, guides fees, food and hotel bills. However the levels of revenue reaching the community are pitifully small.

Period                         Number of Tourists     % increase on previous year
2002                             1023 -
2003                             1164                         13%
2004                             1636                         18%
2005                             2518                         35%
2006                             1833                        -17% (+12% from 2004)
2007                             3175                         42%
1st quarter of 2008      1052 -

The above data, from the Konso Tourism, Parks and Hotels Desk, is in line with the regional data for Southern Ethiopia (see Graph 1 below), showing growth since 2002. This is also in line with the global tourism trends, which saw a slump following the September 11 attacks in the US, but have steadily re-grown since (IFC 2004). The exceptionally high volume of tourists in Konso, mainly in the last quarter of 2007, can be attributed to the Ethiopian Millennium, which drew more tourists than usual to Ethiopia. However following Konso’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is expected that the number of tourists visiting the area will increase dramatically, and that they will tend to spend longer in Konso undertaking trekking and culture-related activities.

Alternative Livelihoods: Tourism, Permaculture and micro-processing industries

Environmental Degradation

Webke Forch’s conclusions/recommendations

Possible to increase agricultural production in lowland by utilising seasonal streams more efficiently.

introducing high-yielding goat crossbreeds.

Non-farming income generation is important to reduce dependency on a good harvest. Supplementary income is especially important for vulnerable households, i.e. female-headed households.

Gender issues have to be considered more strongly, since women are the main working force in agriculture.

The need to leave people with a strong asset base to strengthen their ability to cope for themselves is essential.

build a more sustainable and robust agricultural base that is better able to withstand the occurrence of drought.

Access to drinking water,

improved sanitation and

appropriate medical supply are necessary.

The project location is Konso Special Woreda in the SNNP Regional State, chosen due to the potential displayed by the area for tourism development (as previously recognized by the UNWTO which established the Konso community tourism project in 2007, funded by the STEP initiative) and also due character of the local people, whose industrious farming culture is renowned and has been recognized internationally. These features made Konso the ideal location to establish this project with its broad based concept of linking tourism sector development with local community development.

SFEL and Responsible tourism in Konso: We believe that when handled correctly tourism offers the chance to benefit the local community, and in Konso where conditions are perfect for this objective. SFEL proudly stands against the rash of commercialization and exploitation of indigenous peoples that is happening in southern Ethiopia, most notably the “human safari” syndrome which infests the neighbouring Omo Valley, encouraging a rash of negative behaviours, antagonisms and cultural erosion. We believe tourism must, first and foremost, benefit the local community for it to produce a desirable result, an atmosphere of respect, understanding and mutual appreciation. SFEL runs a new series of ethically-minded, community-based, education and adventure-tourism activities. See more about Konso