A history of fincha’ä sugar plantation

Abstract

The Fincha’ä Sugar Estate is located in the Fincha’ä Valley, Horrõ Gudurû, Wallagä Zone of the Oromia Regional State. It is found within the Nile basin, at a distance of 350 km from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Before the establishment of estate farm there due to misconception the people called, the place was called Agul Barahä because the area was covered by the forest, and there was tsetse fly and other dangerous wild benfit. Except the people who hung beehive there, no person went to there to cultivate the land. The Herds also sometimes took their cattle there for the search of Hora and grass. Through time, tsetse fly and gandî disease were wide spread widly. This created difficulty to the people to enter the area. However, the condtion of the area was changed with the coming of the Derg to the power. During the Derg, the place was visited and took the name Lemlem Barahä referring to as fertile desert or green desert since covered with dense natural forest. History of Fincha’ä sugar plantation is divided into three phases: pre 1975, from 1975 to 1990s and post 1990s. It means, when the Fincha’ä valley was covered by jungle forest, when the area was used for Fetan farm and state farm and sugarcane plantation and sugar factory was planted. Despite the significance of the Fincha’ä irrigation project, it has negative environmental repercussions. This is evident from vegetation cover depletion, water quality deterioration in the downstream basin, change of soil physical and chemical components and increasing health threats. The study is based on primary sources, secondary sources, archives, manuscripts, journals, and articls and as well as oral informants. In the writing of this thesis qualitative method has been used.