Het verheugt ons indien het Akaso concept U inspireert om naar Ethiopië te reizen. Misschien overweegt U om de volkeren van de Omo Vallei te bezoeken. U kan één van de Kara volk dorpen per weg bereiken. Helaas komen de meeste Omo Vallei toerisme-initiatieven niet ten goede aan de lokale bevolking. Maar is een alternatief : verder in dit artikel leest U hoe U de Kara gemeenschap met respect kan bezoekenen die hen ten goede komt. De Omovallei herbergt een rijke diversiteit aan volkeren en culturen. Een fragiel gebied dat bedreigd wordt door grote infrastructuurwerken en nieuw aangelegde plantages.
UK based Wild Philanthropy is a travel-driven investment initiative supporting at-risk eco-systems, wildlife and communities. Wild Philantrhopy is working with the Kara community who are facing a crisis in food security as well as the ongoing threat of future expansion of sugar or cotton plantations. A gradual reduction in annual rainfall and a complete failure of seasonal floods of the Omo River have threatened Kara livelihoods, as well as other river communities along the length of the Omo valley.The Kara people as many other Omo river communities are primarily argo-pastoralists that have depended on the annual flood of the Omo River to grow sorghum, their main staple diet. Rain-fed agriculture has been important but less so. The series of Omo Gibe dams developed upstream have effectively ironed out the flow of the river. Controlled release has been suggested by the operators. However, the reality is that it never materialises. Tthe crops that rely on those floods have failed since 2017 and Kara food security is a growing crisis.
This Kara people are in dire need of the opportunity, support and funding to grow their own eco-tourist businesses. In response, Wild Philanthropy is working in partnership with its first impact investment, Wild Expeditions Ethiopia, focusing on supporting the development of a more sustainable way to travel to the Omo. Operating the only mobile tented camp in the Omo Valley, it provides the base for cultural safaris designed in the interest of all key stakeholders, offering guest the opportunity to really connect with local communities. Alongside this, Wild Philanthropy is also supporting the Kara community develop a community farm with a solar irrigation system. In the long-term, the aim is to support the community establish the Kara conservancy.
If you or a friend is considering to travel to Ethiopia, and more specifically to the Omo Valley peoples, please consider to be hosted at the Wild Expeditions ‘Lale’s Camp’, just a few minutes walking from the Kara people. Consider that a vast amount of your travel spending will benefit the Kara and other Omo river communities.
Wild Expeditions is a branch of Journeys by Design.
https://wildphilanthropy.com/core-ecosystems-project/omo-valley-ethiopia/
https://wildphilanthropy.com/core-ecosystems-project/omo-valley-ethiopia/kara-community-farm/
https://www.wildexpeditions.co/
https://journeysbydesign.com/destinations/ethiopia