Project researcher and head of the Ethiopian work package, Linda Annala Tesfaye, was interview by journalist Augustine Passilly for LaCroix. The topic at hand is the Green Legacy Initiative, which was launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This initiative set an ambitious goal to plant 50 billion trees by the end of 2026. According to the Prime Minister, 48 billion seedlings have already been planted to date. However, there is skepticism whether the promises of planting and the actions taken to put seedlings in the ground actually result in robust ecological restoration. It seems that there is a lot of effort on the communication about tree planting, and less followup or reporting on tangible results. In addition, there have been questions over how the initiative is financed. Linda contributed to the article by saying, “According to the official narrative, the Green Legacy Initiative is funded solely by national resources. In reality, international NGOs also contribute.” In addition, she urged a rethink of the government’s XXL planting strategy.
More about Linda - Linda Annala Tesfaye is a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Hanken School of Economics. Her research focuses on water governance and the politics of technological interventions around water. In her research in Ethiopia and India, she has looked into the unequal power relations between state, private sector and community actors in accessing water in rural and urban settings. She has also worked on South-North eduscapes and critical pedagogies in higher education as well as corporate social responsibility in the Ethiopian textile and garment sector. She currently lives in Ethiopia and pursues decolonial research practices through her current work on ecological restoration.