The Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications of the Gibe Iii Dam System in Ethiopia's Omo Valley

The Ethiopian government has staked its political future on achieving highly ambitious economic growth targets and shifting the country to an urbanizing industrial economy. According to Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan, the country aims to achieve a middle income status by the year 2025. One of its major projects, Gibe III, will be the highest dam in Africa. Together with already built Gibe I Dam and Gibe II power station and the yet to be built Gibe IV and V, it is expected to transform the Omo Valley into an agro-industrial powerhouse. However, hydrological changes from the Gibe III Dam and the other irrigation projects now under construction in the Omo River Basin in Ethiopia could impact on the local communities living in the Omo Valley and the Lake Turkana area. This study aims to examine Ethiopia's ambitions for accelerated economic development through hydroelectric powered dams particularly, the Gibe III Dam and its potential effects on the livelihood of the local community. Lake Turkana gets 90% of its water from the Omo River. Thus, filling the Gibe III dam's reservoir could affect the lake's inflow over a number of years. The added impact of water alterations for large irrigated sugar plantations now being developed in the Lower Omo Valley also has an impact on the productive floodplain used by wild species, fish, domestic stock and agriculture. These projects affect the livelihoods of approximately half a million people with potentials to provoke conflicts in the already unstable region. At the same time Ethiopia's drive to get out of poverty through rapid economic development programs has turned its focus towards utilizing the valuable natural resources the country possesses. Furthermore, the study analyzes the international dynamics of the Gibe III dam by looking into the foreign relations of Ethiopia and Kenya. The research is primarily based on secondary data in the form of journal articles, books, and relevant governmental and international organization documents.