Hi,

It was my understanding that Rastas in Shashemene do have a pretty tough life. It is not supported well by the current Ethiopian government, and that crime is a big problem. As elsewhere, Rastas are targetted by other locals for oppression... sad but true... I think other Ethiopians are more likely to rob and commit other offenses against Rastas in Shashemene because they see them as outsiders.

Here are some articles I found on the web:

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1430/a07.html?347

http://www.mumia.org/afrikan.id/html/sections.php?op=printpage&artid=116

http://www.nurses-of-israel.org/history.htm

http://www2.khpra.com/khpra/kns/pbg121400f.htm

There seems much mis-information and contradiction here... Articles from around year 2000 are estimating Rasta numbers as low as 40 and as high as 1000... what to believe?

I have studied a system called Permaculture (Permanent Agriculture) developed by fellow Australian Bill Mollison. It is a vast body of work covering all types of organic, sustainable agriculture and self-sufficiency methods for many climates, from cold climates to deserts.
I really believe this knowledge would be invaluable to all Rastas and anyone else attempting to live a gardening/farming lifestyle away from Babylon. It would be great to get this information to people in Shashemene, but also to anyone else interested. Even Jamaican hills farmers could, I think, benefit from Bill's work.
Try searching for "permaculture" on the net. However, the best information on this is still a book called "Permaculture: A Designer's Manual" which is over 500 pages of high density information - including many pictures, diagrams, photos, tables, etc.

If anyone would like more information on this, please email me directly. I will discuss what I know and how this information could be made available, although I have few resources of my own beyond time at the moment.

Respect.