Non-native tree devastates Ethiopia’s ecosystems and threatens livelihoods

Once lauded as a remedy for Ethiopia’s advancing desertification, a non-native tree has transformed into an uncontrolled menace across the East African country, endangering delicate ecosystems and threatening the existence of local communities.

The prosopis, a shrubby tree indigenous to Latin America, was initially introduced to Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar region during the 1970s.

For livestock farmer Khadija Humed, it has become a source of misery.

“Because of this plant, we have become poor,” she told the AFP news agency.

Initially, prosopis seemed promising. Resistant to heat and quick-growing, it was intended to prevent soil erosion and provide cooling shade in Afar’s dry lowlands.

Today, however, it dominates the region’s expansive plains with thorny branches that reach heights