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Zeremariam Fre

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Eritrean-British environmentalist (b. 1951)
Zeremariam Fre
Fre at a PENHA event with patron Joanna Lumley in December 2016
Born1951 (age 72–73)
Keren, Eritrea
EducationRoyal Agricultural University, University of Reading
Known forFounder of the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa
SpouseBiri Tesfaldet
Children2
Academic background
ThesisPastoral development in Eritrea and Eastern Sudan: Implications for Livestock Extension Programmes (1989)
Academic work
DisciplineAgriculturalist
InstitutionsUniversity College London (2002-present)
Main interestsPastoralism

Zeremariam Fre (born 1951 in Keren, western Eritrea) is an agriculturalist, specialising in the drylands, and is of dual Eritrean-British nationality. He is the founder and former director of the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA), where he now serves on the Board of Trustees as Treasurer.

Background

Fre is the son of Fre Worie and Letezion Beyed. He was born to a farming family in the suburbs of Keren city in western Eritrea and is married to Biri Tesfaldet, with whom he has two children and two grandchildren. His primary and secondary school education was carried out in Catholic mission/seminary schools in Keren and Asmara in Eritrea.

Education and career

Fre holds a Diploma in Agriculture from the Royal Agricultural University in the UK, and an MSc and PhD in agricultural extension and rural development from the University of Reading, Faculty of Agriculture, UK. His field-based MSc and PhD work (1983 to 1989) was focused on Pastoral development in Eritrea and Eastern Sudan: Implications for Livestock Extension Programmes. Having finished his PhD, he founded the non-governmental organisation the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA) in 1989 - which he led for 27 years from 1990 to 2017, and of which Joanna Lumley is patron. PENHA promotes sustainable development among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities through gender equality, resilience building, enterprise, innovation and regional cooperation across the Horn of Africa.

Fre's career has focused on policy research and advocacy on pastoralism, land use and natural resource management, indigenous knowledge systems, pastoral women's rights, and the promotion of regional peace in the Horn of Africa through cooperation between states. He was a member of the Science and Technology Committee of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) (1992–1995), Research Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Drylands Programme (1991–1996) under the leadership of Camilla Toulmin, and Africa Grants Committee member for Comic Relief UK (1992–1994).

He was appointed teaching fellow and course tutor at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London (UCL) in September 2002, where he currently teaches the MSc modules on land, food and agriculture and urban and peri-urban agriculture: knowledge systems in the global South. In 2020, he was promoted to Associate Professor. He has supervised more than 90 masters' dissertations and co-supervised many PhDs.

Fre speaks several languages including English, Italian, Latin, spoken Arabic, and five Horn of African languages (namely Tigrigna, Bilen, Tigre, Amharic and Ge'ez).

In 2018, Fre was awarded the Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Fellowship Award (FGR) by Global Reconciliation for his work on environmental care. He received the award in Melbourne, Australia in October 2018.

Fre's recent research is on social protection among the agro-pastoralist and pastoralist communities in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. His co-authored book entitled `Social Protection, Pastoralism and Resilience in Ethiopia: Lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa' was published by Routledge in August 2022. His open access monograph Knowledge Sovereignty among African Cattle Herders was published in June 2018, and can be downloaded free.

Fre has worked in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, as well as Japan, Peru and the United Kingdom, with working visits to Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the United States and Zambia.

Publications

References

  1. "The Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa". PENHA. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  2. "PENHA Board of Trustees". PENHA. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  3. "Pastoral development in Eritrea and Eastern Sudan : implications for livestock extension programmes". Secheresse. Archived from the original on 2018-05-05. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  4. "Dr Zeremariam Fre, Associate Professor (Teaching)". UCL. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. "Environmental advocate acclaimed with 2018 Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Award". Global Reconciliation. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. "UCL academic honoured with 2018 Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Award". UCL. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. "Zeremariam Fre: After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are more hills to climb". Global Reconciliation. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  8. "Social protection in the Afar region of Ethiopia". INCLUDE: Knowledge platform on inclusive development policies. INCLUDE. 2016-02-09. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  9. "Social Protection, Pastoralism and Resilience in Ethiopia: Lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa". Routledge. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  10. "Knowledge Sovereignty among African Cattle Herders". UCL Press. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
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