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Agitu Ideo Gudeta, who was killed on Wednesday, used abandoned land to start a goat-farming project that employs migrants and refugees in Italy. He started with just 15 goats, increasing the herd to 180 in just a few years. It produced organic milk and cheese using organic methods. Agitu was attacked and killed, allegedly by a former employee, on her farm in Trentino. (Photo: Reuters)
The Guardian
Tributes paid to Ethiopian refugee farmer who championed integration in Italy
Tribute was paid to a 42-year-old Ethiopian refugee and farmer who became a symbol of integration in Italy, her adopted home.
Agitu Ideo Gudeta was attacked and killed, allegedly by a former employee, on her farm in Trentino on Wednesday.
Gudeta had left Addis Ababa in 2010 after enraging the authorities by taking part in protests against “land grabbing”. Once in Italy, he doggedly followed her and realized her ambition to move to the mountains and start her own farm. Taking advantage of permits that grant farmers access to abandoned public lands in unpopulated areas, he reclaimed 11 hectares (27 acres) around an old barn in the Mòcheni valley, where he founded his company La Capra Felice (La Cabra Feliz).
Gudeta started with a herd of 15 goats, which quickly increased to 180 in a few years, producing organic milk and cheese using environmentally friendly methods and hiring migrants and refugees.
“I created my space and made myself known, there was no resistance for me,” he told Reuters news agency that year.
“Agitu brought to Italy the dream that he could not realize in Ethiopia, partly due to land grabbing,” Gabriella Ghermandi, a singer, performer, novelist and friend of Gudeta, told The Guardian. “His farm was successful because he applied what he had learned from his grandparents in the field.
“In Italy, many people have described their company as a model of integration. But Agitu’s dream was to create an environmentally sustainable farm that was more than just a business; for her it also symbolized the struggle against class divisions and the conviction that it was possible to live in harmony with nature. And above all, he carried out his work with love. She had given each of her goats a name ”.
In a climate of increasing hostility towards migrants, led by far-right political leaders, numerous media outlets reported their success story as an example of how integration can benefit communities.
“The most rewarding satisfaction is when people tell me how much they love my cheeses because they are good and they taste different,” she said in an interview with Internazionale in 2017. “It makes up for all the hard work and prejudices that I have had to overcome as a woman and an immigrant ”.
Two years ago he received death threats and was the target of racist attacks, which he reported to the police, recounting them in his posts on social networks.
But police said a man who confessed to the rape and murder of the farmer was a former employee who they said allegedly acted for “economic reasons.”
The UN refugee agency said it was “pained” by Gudeta’s death, and that her entrepreneurial spirit “demonstrated how refugees can contribute to the societies that host them.”
“Despite her tragic end, UNHCR hopes that Agitu Ideo Gudeta will be remembered and celebrated as a model of success and integration and inspire refugees struggling to rebuild their lives,” the agency said.
“We spoke on the phone last week,” Ghermandi said. “We spent two hours talking about Ethiopia. We had plans to meet in the spring. Agitu considered Italy his home. He used to say that he had suffered too much in Ethiopia. Now Agitu is gone, but her job must not die. We will soon start a fundraising campaign to follow his business expansion plan and make his dream come true. “
Gudeta would have turned 43 on New Year’s Day.
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The tragedy of Agitu Gudeta: an Ethiopian immigrant killed on her farm in Italy
Agitu Ideo Gudeta, 42, an Ethiopian immigrant who became a symbol of integration in Italy, her adopted home, was killed on her farm where she raised goats for her cheese business, police said Wednesday. Agitu had made her home in the mountains of Trentino’s Valle dei Mocheni, making goat cheese and beauty products on her farm (La Cabra Feliz), which was built on previously abandoned land. (Reuters)
Reuters
Ethiopian migrant who became a symbol of integration in Italy killed on her goat farm
ROME (Reuters) – An Ethiopian migrant who became a symbol of integration in Italy, her adopted home, was killed on her farm where she raised goats for her cheese business, police said Wednesday.
A Ghanaian employee at her farm in the Trentino region of northern Italy admitted to killing 42-year-old Agitu Ideo Gudeta with a hammer and raping her, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. The report could not be immediately confirmed.
Gudeta had made her home in the mountains of Trentino’s Valle dei Mocheni, making goat cheese and beauty products on her La Capra Felice (Happy Goat) farm, which was built on previously abandoned land.
Her story was reported by numerous international media, including Reuters, as an example of a migrant success story in Italy at a time of growing hostility towards immigrants, driven by the right-wing Liga party.
Gudeta escaped from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, in 2010 after his involvement in protests against “land grabbing” angered local authorities. The activists accused the authorities of setting aside large tracts of agricultural land for foreign investors.
Upon arriving in Italy, he was able to use communal lands in the northern mountains to build his new business, taking advantage of permits that give farmers access to public lands to prevent local territory from being reclaimed by the wild.
Starting with 15 goats, he was 180 in 2018 when he became a well-known figure.
“I created my space and made myself known, there was no resistance for me,” he told Reuters in an article that year.
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