Agitu Gudeta, the Ethiopian businesswoman who rescued mountain goats in the Dolomites- Corriere.it

Black woman, immigrant, able to carve out a completely new story in the mountains of Trentino, far from her birthplace. The Ethiopian Agitu Idea Gudeta – assassinated yesterday at the age of 42 – was almost an institution in the world of the best gastronomy. She worked as a shepherd in Val di Gresta, passionately pursuing her challenge: “Living in harmony with nature and recovering the beautiful Mochena goat from extinction.” A successful business; He saved 11 hectares of land from abandonment and promoted it as an uncontaminated pasture for his herd and his company, “La capra felice”. Entrepreneur of high quality cheeses.

His knowledge came from afar, geographically and over time.: he had learned from his maternal grandmother, who belonged to a tribe of nomadic shepherds, to raise goats and transform cheese with traditional methods. Originally from Addis Ababa, Agitu had come to study in Italy at the age of 18, taking her ancestral knowledge to the Dolomites, also to escape political troubles at home. His story is, even today after his death, a universal example of redemption. In Italy he graduated in sociology but had returned home to fight for the survival of his tribe, threatened by multinationals that raid the lands of the shepherds. She had denounced abuses and injustices, but was ultimately forced to flee Addis Ababa with her family and settle in Italy. He had, in fact, moved to the Mòcheni valley to raise laying hens and spotted mochena goats, a native breed in danger of extinction.

In his hut among green pastures dme Frassilongo he milked his forty goats and made milk, yogurt and cheese at home. His typical day passed like any other mountain farmer: waking up at dawn, milking, and then grazing. A commitment that has earned him numerous awards in the world of “food” and the role of standard-bearer for organic, ethical and sustainable agriculture in Italy. Among them, the Resistenza Casearia award at Cheese 2015, the event that Slow Food organizes every year.

In Val di Gresta she was considered local, even willing to challenge the bears. to protect their animals: “When I see footprints or signs of their presence,” he said, “I lock myself in the car with firecrackers. Just make a little noise and my “neighbor” will know that it is better to go elsewhere. But someone bothered that black businesswoman up there in the mountains. Two years ago, she publicly recounted the aggression of which she had been a victim: “I was alone – she explained to a Slow Food journalist – the boy who helps me was on the grass, I was washing the milking machine when I felt grabbed by the back with exhortations to get out of the valley. “On that occasion they insulted her harshly:” Ugly black woman, you have to go, “shouted a neighbor who had bothered her for a long time.” The mischief has been going on for months – said Agitu -. I think the The reason is their intolerance: I started internships for refugees and hired a Malian refugee ”.