The Green Lake airs on Al Jazeera English

Grain's current affairs documentary about development and pollution in Ethiopia airs on Al Jazeer's People and Power programme this weekend at the following times:

20.2.09: 01.30GMT, 12.30GMT and 19.30GMT

21.2.09: 03.30GMT, 10.30GMT  23.30GMT

22.2.09: 0730GMT 

When most people think of Ethiopia, images of drought and famine often spring to mind. However what few people know is that the country is currently experiencing almost double-digit economic growth and it has the fastest growing non-oil dependent economy in Africa. Unfortunately however, the economic growth has come at a cost to the environment. Lake Koka which lies 90km south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, is a water source relied upon by thousands of people, yet the water is polluted from industrial and agricultural effluent and the algal blooms that thrive in the contaminated water. Being the only source of water in the parched highland landscape for miles around, the polluted water is having terrible consequences on the lakeside communities who have no choice but to rely on it for drinking, washing and cooking.

This film investigates the plight of the people surrounding Lake Koka however it also looks at the trade offs developing countries like Ethiopia must make when it comes to pushing ahead with fast economic development (that could potentially lift millions out of poverty) vis-a-vis protecting the environment and those who depend on it.