Ethiopia
Ethiopia is faced with extremely high poverty rates - almost half of the population live on less than 50 cents a day, and only 28% of rural households have access to clean water. Women in rural communities in Ethiopia are particularly disadvantaged. They suffer from few economic opportunities, low literacy levels and poor access to public services such as healthcare.
In Ethiopia 80% of the population derive their income from small scale agricultural and pastoral production. Drought and a lack of investment in training and equipment for farmers make it difficult to earn a living from agriculture.
Around 10 million people are at risk of starvation, however simple and practical support can transform the lives of poor farmers and herders.
FARM-Africa has been working in Ethiopia since 1988. From our main office in Addis Ababa we co-ordinate and plan the work carried out by our teams in the field. |
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Afar Prosopis Management ProjectThis project is helping pastoralists in Afar to find the best ways to clear their land of prosopis, and use the plant to generate income. |
Integrated Pastoralist Project, South OmoThis project is helping pastoralist communities in Hamer, Dassenach and Nyangaton to lift themselves out of poverty and build more secure, comfortable lives. |
Rural Women's Empowerment ProjectThis project is helping women, through education, training and financial support, to take hold of their lives and build a more prosperous, secure future. |
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Semu Robi Community Development ProjectFARM-Africa is working directly with communities in this inhospitable area - helping them to identify their key development needs and implement solutions. |
Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods and Forest Management ProjectThis project helps forest communities reduce their reliance on timber based products, and work in partnership with the government to protect the forest. |
Bale Eco-region Sustainable Management ProjectFARM-Africa is helping communities to turn traditional activities into income-generating enterprises, and to take responsibility for conserving their forest habitat now and for the future. |
We are a lead development organisation in Ethiopia for our work in three key areas:
Participatory forest management:
We support forest communities in Ethiopia to turn traditional activities such as furniture-making and honey production into viable ways to earn a living. This reduces their reliance on felling trees to sell timber products such as firewood and charcoal to survive. In addition, communities and local governments are working together to develop formal management plans to protect the forest for future generations.
Pastoralist development:
Through our mobile outreach camps we help remote pastoralist communities to both maintain their traditional way of life and find additional, more reliable, ways to earn money. By diversifying the ways in which they make a living, these communities can reduce their own vulnerability to frequent droughts.
Female empowerment:
Women are especially marginalised in Ethiopian society and generally have fewer assets than men as well as little access to credit.
Our experience shows that with the right training and financial opportunities women's economic status can rise by two wealth categories from ‘poorest of poor' to ‘medium'. In reality this means that around three times more women will regularly have three meals a day, and female enrolment in education rises from 50% to 94% amongst participant households.
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During the next three years we will:
- Scale up community forest management into two new regions in Ethiopia
- Scale up our rural women's empowerment work to reach more people
- Explore the potential for expanding the Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund into Ethiopia from eastern Africa, allowing more farmers to access new technologies
- Strengthen pastoral development in Afar and South Omo
