In Gelana and Abaya, the farms are only 0.25 to a maximum of one hectare in size - not enough to feed the growing population if the farming methods are not adapted. An average family therefore did not have enough food for half the year at the beginning of our intervention.

In rural Ethiopia, selling livestock is the most important way of obtaining cash to pay for clothing, school supplies and food. However, climate change is causing temperatures to rise, resulting in food shortages and livestock diseases. The aim was therefore to promote livestock farming through training and the provision of healthy animals.

Children in particular often suffer from diseases caused by contaminated water. This is a heavy economic burden: labour is limited and families have to spend their few resources on medicines. The construction of spring taps was therefore an important activity in the project. 

There was a lack of self-help structures such as savings groups and cooperatives, which meant that when people urgently needed money, they had to sell their agricultural produce at inopportune times to middlemen who hoarded it and resold it after a while at a huge profit. In times of acute need, the farmers had to turn to private moneylenders - where interest rates of 100 per cent are the order of the day: indebted in this way, development remains an unattainable dream for them. For this reason, young people in particular fled to the cities in the hope of a better life, where they ended up in shanty towns.

Together with our partner EWNRA, we wanted to fulfil the basic needs of around 150,000 people in a variety of ways and improve their income so that they can live in dignity in their home country. In total, there were five basic components to the integrated development project:

1. Promotion of agricultural productivity:

One of the main reasons for the rural exodus is the shortage of food. People need food security all year round. The aim was to achieve greater productivity on the small fields. The EWNRA experts taught the farmers modern and adapted farming methods and how they can diversify their production, for example with different types of vegetables. The seeds were provided as a kind of loan within the framework of cooperatives. After the harvest, the farmers paid the cost of the inputs back to the cooperative.

2. Creating income opportunities for families:

Also as part of a loan, farmers received young cattle, sheep and goats from productive livestock breeds that put on weight quickly. After fattening, they can sell the animals for a considerable profit. In this way, we create assets that secure family livelihoods.

3. Access to water and hygiene education:

To push back waterborne diseases, people needed hygiene education and, above all, safe drinking water. 26,600 people benefited from the construction of water points and the rehabilitation of old facilities.

4. Restoration of natural resources:

In order for the land to remain sustainable, natural resources must be strengthened on the one hand and population growth must be slowed down on the other. Men and women were taught family planning, and in numerous training sessions, the development experts from our partner organisation instructed the farmers on how to protect their soil from erosion and leaching. The distribution of wood-saving cookers was promoted in order to protect the forest and reduce the immense amount of firewood cut for cooking fires.

5. Bringing cooperatives together:

What the social reformer Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen recognised in Central Europe back in the 19th century also applies to farmers in Ethiopia: If they join together, they can get agricultural inputs, market access and loans more easily. This is why we support them in joining together in cooperatives - and thus bypassing the middlemen and becoming independent of the usurious interest rates charged by private money lenders.