'Life-changing': Ethiopian farmers revamp age-old growing practices
Outside his home in Ethiopia¡¯s western Gambella Region, 56-year old Belete Abate feeds ears of maize into a red threshing machine, watching it separate and spit out pearly grains from the husks.
¡°It would take us a week to thresh if we did it manually,¡± says Abate, indicating the piles of still-intact ears behind him. ¡°This machine does it in the hour.¡±
That¡¯s not the only sea-change the farmer has seen since joining a ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ (WFP)-supported programme in 2022, aimed to boost and diversify harvests and build resilience. Launched in collaboration with Gambella¡¯s regional government, the initiative targeting 10,000 area farmers is part of Ethiopia¡¯s broader drive to fight hunger and build strong food systems - which underpin the production, processing, transport and consumption of food.
As Ethiopia holds a major , examples of smallholder farmers like Abate - who are moving from subsistence harvests to growing the food sold in markets and served up in schools - illustrate the country¡¯s strides in transforming its food system, with support from organizations like WFP.
¡°Food systems transformation really needs government ownership - and that is what¡¯s happening in Ethiopia in a strong way,¡± says ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳Ethiopia resilience officer Sinshaw Alemu. Of WFP, he adds, ¡°we are really aligning our programmes on federal, regional and local levels - making sure they reflect big national priorities.¡±
Central to those priorities are Ethiopia¡¯s 12-13 million smallholder farmers who produce most of the country¡¯s harvests, often on tiny half-hectare plots. They face a raft of challenges, including conflict, extreme weather, land degradation and poor infrastructure, Alemu says, along with limited access to markets financing and technology.
But in Gambella and elsewhere, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳is working with Ethiopian authorities, humanitarian partners and rural communities to turn that trajectory around: focusing not only on boosting and diversifying production in sustainable ways, but also on more nutritious diets, drought-tolerant crops, better farming techniques and new financing and markets - including through our school meal programmes.
¡°Before we joined this programme, life was a constant struggle,¡± says farmer Abate. ¡°We planted but were not able to harvest. We farmed but didn¡¯t see many results. We didn¡¯t have the knowledge of how to manage our farm.¡±
Better harvests, better meals
In Abobo woreda (or administrative division) where Abate lives, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳introduced mechanized tilling and drought-resistant seeds, and gave the area¡¯s mostly maize and sorghum farmers training on better crop storage, along with equipment like threshing mats. The farmers founded a village savings and loan association, pooling resources to buy the corn threshing machine - which they now rent out to other farmers.
¡°ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳was with us day in and day out, from the moment we planted, to when we harvested and stored our produce,¡± Abate says, calling the support ¡°life changing.¡±
ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳also helped Abate¡¯s farming group reach new markets, allowing them to negotiate higher prices for their harvests. ¡°I have never earned so much money in my life,¡± says Abate, a father of six, of the nearly US$1,600 dollars from his maize sales.
In Ethiopia¡¯s northern Amhara region, farmer Ali Yimer is also seeing the dividends of WFP¡¯s support to area farmers, including solar-powered irrigation pumps, along with vegetable seeds and fertilizers. The supplies are part of a broader resilience project that helps tens of thousands of farming households better resist climate shocks, boost production and food security, and restore depleted soils.
¡°My harvests are much better than before,¡± says Yimer, who has tilled the land for more than half a century.
ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳is also supplying a market for Ethiopian farmers through our locally sourced school meals, which reach hundreds of thousands of students in places like Ethiopia¡¯s Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples' Region. They help to achieve the regional government¡¯s aim of increasing school enrolment, and fighting hunger and malnutrition.
¡°We had tomatoes, rice, meat and carrots today,¡± says 6-year-old Haimanot, of the food ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳procures from local farmers. ¡°I love lunchtime when there is meat. I eat everything and leave nothing on my plate.¡±
For Haimanot¡¯s mother, Marha Gonzar, such nutritious meals are a rarity in her household. Her pastoralist family has seen its livelihood dry up, along with the rains. ¡°I remember a time when we had plenty to eat and share with our neighbours," Gonzar says. "It all seems like a dream now.¡±
Of her daughter, she adds, ¡°if she continues her education and grows with these school meals, she will grow up healthy. And that makes me happy.¡±
In Gambella, farmer Abate is also looking ahead, planning bigger and bolder investments in his farm.
¡°As a farmer, knowing all these new techniques, and having access to machinery, this is priceless,¡± he says. ¡°Everyone in the community is happy.¡±
WFP's work with smallholder farmers is supported by Denmark, Germany, the Joint SDG Fund, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, private donors, the Republic of Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and UN CERF.