An innovative collaboration between Self Help Africa and one of the world’s leading agricultural research organisations is having a real impact on the lives and the incomes of thousands of small-scale farming households in Ethiopia.
In a multi-year strategic partnership that has aimed to both optimise and reduce the use by Ethiopian farmers of costly fertilizers, Self Help Africa and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have succeeded in bringing down farming costs while also increased crop yields.
More than 7,000 farmers working with Self Help Africa are currently benefiting from the initiative, which has developed methods that allow producers to tailor their fertiliser use to specific crops, soil types and climatic conditions – and move beyond an out-dated one-size fits all approach to fertiliser use. The collaboration between the organisations has covered crops including wheat, sorghum, maize and teff, which is the traditional Ethiopian staple grain.
- Video Copyright ICRISAT
The research findings have been disseminated to small-holder farming communities in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, and through field workshops and the use of the Telegram phone app.
The initiative has brought significant savings to farmers at a time of volatile fertiliser prices, which in Ethiopia have increased three-fold as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Smallholder farmer Lydia Bakala says that she has reduced her fertiliser use by 67% without compromising her harvests.
To read the full story on this initiative visit ICRISAT website here: ethiopian-farmers-cut-costs