Ethiopia

our work

in ethiopia

Ethiopia overview

Despite much progress, Ethiopia remains one of Africa’s poorest nations with a third of the population living below the poverty line.

Increasing farm production, supporting new enterprise and developing market opportunities for farmers is at the core of Self Help Africa’s work in Ethiopia.

Current projects in the country also focus on strengthening community-based seed production, improving the resilience of local agricultural communities to changing climate, and on improving productivity and livestock value chains.

Last year, the organisation was involved in implementing close to a dozen development projects, all of which are being undertaken in collaboration with local and/or international partners.

Full Name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Population: 107.5 million (World Bank, 2018)
Population Growth (Yearly): 2.46%
Capital: Addis Ababa
Area: 1,104,300 SQ KM (426,371 SQ Miles)
Major Languages: Amharic (Official)
Major Religions: Christianity, Islam, Traditional Beliefs

Ethiopia projects

Seed is a key input for improving crop production and productivity. Improving the quality of seeds used by smallholder farmers can significantly increase the yield potential of their crops and thus represents one of the most economical and efficient inputs for agricultural development.

Self Help Africa is working with seed unions across the Amhara and SNNPR regional states to build large capacity seed stores and provide other essential infrastructure and equipment. Self Help Africa provides technical support and mobilizes additional local resources from community and local government.

8,787 households

Ethiopia has one of the lowest levels of financial inclusion in the world, with only 22% of adults holding an account with a financial institution and just 14% able to access credit. The project aims to contribute to increased income, improved food security and reduced vulnerability in rural areas. This is being delivered by improving the governance and operational capacity of unions and RuSACCOs; and increasing the outreach of financial services into rural and marginalized areas. Improving access to financial services is a means of assisting smallholder households to diversify their income generation activities

93,783 households

This project focuses on boosting rural livelihoods and nutrition by enhancing production techniques, strengthening value chains and improving the genetics of dairy cows. The aim is to improve the income and nutrition status of smallholder farmer households from dairy production, by improving the skills, knowledge, and experience in dairy producers, local communities, and local governments. Sustainable gains for dairy producers will ensure an on-going legacy of impact with specific activities becoming self-supporting.

600 households

Self Help Africa is working with Bore Bako and Ambo Farmers’ Cooperative Unions and their member cooperatives to enable smallholder farmers to become better integrated into the maize value chain.

Building on its Smallholder Support Scheme project (2015- 2018), the purpose of the project is to increase maize marketing and dietary diversity among members of the two unions and their member cooperatives. These activities will help smallholders increase the volume, quality, and thereby value of maize aggregated and sold.

13,000 households

Ethiopia’s agricultural extension system is heavily dependent on Farmer Training Centres (FTCs) and trained Development Agents (DAs) to provide extension support to farmers. This project aims to enhance the transfer, adoption and dissemination of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technology and practices to target farming communities.
The project will also train Lead Farmers, further enhancing the support available to smallholders by developing a community-based extension system that complements the activities of DAs and FTCs.

968 direct, 6,600 indirect

The Lake Ziway catchment is located in the Central Rift Valley which is one of the most environmentally vulnerable areas of Ethiopia. The lake itself has been degraded as a result of both natural processes and human activities over the past three decades. Agricultural productivity has decreased and worsened food insecurity and poverty for the people living around that area. If current trends continue, there is a threat that Lake Ziway will dry up completely.
This project aims to rehabilitate highly degraded areas into productive units of land, creating alternative livelihood for the local communities and relieving pressure on land and water resources. The project also aims to build good relations among companies, communities, government and Civil Society Organisations operating in this critical landscapes.

600 households
150,000 ha degraded land rehabilitated

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has been implementing a social protection program, called the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) since 2005. The PSNP is a large-scale social protection intervention aimed at improving food security and stabilising asset levels, supporting close to 8 million chronically food insecure people in designated PSNP woredas. The process of reducing vulnerability so that people can move off the PSNP programme provision into more productive and resilient livelihoods is popularly termed ‘graduation’. In other words, once the PSNP beneficiaries gain sufficient assets, they are expected to graduate from the programme.
The goal of this three-year project is to graduate 300 chronically food insecure households from the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) food support in Asagirt woreda and strengthen their resilience to cope with income and food related shocks by building on these five core elements: consumption support, savings, asset transfer, technical skills training, and regular life skills coaching.

A Glimmer of Hope’s five-year Integrated Community Development Program in Oda Bultum woreda (ICDP) aiming to improve the sustainable livelihoods and to increase theresilience of 95,721 people in Oda Bultum, Oromia, Ethiopia.
The project has been designed as part GoH’s Oda Bultum Integrated Community Development Program (Oda Bultum ICDP) and aims to alleviate deep rooted poverty through a holistic development approach (across multiple sectors) to address the specific development needs of rural communities in Oda Bultum. The sectors included in the program are Education, Water, Health and Livelihoods. 95,721 beneficiaries

95,721 beneficiaries

SHA will work with 30,000 primary beneficiaries and 100,000 secondary beneficiaries over 4 years in SNNPR Ethiopia, to tackle chronic food insecurity and poverty through improved agricultural production, greater consumption of nutrient-rich diversified diets and better marketand financial access. Communities will increase food, nutrition and income security.
Exclusion of marginalised communities including people living with disabilities and the marginalised Menja minority group will be addressed.

30,000 primary beneficiaries
100,000 secondary beneficiaries

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3rd November 2023
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17th June 2022

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25th May 2021
Projects Worked with Over 378,000 families
3rd September 2020

Country Profile

Read the Ethiopia Profile

TO CONTACT US ABOUT OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA:

Yeka Subcity, Kebele 08,
House No. 912, P.O. BOx 1204,
Addis Ababa
Tel. +251 116 182556 / 251 116 591803 / 116 620659/0116
Email: [email protected]

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our work

in ethiopia

Ethiopia overview

Ethiopia projects

CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE

SCALING UP RURAL SAVINGS AND CREDIT COOPERATIVES (RUSACCOS)

DAIRY FOR DEVELOPMENT

Feed The Future - Maize Value Chain Development

Climate Change: Capacity Building of Farmer Training Centres

Climate Change: Strengthening & Scaling up of rehabilitation of degraded lands and enhancement of livelihoods in Lake Ziway catchment

MF: Graduation Unleashing the Productive Capacity of Poor People through Graduation Approach in Ethiopia

INTEGRATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Livelihood Enhancement: Working Inclusively for Transformation

Stories from Ethiopia

Responding to the crisis in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

Horn of Africa drought and food crisis – a growing catastrophe

We’ve Reached One Million Trees with Your Support

Projects Worked with Over 378,000 families

Country Profile

TO CONTACT US ABOUT OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA:

Zambia’s Young Climate Change Champions

Responding to the crisis in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

750,000 Fuel-Saving Stoves in Malawi

Double Your Donation With The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023