Download Kalu district of South Wollo Zone in Amhara Region is

Empowered Farmers Thriving
Kalu district of South Wollo Zone in Amhara Region is known to suffer food and water
shortages, and other challenges relating to drought and climate change. In the past, people
used to cope by using materials and consuming food accumulated over a longer time
period. This forced the people to migrate or starve if the drought conditions persisted for
long.
“I got married just before the project started. I had no property and assets and I worried
how we would manage with my wife. We could not even dream about having children”
explainsthe young farmer, 25-year old,Jamal Ali.
Coping with Drought and Climate Change project, supported by Global Environment
Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ethiopia, is being
implemented as pilot project to support the poor communities in coping with drought and
climate change in Kalu district in Amhara region. The project aims to develop and pilot a
range of number of effective coping mechanisms for reducing the vulnerability of farmers.
The activities range from providing high yielding, early maturing and drought resistant
crop seeds and delivering assistance in irrigation from rainwater harvest to conducting
trainings to teach the farmers how to rehabilitate the degraded watershed.
The project has been very successful and it has been able to adopt livelihoods strategies
that are enhancing the resilience of the vulnerable farmers to cope with drought and
climate change. For example, several farmers have been supplied with improved, early
maturing and high yielding cereal and pulse seeds and were also helped to increase their
income by distributing modern bee hives, sheep and goats to through a pass-over system.
Moreover, the project has introduced irrigation to enhance the production of fruit and
vegetables.
The farmers in the project area fully agree with this. “I have been dreaming of a better life
for my entire family. The improved teff seeds are providing me a better income and making
my dream come true” Mohamed Hassen, one of the farmers, says. He adds: “The new seeds,
I received from the project, mature earlier. They also resist drought, provide a higher yield
and have the capacity to resist unexpected high or torrential rainfall. I have been able to
produce more teff and increase my income by two folds. My family has been able to eat two
to three times a day, buy clothes and school materials for the children, invest in crops we
haven’t previously grown and purchase a cow. In addition to this, I have passed on seeds
from my first harvest to my fellow farmers, on the next beneficiary level. They have helped
me and learnt the skills I developed when managing the new improved teff seeds.”The
farmers trained in how to cope with drought by using these cereals have been witnessing a
22% increase in sorghum and 100% increase in teff production.
The project has also helped to enhance the use of early warning information. Rainfall data
is nowadays collected by farmers. They are trained to check the household gauges, read
and analyze the data, and forecast the agricultural information. Close to 9300 farmers in
the project area are now able to understand forecasts and make decisions on the
agricultural practices .In addition to this, more than 25district experts, development
agents and supervisors are able to use early warning information systems to serve the
entire population of the district. Hence, the learnings fromtheprojectarealsohelping the
district officials working on similaractivitiesin the parts of the district that are not covered
by the project.
The chief administrator of the district, Mr. Mohamed, furthernotes: “The project is being
managed by the various sectoral offices in the district. We have learnt to design a project,
monitor its activities and cope with the potential challenges. These actions have reminded
both the district sectors and the farmers that it is important to look for new and innovative
solutions to solve challenges. Now, the farmers are experimenting new techniques, and I
hope they will not give up looking for new solutions. What type of support could provide
more than this?”
The sectoral offices in the districthave all included the project activities into their sectors’
yearly plans and are showing a strong commitment in implementing and administering the
project activities. This has further helped to ensure the continuation and up-scaling of the
activities beyond the project’s lifespan.
Highlights
 The Coping with Drought and Climate Change project is in its third and last year
currently.
 It initially targeted just over 41,000 farmers and their families in the project
communities. However, the beneficiary number has risen to 100,000 with
neighboring communities eager to learn from it.
 A site visit organized by UNDP for 29 international and national NGOs has also
helped replicate the best practices nation-wide.
 The director of International Development, ICF.USA has shared the experience of
the project to replicate in all community level adaptation projects which will be
supported by USAID in Ethiopia.
 Two international researchers form USA (Center for Climate Change Law
Columbia Law School and the Fletcher School ofLaw &Diplomacy, Tufts
 University) conducted their research for sucesseful community level adaptation.