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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.