As part of our advocacy efforts in support to our members, we, the Alliance2015 Advocacy Lead and Joint Initiatives Assistant, undertook a visit to our members’ projects in Ethiopia during the week of June 17-21, 2024, following our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Nairobi. Our aim was to increase advocacy capacity at both our Hub level and among Alliance2015 members at country level. Through a two-way exchange, we sought to connect in-country experiences with policy issues and advocacy asks, enhancing existing joint initiatives in Ethiopia and aligning our advocacy work to them, within our global strategic goals. In this article, we are excited to share some details of our project visits, the invaluable insights we gained and the motivations behind documenting our journey.
Our visit, meticulously organized by our dedicated colleagues at People in Need (PIN), centered around projects situated near the vibrant city of Hawassa, where we were warmly welcomed by both our colleagues and the city itself, renowned for its bustling markets and its pleasant location beside Lake Hawassa. Our purpose was clear: to delve into the core of Alliance2015 members’ projects relevant to our strategy, to witness firsthand the impacts of these initiatives on local communities and understand how to best ensure their resonance within our global advocacy efforts.
credits: Alliance2015
In Ethiopia, Alliance2015 members like PIN take a systemic approach to supporting livelihoods in areas vulnerable to climate change impacts.
This approach means analyzing the root causes of poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, using a gender lens to identify the specific challenges women and girls face, and ensuring participatory processes. It also includes integrating agriculture with environmental protection.
The name of the first project we visited was Sustained Diet Quality Improvement by Fortification with Climate- smart, Nutrition- smart Orange Flashed Sweet Potato (2017-2021). This project was jointly implemented by People in Need and International Potato Center (CIP) in the regions of South Ethiopia (previously SNNPR) and in the Sidama Region. This project was funded by the European Commission and co-financed by the Czech Development Agency (CZDA). Its main goal was to contribute to reducing Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) and improved food security among children and women living in the region, with particular focus on children under two years of age, as well as pregnant and lactating women. The project was based on an integrated agriculture-nutrition-marketing approach to producing drought-resistant, high-yielding, orange-fleshed sweet potato that provides a steady availability of the vitamin-rich, highly nutritious staple food. The project had multiple benefits: in addition to its climate-resilient dimension, it enabled not only food diversification and income generation for the households, but also the creation of farmers’ cooperatives and women-led “Healthy Living Clubs”, where women helped each other by mutually learning about healthy nutrition for their children and saving funds together. The lead women farmer we met, Mrs. Emebet Elias, told us with satisfaction that her children grew up healthier and more engaged in school, and thanks to the earnings generated her household was able to purchase two houses. The project had proved so successful that, although it had officially ended almost three years before, its impact continued in the community.
The second project we visited, the Participatory Development of Productive Landscape project (funded by the Czech Development Agency), aimed at strengthening community-based natural resource management, increasing the efficiency of local agricultural practices, strengthening community resilience, reducing landscape degradation and improving productivity in 14 target villages (kebeles) of the Sidama region. We learnt about sustainable agricultural techniques like vermicomposting and conservation agriculture demonstrated by Mrs. Almaz Argeta, a model woman farmer who welcomed us in her farming plot in the Aleta Chuko woreda, at Dibicha kebele. She received training and gained experience in producing vermicompost, a totally organic fertilizer, from household waste and crop residuals. She used it on her own land, which both cut down her costs of purchasing industrial fertilizers and meant she could adopt a climate-friendly approach to farming to produce, among other things, pineapple, vegetables, maize, ensete (‘false banana’) and coffee. In addition, she was able to sell worms and vermicompost to other farmers and thus generate additional income. Almaz is a brave woman farmer who also helped to train more model farmers in this simple, yet more effective participatory management of natural resources which improved farmers’ livelihoods by countering rising fertilizer prices, as well as their climate and environmental resilience.
At the end of our first day, we also visited forest nurseries which had been supported through seedling production for soil management and agroforestry practices at Korke district nursery in Aleta Chuko woreda.
We were impressed at how these farmer-led, well-designed projects achieved multiple results, also in Sustainable Development Goals terms. They showed how the various dimensions of development are interlinked, and how positive synergies among them can improve the quality of life of so many people – including through poverty reduction, a healthier environment and greater recognition of women’s leadership – if adequately scaled up.
The next day we moved to Hawassa Zuriya woreda, to see how the health of communities at risk of infectious diseases and undernutrition – mainly due to the unreliable supply of clean water, lack of adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities and practices – was being improved. We visited the Shamena Health Center and Shamena–Germama Primary School where hygiene, sanitation, and waste management facilities had been established (like water and sanitation facilities including latrines and handwashing stations, the construction of incinerators and the donation of cleaning materials) and training programs were being given on infection and malnutrition prevention to promote behavioural change, and also through school WASH/health clubs. Although Health and Sanitation do not feature among the current Alliance2015 Impact Goals, we were very grateful for that visit and were deeply touched by what we saw. Living conditions in these areas are very difficult, and it was apparent that the programs implemented were designed to help mitigate some of the challenges the communities were facing.
Our field visit to Ethiopia, guided by PIN’s dedicated team, has revealed not only the resilience and ingenuity of local communities but also the immense potential for collaborative action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The projects we witnessed—ranging from climate-smart agriculture to community-based natural resource management—demonstrated tangible impacts on livelihoods, nutrition and environmental sustainability. The lessons we learned there will undoubtedly inform our future advocacy strategies both at EU and country level, ensuring that the voices and aspirations of Ethiopian communities resonate at national and international forums and shape policy agendas. The meetings we held in the following days, with both Alliance2015-Ethiopia colleagues and with the EU Delegation in Addis, reflected our shared concerns for more participatory, territorially embedded, climate-resilient and nutrition-oriented food systems in Ethiopia. Such will be our advocacy asks towards the renewed EU Institutions, as they define their priorities and strategies for the next five years. The EU-Africa relations and the implementation of the EU Global Gateway Strategy in the region, as well as the global governance of national food systems, will be our priorities in this realm.
Looking ahead, we are committed to building on the momentum gained during this visit. Initiatives such as developing an Alliance2015 capacity statement in horticulture and coffee value chains, pooling knowledge on organic fertilizers, as well as the development of an advocacy strategy will be crucial steps forward. As we return with renewed insights and commitment, we carry with us the hope and determination to continue advocating for our impact goals and a world where prosperity and sustainability can be realized everywhere.
Adriana Opromolla, Advocacy Lead
Juan Sanchez Cerdán, Joint Initiatives Assistant
