Family Farms Its Way Out of Food Aid

By Debbie DeVoe

Three years ago, Hasan Adere and Zeyineba Amed were barely supporting their five children. They struggled to put enough food on the table. Some nights, all went to bed hungry.

Today, Hasan and Zeyineba have no problem feeding their family well — not to mention buying clothes, paying school fees and affording everyday household items. Previously owning almost nothing at all, the family now has four cows, two oxen, three donkeys, three goats, 10 chickens, fields of vegetables, fruit trees, a coffee farm and a small corner store that sells essentials to other community members. In fact, they and 130 families in the surrounding area are doing so well that they voluntarily requested to no longer receive government assistance.

Turning Pennies Into Riches

Hasan and Zeyineba are two of the millions that have participated in the Ethiopian government's Productive Safety Net program. Launched in January 2005, this program provides monthly cash or food rations to families most in need, in hopes of helping poor Ethiopians to protect their assets. In return, the program requires able-bodied recipients to help build community assets through public works activities such as rural road construction and hillside terracing.

Catholic Relief Services with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, is assisting the Ethiopian government in distributing food rations to more than 200,000 program participants in six districts. With the help of two Church partners — Hararghe Catholic Secretariat and Wonji Catholic Church — CRS also provides support services to more than 87,000 of these people. This added support helps families to build their household assets by increasing their crop production, livestock holdings and savings — enabling participants to graduate from the program more quickly.

"Earlier, what we produced wasn't sufficient, so we had to go out and seek daily labor," Hasan explains, noting that this time away from their fields further reduced crop yields. Once enrolled in the program, though, Hasan's family was able to eat the food provided and set aside crops from the farm to sell.

Standing on One's Own

When Hasan and Zeyineba realized the power a little extra money gave them, their entrepreneurial spirit went into overdrive. Hasan sold some of his harvest to buy crops, including coffee, that he knew he could grow and sell for a profit. Their crops now earn the family $300 or so each year. Meanwhile, Zeyineba took advantage of a small World Bank loan of around $90 to buy their first cow. She then used the profits she earned from selling the cow's first calf to open a small store, which brings in an additional $155 in annual income. She adds to this sum by selling milk from her original cow and now a second calf as well.

The couple also took advantage of improved seeds provided by CRS to grow higher-quality grains and vegetables for increased yields and profits. Agricultural training from the project enhances the farm's productivity, as does Hasan's ability to work the farm full-time. "Thank you God, for I have everything now," Hasan says. "I have wheat, sorghum, maize and beans. And I have also grown fruits and vegetables and … grow coffee. So I have a surplus."

"The nutrition of our children has improved, we've provided them with clothes, and they're in school," he adds. "Everything we have is sufficient now. We have no problem providing food for them."

This surplus made Hasan and Zeyineba realize that they no longer need help from the government. They talked with other families in the community and decided to "self-graduate" so other families, in greater need, could take advantage of program benefits.

"We were considered the lowest in income in this community before," Hasan explains.

"We worked with the program. We benefited and changed our assets. Now there are people poorer than us," Zeyineba adds. "We want to give them a chance to benefit."

Debbie DeVoe is CRS' regional information officer in East Africa. She is based in Nairobi and recently met graduates of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net program in Geja village.