PROJECT-SUPPORT ETHIOPIA

Foundation Green Ethiopia, Winterthur, Switzerland

Country: Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a landlocked country in north-east Africa. The country in the Horn of Africa borders Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and Djibouti. With over 80 ethnic groups and numerous languages, Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state and at the same time the most populous landlocked country in the world. A major obstacle to development is the very rapid population growth in a traditionally rural environment that often lacks basic infrastructure. The capital Addis Ababa is one of the largest metropoles in Africa. Ethiopia is considered one of the countries of origin of modern humanity and the country of origin of coffee. It looks back on around 3000 years of uninterrupted history. This long period of cultural and civilisational development, almost undisturbed from the outside, also makes the country a sought-after tourist destination.

General

Afforestation improves water balance, soil quality, biodiversity, and the microclimate. This allows water harvesting and vegetable cultivation, which sustainably improves the nutritional and living situation of people in rural Ethiopia. The Foundation Green Ethiopia works with local farmers, women, and youth groups to reforest indigenous mixed forests and provide assistance for self-development.

All projects and activities of the Foundation Green Ethiopia aim to directly and indirectly improve the lives of farmers and their families, and to enable them to have a fulfilling future in their ancestral homeland. Reforestation projects are the first step and the focus of all project activities. They are part of the cycle of: Trees - Forests - Water - Food - Life.

Various projects

Reforestation & climate: Native mixed forests provide a sustainable and precious contribution to people, environment, and climate improvement. Therefore, the reforestation projects are the first step towards the improvement of the living situation of farmers and their families in rural Ethiopia.

Water & nutrition: Forests store and filter water, regulate the hydrologic balance, so that the ground-water level and the amount of water in streams and rivers increases. Groups of farmers, women and youth in the reforestation areas are using this water to grow vegetables and fruit trees, which directly contributes to the improvement of their nutrition.

Subsistence farmers: Farmers who are working voluntarily in the reforestation projects are supported in return with equipment, vegetable seeds and fruit trees seedlings – which improve their food and life situation.

Donkey projects: Carrying heavy loads over sometimes long distances can be very trying for women and especially for girls. This work harms their health and prevents girls from attending school, sometimes partly, sometimes entirely.

School projects: Through the school projects, young people learn about the benefits of trees, forests, and fruits for humans, animals and the climate. They are educated in theory as well as with practical experience. This includes, besides lessons in the classroom, practical work in the orchards owned by the school.

Project-support: Donkey project

In Ethiopia, many transports of water, wood, grain, and everything else that needs to be transported are still largely carried on the backs of women and their daughters. Heavy loads over long distances are often detrimental to women's health and cause them to age prematurely. This laborious and time-consuming work is often passed on by mothers to their daughters. This work makes it impossible for the girls to attend school and receive an education for their future.

To make transport easier for the women, they are given a donkey. Most of them are so-called "women housholds", i.e. women who are solely responsible for the household. Before they are given a donkey however, they are instructed on how to handle and keep the donkeys, and they must be able to sufficiently feed the animal. As a rule, women are given female donkeys so that there will be donkey offspring. They can use these themselves as further support or sell them. It is a beneficial humanitarian project to improve the lives of women and girls.