Abeba
Your donations helped Abeba's community to build an irrigation system. Now, her family can grow food, even when the rains fail.
14 year old Abeba is from a remote valley called Biera in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. In the local language, Tigrinya, her name means ‘flower’. Abeba lives with her mum, dad and six brothers and sisters in a small rural community, far from the hustle and bustle of the busy Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba (which means ‘new flower’).
Her family rely almost entirely on the land to produce their food. But Tigray is not an easy place to be a farmer due to the harsh, rocky landscape and the hot, dry weather.
Over the last few years, the rainy seasons have been very poor and there has not been enough water to grow crops. To make matters worse, a global food crisis has forced up food prices meaning that many families who are unable to grow enough to eat can’t afford to buy food either.
SCIAF worked with Abeba’s community to construct rain water reservoirs which help to protect them against drought. Her dad, Gebrenugusso, helped to build a water tank in the village - so that when the rains do come, the water can be stored - and concrete irrigation canals which carry water from the tank the fields of crops.
Abeba’s family were also given agricultural training to help them get the most from their land. Now they grow a greater variety of fruit and vegetables which they eat and sell. SCIAF taught them how to get the best price for their produce at the local market and with the extra money coming in, they can afford to buy food, clothes and household essentials.
Abeba said: “Before there was no water around this place. But since our involvement with this project we have enough water. People can grow crops and life is better than before. We grow different vegetables and when we harvest them, we feed ourselves and we take them to market and get some money. With the money, we buy different things like food, shoes and school stuff like pens, pencils and exercise books.”
What are you giving up?