August 28, 2015 Ethiopia

Young, unemployed establish agricultural cooperatives

Girma-Leta and Adama-Etaro are two agricultural cooperatives founded in the Ethiopian region of Kedida Gamela. Each group consists of 25 young people. On donated land, with an area of 1 hectare, group members have built two water reservoirs in the form of ponds, cultivated a vegetable field with Irish potatoes and saved future stock for potatoes. In doing so, they have discovered coveted opportunities for a job and livelihood.

After finishing ten years of school, young people in Kedida Gamela struggle to find a job. In response to this, Caritas Czech Republic has focused its recent efforts on improving this unfortunate situation. Thanks to beneficent projects, young people in Ethopia are now being given the opportunity to become growers of potatoes, tomatoes and beans. This has dramatically improved the lives of the formerly unemployed who can now use correct cultivation practices learned during expert charity training sessions.

Individual members of two working groups wrote their own charters governing the obligations of cooperatives and rules for maintaining ponds in good condition. Both ponds are now used for the irrigation of cultivated fields and cattle watering. In order for the cooperatives to hold on to their own obligations, the cooperatives have also started to collect 20 Ethiopian Birr (about 23 CZK) for each piece of cattle that enters the area.

Because there was no yield to begin with, working in cooperatives meant big uncertainty for the members involved. Both Ethiopian cooperatives did not have enough seedlings of Irish potatoes and the cattle would destroy the farmland. In order to fence off the area, many members needed to borrow working tools and bulls for field plowing.

Today, both young agricultural cooperatives successfully manage to feed themselves and their families. They also manage to save a little something for themselves every month. Each and every participant welcomes the mutual cooperation of men and women, team spirit and the opportunity to work near their homes.