ETHIOPIA: Urban farming boosts families affected by HIV
Photo: Don Lieber/IRIN  |
| Single mother Akaki Kaliti and her son Samuel at their plot in Addis |
ADDIS ABABA, 19 March 2007 (PlusNews) - Twelve-year-old Woinishet Wujura's dedication to her gardening duties would be surprising in someone her age, but the land she is tilling has been a lifeline for her and her family because the farm is run exclusively by and for women and children affected by AIDS.
"I love this garden," she told PlusNews. "I come as much as possible, as soon as school finishes." Woinishet's garden is one of many plots of land in an unusual setting: a sprawling urban farm in the middle of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The farm, called 'Gordeme', is part of a successful urban gardening project that started in 2004 and now has several farms across Ethiopia, all managed and maintained by about 10,000 women or children.
"This programme has become one of the most successful HIV/AIDS care programmes in the country," said Dr Seyoum Dejene, a care and support specialist with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Addis Ababa. "Proper nutrition is a vital element of HIV and AIDS care, and for many of the participants the urban farm project is their only reliable source of fresh vegetables."
Ethiopia suffers from chronic food insecurity, and about half the population lives below the poverty line of US$1 per day.
"Before I started farming here, vegetable consumption in my house was almost nothing, now it is regular ... Working in the ground has helped keep me healthy and it also keeps my mind off my disease," said Warkinesh Ali, 32, an HIV-positive single mother.
Land sizes range from single-home plots managed by a household to large inner-city field complexes, such as Gordeme, in Arada, one of Addis Ababa's busiest areas.
Participants are all poor single women or children, who are interviewed and, if selected, given an initial plot of government-owned land, tools, seeds and basic agricultural training. Beneficiary leaders are assigned on the larger farms and given more extensive training.
A visit to two of the farms revealed thriving rows of green and red-leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, turnips, beetroot, corn, carrots, garlic, onions and potatoes.
"Each and every farm in the programme is completely organic. We are not allowed to use any pesticides or provide any chemical enhancements whatsoever," said Tesfaye Getachew, chief-of-party for the programme run by ECIAfrica, a South Africa-based economic development organisation.
"Some of the farms were established on what used to be urban wasteland. Gordeme used to be an urban jungle, a dumping ground for garbage, excrement, and disease," he added. "Now it is a source of health. Even the compost is often made from the participants' own domestic waste."
Training is provided by a network of some 23 local agricultural and health organisations with assistance from the Ethiopian government, under the technical supervision of ECI-Africa. There are currently 9,800 'farmers' in the USAID-funded project.
Broad benefits
The goals of the urban garden programme have been to combine HIV/AIDS education with nutritional support for HIV-positive people, but Kimberly Flowers, communications officer for USAID in Addis Ababa, said surplus vegetables were also sold to the surrounding community, providing much-needed income to the women and their families.
An estimated 40,000 people buy their vegetables from the project's farms in Adama, Addis Ababa, Awassa, Bahir Dar, Dessie and Gondar, the six largest urban areas in Ethiopia.
The programme also helps reduce the huge social stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. "The relationship with my neighbours has changed," said Akaki Kaliti, another single mother. "Before the garden they never came to my house. Now they come to my house for food."
Ethiopia's HIV prevalence is estimated at about 3.5 percent, and of the estimated 1.32 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2005, 55 percent - or 730,000 - were women.
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