Growing Hope in Ethiopia
Published on
October 16, 2024 at 3:49:00 PM PDT October 16, 2024 at 3:49:00 PM PDTth, October 16, 2024 at 3:49:00 PM PDT
“[My] production increased and developed income from the sale of the surplus coffee.” — Hambisa, Ethiopia
Fighting food inflation with coffee
In recent years, you’ve likely been touched by the global cost-of-living crisis. In developing nations, it has resulted in food inflation above five per cent. Many countries are struggling with inflation in the double digits.
Unfortunately, inflation has devastating effects on those living in poverty, especially families in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a landlocked country meaning they rely on neighbouring “transit” nations to access international markets. This can make importing food slow or expensive, sometimes even impossible.
Men like Hambisa struggle to provide for their families. Like many in rural Ethiopia, Hambisa’s main source of income is agriculture, specifically coffee. But between limited training on coffee production and fighting with highly acidic soil, his farm produced crops that could only support the family for a few months.
Hambisa felt desperate. “The low production affected my family as I could not feed [them] properly,” he shares. “When I faced these challenges, I felt sad [and was] losing hope.” When FH partnered with his community, Hambisa received training on soil and water conservation, compost preparation and application, and coffee production and management.
This training allowed Hambisa to reclaim the land and increase his coffee production by 80 percent!
“Due to an improvement of techniques, [my] production increased and I developed income from the sale of the surplus coffee,” Hambisa shares, smiling.
“I could feed my family at [a good] standard and their health improved.”
Thanks to a reliable income, Hambisa and his family can now ride the waves of food inflation coming their way.
Hambisa’s new ability to absorb shocks and adapt to changes has allowed him to meet his family’s daily needs and strengthen his community. He has built a more hopeful future, despite the global economic challenges we face today.