Farmers’ Business Schools Turning Farmers into Entrepreneurs The Arsi Zone in Ethiopia is one of the most productive areas of the country, but farmers there could harvest the full potential of their labor and land with better commercialization and market linkages. To address these challenges, FAO is collaborating with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Bureau of Agriculture of Oromiya in implementing the ‘Crop Diversification and Marketing Project’, in the Arsi Zone, Ethiopia. A vital component of this project is the Farmers’ Business Schools, where farmers attend participatory training to learn and develop skills for business management, farm business plan development and records keeping. On 3 December 2011, the Project graduated 247 farmers who completed a nine month training in these business schools. The latest graduates bring the totla number of farmers who attended and completed the Schools to more than 600. The Farmers’ Business Schools help bridge the gap in farm management and marketing, and equip participants with skills for ‘a business approach’ to farming. for more on FAO’s Farmers Field Schools, visit: ſtp://ſtp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0383e/i0383e.pdf Update Vol. 1 Issue 1 January - March 2012 FAO Representation in Ethiopia Welcome to “Update”, the quarterly newsletter of FAO Representation in Ethiopia. The FAO Representation in Ethiopia has been operational since 1981, providing technical assistance to the Government of Ethiopia in combating hunger and malnutrition. The agency is consolidating its work in the country, and has recently finalized the “FAO-Ethiopia Country Programming Framework (CPF)”, which it hopes will better align its work towards the nation’s development priorities. The Framework outlines three priority focus areas: productivity and competitiveness, sustainable land management, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and food/nutrition security. The CPF represents FAO’s determination to support the Government of Ethiopia in its effort to achieve the national development objectives as outlined in the five year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) as well as the Agriculture Sector Policy and Investment Framework 2010-2020. The Framework is also consistent with objectives of the UN common system as expressed in the current UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2012-2015 for Ethiopia, which we believe will serve as an important source of input for the preparation of the UNDAF Action Plan for Ethiopia. Led by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and FAO, the CPF has been the result of extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders and partners. We hope that the collaboration would even be further strengthened as we look ahead to the mobilization of the resource needed for the implementation of the Framework. FAO Project in Ethiopia Working to Enhance Smallholders’ Resilience to Climate Change Ethiopia recently announced its ‘Climate Resilient Green Economy’ which is anchored on ambitions to become a low-carbon middle income economy by 2025. The FAO Representation in Ethiopia is complementing this program through the ‘Strengthening Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation in Land and Water Management with Focus on Sustainable Land Management in Ethiopia’ Project. The Project is being carried out in Wurba watershed (Shoa Robit Woreda) and Halo Jila Watershed (Sebeta Woreda), both of which are located within the Awash Basin . The Project aims to reduce the impact of climate change and variability on smallholders in the two districts through sustainable land management, and contribute to improvement of agricultural productivity, livelihood and ecosystem resilience. For more information about FAO’s work in Ethiopia visit: http://coin.fao.org/cms/world/ethiopia/Projects.html Photo: © FAO/Berhanu Muluneh Photo: © FAO/Fikre Mulugeta Photo: © FAO/Astrid Randen