GEBRENA Bulletin - WordPress.comimprove livelihoods, food security and economic wellbeing of the country’s farmers, herders and forest resource users. The environ-mental goal is

GEBRENA Bulletin News and Updates from the GIZ-SLM Programme and its Special Components

Issue 01 | October 2017

The new Ambassador, H.E. Brita Wagener, (3rd on right) and the Country Directors of KFW, Jan Blum (2nd on right),

and of GIZ, Matthias Rompel (far right) visit the homestead of a model farmer. The Manager of GIZ-SLM’s Tigray

Office, Tewodros Gebreegziabher (4th on left), explains the activities.

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The German Ambassador meets smallholder farmers in Tigray

The new German Ambassador is hosted to observe the German Development

Corporation's impact in the agricultural sector of Ethiopia

On 06 and 07 September, the new German Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union,

H.E. Brita Wagener, embarked on her first field mission which aimed to familiarise the

Ambassador with the interventions that are supported by the German Government in the

agriculture and education sectors.

Ambassador Wagener visited the Tigray region to get a glimpse of the work and impact that the

Sustainable Land Management (SLM) programme has had on the lives of smallholder farmers

and the improvement of the management of natural resources. The Country Directors of the

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

(KfW) accompanied her as she visited the rehabilitated watershed, May Atsemi, in Tahtay

Maichew district. She met with government focal persons, development agents and members of

the community, including a youth beekeeping group and a model farmer who is benefitting

from the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project (ISFM+); an integrated special

component in GIZ-SLM that is funded by the German Government’s ‘One World- No Hunger’

initiative (SEWOH). Ambassador Wagener was impressed with the observations of the work that

the German Development Cooperation and its partners have been able to achieve on the

ground.

But what lies ahead for the Ambassador following her mission? In November, she will

spearhead the bi-lateral negotiations between the Governments of Ethiopia and Germany about

the future direction of the GIZ-SLM programme. This will seal the new Ethio-German

partnership in the agriculture sector.

Published by

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Programme Rahem Building, Diaspora Square, Meganagna P.O. Box 100 009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

T +251-11 6 629 981/82/83/86/88/89 F +251 11 6629 975 I www.giz.de/ethiopia

Editing: Erna Mentesnot Hintz | Anna Summer

Layout: Erna Mentesnot Hintz

Illustration: Watershed logo | Bethlehem Molla Infographics | Erna Mentesnot Hintz

Next issue: November 2017

The German Ambassador meets smallholder farmers in Tigray 1

Improving agricultural education systems 2

What is Farmer Business School? 2

Infographic: Impacts of the National Sustainable Land Management Programmme 2

About the EU Support to the Sustainable Land Management Programme for Ethiopia 3

Healthier diets for mothers and their children in Tigray region 3

Farmers take the lead in the rural capacity development approach 4

Going beyond borders to share good practices from Ethiopia 4

Contents

1

IMPACTS OF THE NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

Improving agricultural education systems

A working group to strengthen coordination in

development of curricula and training resources

The Support to the ATVET in Natural Resource Management

(NRM) and related Livelihoods component of GIZ organised an

official launch for the curriculum review working groups. The

ceremony was held on 04 September at the Beshale Hotel in Addis

Ababa and attended by over 30 participants from the NRM

Department and different ATVET Colleges.

The working group was established in June and comprises of the

heads, instructors and advisors of ATVET Colleges. The group aims

to support the customisation and improvement of the ATVET

curriculum delivered in five selected colleges. Following the

ceremony, the group set out to develop an assessment package for

extension training materials over a three day workshop.

GEBRENA Bulletin | News and Updates from the GIZ–SLM Programme and its Special Components | Issue 01 | October 2017

What is Farmer Business School?

A promise of better economic wellbeing for

Ethiopian smallholder farmers

The national Sustainable Land Management Programme

(SLMP) follows a three-staged watershed management

approach which includes community mobilisation, land

rehabilitation and economic development of the

rehabilitated watersheds. The concept of Farmer Business

School (FBS) offer great opportunities for the economic

development of farmers and rehabilitated watersheds.

The FBS, in general, targets at changing the mind-sets of

farmers by sensitising them for market opportunities and

possibilities to improve productivity, family income and

nutrition. FBS is an important tool to capacitate smallholder

farmers to start commercialisation of their produce and to

provide them with financial tools to make strategic and

operational business decisions. Furthermore, FBS is aimed at

widening the perspectives of farmers onto other segments of

the value chain. The training on FBS will be helpful in making

farmers strategically rethink their production choices and to

include them as much as possible into ongoing value chain

thinking and development. Applied to the Ethiopian context,

FBS can also improve farmers’ efficiency and utilisation of

limited resources through business planning.

Contributed by: Hanna Lemma, Intern, GIZ-SLM

2

GEBRENA Bulletin | News and Updates from the GIZ–SLM Programme and its Special Components | Issue 01 | October 2017

National extension workers and districts and community experts are in a better position to scale up approaches to new areas and transfer know how to communities.

Since 2008, areas benefitting from small scale irrigation result in higher yields and incomes.

Government partners received support at all administrative levels to plan and implement projects effectively. 1,773 watershed plans were developed with community participation.

Farming community groups have knowledge, skills and ownership to manage communal land sustainably.

Source: Impact Assessment of the SLMP Target

Regions (December 2016)

1.34 million Farmers & their families benefitted

4,500 hectares

Better irrigated farmland

450,000 hectares Land rehabilitated

1,313

Small-scale farming groups empowered

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Technical advisors from IAK-Ambero-Planco Consulting facilitate brainstorming

exercises with working group members during the three-day workshop.

IMPACTS OF THE NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

GEBRENA Bulletin | News and Updates from the GIZ–SLM Programme and its Special Components | Issue 01 | October 2017 GEBRENA Bulletin | News and Updates from the GIZ–SLM Programme and its Special Components | Issue 01 | October 2017

3

Healthier diets for mothers and their children in Tigray region

A nutrition ambassador sets out to reach and change nutrition behaviours of rural communities

The Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Project (NSAP) is part of the German

Government’s ‘One World-No Hunger’ initiative (SEWOH) and its approach is

aligned with the GIZ-SLM programme. The project aims to improve intake and

access to food for the most vulnerable households in three rural districts of the

Tigray region. More than 88,000 farmers are targeted with special focus of at

least 12,000 women of reproductive age and 3,000 children below 2 years of age.

An integral part of food and nutrition security is a society’s knowledge, attitudes,

norms and cultural practices. Therefore, the project devised a social and

behavioural change communication (SBCC) strategy which should help foster

positive nutrition behaviours amongst communities that lack important

knowledge and especially the awareness of changing behaviour towards a more

healthy and clean environment. The need for an influential and celebrated

individual to act as an ambassador for the issue arose.

Mahlet Gebregiorgis is a famous singer from Tigray region. As a woman and

young mother herself, she enthusiastically took on the role. Together with the

new nutrition ambassador, the NSAP developed campaign materials that teach

about good nutrition behaviours with a special focus on the needs of child-

bearing women and their infants. These include for example a song entitled

‘Aynit’ and various information education materials such as billboards, leaflets

and recipe books. The campaign will be launched officially in the coming

months. Mahlet will tour the targeted districts and appear in different regional

media outlets to promote how a diversified diet and a clean environment can

improve the health and wellbeing of families.

Mahlet Gebregiorgis holds a basket of fruits and vegetables

during the photoshoot for the nutrition campaign.

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Legend

Yayu Ecoregion Bale Ecoregion

About the EU Support to the Sustainable Land Management Programme (SLMP) for Ethiopia

High population growth, climate change, inappropriate

farming practices and uncontrolled grazing are the main

causes of land degradation, low agricultural productivity

and overuse of natural resources in Ethiopia. As a result,

ecoregions are diminishing and local communities are

struggling to make ends meet.

The EU Support to the (SLMP) Project builds on the Ethiopian

Government's SLMP and compliments the EU Share Project

that focuses on strengthening resilience coordination

mechanisms.

Duration 2016 - 2020

Budget EUR 19 million

Ecoregion names Bale Mountain National Park

Yayu Biosphere Reserve

Ecoregion

Location

South East Bale area and South West Yayu areas in

Oromia Region

Target Districts 11 (Bale 5, Yayu 6) | Highland: 2 in Bale and 6 in

Yayu | Lowland: 3 in Bale

Benefitting

Households

33,000 rural households

Area Coverage 33,000 hectares (3000 hectares per target district)

Building on the ongoing SLMP and harmonised with its framework,

the project has two overall goals. The development goal is to

improve livelihoods, food security and economic wellbeing of the

country’s farmers, herders and forest resource users. The environ-

mental goal is to rebuild Ethiopia’s natural capital by overcoming the

causes and mitigating the negative impacts of land degradation on the

structure and functional integrity of the country’s ecosystem.

Together, GIZ and KfW are responsible for the overall implementation

of the project.

Target areas of the EU support to the SLMP Project

GEBRENA Bulletin | News and Updates from the GIZ–SLM Programme and its Special Components | Issue 01 | October 2017

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Going beyond borders to share good practices from Ethiopia

Malawi learns from the Ethiopian experience of using the integrated watershed management approach

In late 2016, two country offices of GIZ in Africa came together - one to share and the other to learn. The collaboration aimed to help

stimulate the development of GIZ’s Social Protection Programme (SPP) in Malawi by adopting the integrated watershed management

approach to improve implementation of public works projects and to rehabilitate natural assets to help buffer climate shocks and

boost resilience of communities.

The GIZ-SLM programme in Ethiopia sent one of its many seasoned Watershed Management Advisors to Malawi in order to sensitise

GIZ-SPP and its stakeholders on the integrated watershed development approach. District officers and extension workers underwent

trainings on topics like nursery management and biophysical soil and water conservation and received practical implementation

manuals. And the establishment of a national watershed forum started the process of the development of the country-wide watershed

management roadmap.

Owen Chisinga, Assistant District Forestry Officer in Mchinji

district in Malawi stated: “Previously, we used to implement

public works projects using the single-sector approach. After

the training, we are now able to plan and implement projects

together with other sectors. We learnt that communities

need to understand and employ the approach. As a district, we

expect that the integrated watershed management approach is

applied at national level for successful implementation of the

Public Works Programme.”

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Farmers take the lead in the rural capacity development approaches

Farmer Field Schools are a new concept in Ethiopia. Unlike previously practiced approaches of watershed

development, this approach puts trained farmers and their groups at the forefront of the learning process.

In July 2017, the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project (ISFM+)

conducted training workshops in Amhara, Oromia and Tigray with the

goal creating awareness about the concept of Farmer Field Schools (FSS)

and the role of farmers therein. Over 190 farmers, development agents

and focal persons from government attended. So, what is a FFS and how

does it work?

In the ISFM+ experience, a FFS is made up of 15 - 20 individual members

from community based institutions. The FFS selects one model famer

who provides a demonstration plot, commits to its management for

ISFM versus conventional farming practices and openly shares

knowledge of the learnings. The dates for the training and observation

events are set jointly by the model farmer and the FFS members. This

schedule serves as the curriculum and attendance is mandatory for all

members. The training events form the key operations of ISFM, both

before season start and during growing season. Whilst the development

agent guides and supports the model farmer and the members of the

FSS in the first year, in subsequent years, the model farmer takes the

lead in the FSS activities. For a well operated FFS, the model farmer also

keeps clear records of demonstration plots, model farmer and the FFS

member use ISFM technologies on their own farm plots, demonstrations

prove profitable and farmers outside the FFS adopt ISFM technologies.

Using this FFS, ISFM+ has the goal to spread ISFM approaches to

57,000 hectares of land in the regions of Amhara, Oromia and Tigray.

A wheat demonstration in action.