"I was neither dead nor alive…,” W/ro Lasta
W/ro Lasta Gedamu is a 70-year-old strong female farmer. But her strength is not just gained overnight; it is the result of her ups and downs. 1976 was a cursed year for W/ro Lasta. It was a time of divorce, of losing her children and her loved ones due to war. Here is the story. Prior to 1976, W/ro Lasta was married to an anti-aircraft gunman in Jijiga and had two children. However, in the 1976 Ethio-Somali war, W/ro Lasta was captured by the enemy and taken to Somalia. There she remained in exile for 11 years. Later, the two rival governments reconciled and she returned home in 1987. She searched her son and husband in Dire Dawa. She got her husband, and unfortunately he was remarried, and her son, Alemzewd Wasse, was 14 years old. As things were not going with her expectation, after a short stay in Jijiga, she returned to her hometown of Hamusit Kebele around Sekota Zuria Woreda, where she started to live close to her brothers and settled in the countryside. She had no farmland or pensions, and her suffering began in old age.
After coming to the countryside, W/ro Lasta had no income and lived on food aid and support from her brothers. "I could not have survived without the support of relatives. I was neither dead nor alive," she said. So what are her current sources of income?
ORDA Ethiopia's Development Food Security Activity (DFSA) project in collaboration with Care Ethiopia and World Vision with $ 86.6 million in funding from the American people and government began to be implemented in 9 woredas of Amhara region; Bugna, Meket, Lasta, Wadla, Gazo, Dahna, Sekota, Tsagbj and Gazgibla woredas, in 2016 to improve the livelihoods of food-insecure residents. The project will run until 2021 and has been working on animal fattening, safe drinking water, irrigation development, and other technical assistance to improve farmers' livelihoods, reduce risk and ensure food security. Accordingly, the project constructed Shaltanu small-scale Irrigation, which benefits 124 families in Sekota Zuria Woreda 03 Hamusit Kebele. W/ro Lasta Gedamu, one of the beneficiaries, is cultivating sugarcane, cabbage, coffee, papaya, and various spices on 400 m² irrigation land provided by the kebele. From her development, she earned more than 19,000 birrs over the past three years.
"When ORDA built an irrigation system for us, I planted sugarcane on the 400-square-meter land which was given to me by the kebele. I earned 5,000 birrs in the first year, 6,000 in the second year, and 8,000 birrs this year. I am very happy now. I am getting what I need for life. Thanks, ORDA Ethiopia and the government,” she said.
The project has developed 21 micro-irrigation systems, 3 small dams, 294 rainwater harvesting facilities, 77 drinking water facilities, and 22 classrooms in 9 woredas where the project works to strengthen resilience. Much work has also been done to enable farmers to make savings in their culture and to lend to development. As a result, 2,896 Village Economic Saving Association have been organized and 61,156 (F: 34, 268) members have saved 18.2 million birrs.