Throughout the developing world, dryland areas have become heavily degraded to the point
they are barely productive.
These degraded lands make up 46 percent of land area in Africa, and are home to more
than 325 million people.
Subsistence farmers make up nearly 80 percent of the population in these regions, and regularly
suffer from hunger, malnutrition and even famine.
The Drylands Development Programme helps farmers transition from subsistence farming and aid
dependency to sustainable livelihoods.
The Drylands Development Programme is a large, integrated, holistic catchment management
program.
The program focuses on a range of interventions, achieved through three core pillars: improved
landscapes, increased agricultural production and enhanced market access.
It’s complex, it’s got many moving parts … but all three of those pillars have to
work together in order for communities to benefit from the whole approach.
World Vision has seen in Ethiopia amazing results from DryDev. DryDev is a very holistic
program, so given that 60 percent of the country coverage is semi-arid area
in Ethiopia, DryDev is exactly fitting to major parts of the country.
From the grass roots community groups right through to the donor partners, the success
of our program is dependent on effective partnerships.
We selected the partners through critical due diligence to prove also the World Vision
commitment to the donor and the whole partnership.
World Vision has been in Ethiopia for the last forty years, so World Vision has an excellent
reputation in the country with the community and the government.
Collaboration with World Vision means it’s strategic. World Vision is capacitating our
staff, empowering the community by itself, but also technology transfer.
So that trust which was built made World Vision Ethiopia as a partner of choice in the country
and beyond. But things which has happened in four years, and they say it is unbelievable.
The programme identifies and partners with local leaders who form committees represented
by men, women and youth.
These groups work to build large-scaled structures including terraces, deep trenches, check dams
and percolation ponds in communal areas. More than two million trees have also been planted.
And so when the community can come together and work collectively and build these structures,
the rain that was so devastating in the past that caused erosion and flooding is able to
be retained and is available to the community the whole year round.
All the community members are working in different activities. There is no discrimination between
women and men and even the elders and young people are working together.
So far, more than 58,000 farmers have been reached, including 22,000 women.
More than 43,000 hectares of land has been restored, and at least US$3,300,000 worth of community labour
and local materials has been leveraged.
Springs have recovered, water is available for livestock and irrigation and even biodiversity has increased.
Since the program began in 2014, we've seen major changes in these landscapes
as well as in the attitudes of the community.
Before the program, there was no information and no irrigation practice, only rain-feed.
But now we have good training sessions and we can grow food three times per year and
our production has doubled.
When farmers can retain water and improve soil fertility,
their agricultural production improves.
Through local capacity-building, the programme equips
farmers with techniques to enhance their income opportunities and increase their livelihoods.
As a result, incomes have doubled, and the number of hungry months has halved.
Personally, I’ve benefited from this program. I can send my children to school and I’ve
improved my house. I’ve also increased our livestock.
As a result of the programme, we’ve seen farmers improve and expand their production
across a whole range of different agricultural enterprises and crop types.
An uptake Survey found that 85 percent of farmers have reported larger yields and more
than 76 percent of farmers have increased their sales.
DryDev is so much more than land rehabilitation. When you bring the communities together and
connect them with financial institutions, governments and other service providers, they
can really thrive.
When production is improved and farmers can work together, they can engage with markets
in new ways. Through savings and production groups, farmers can take out loans and collectively
generate higher incomes, moving away from subsistence mindsets towards market-oriented
approaches.
As women, when we participate in savings groups, we can save weekly. This way our money increases
and we can take loans to buy something that will improve our lives.
The Programme has linked more than 12,000 farmers to finance services, including savings groups
and microfinance institutions.
The investment and commitment by our partners through the Dryland Development Programme
have led to tangible and significant changes in the lives of men and women, and in fact
the entire communities within our target areas. They are now filled with hope and optimism
about the future.