Food Security

 

Tim and I had the opportunity to speak with Deme (the founder of Project Mercy, along with his wife) at length today about how this tree project came to be and its intended outcomes.   In 2003, Ethiopia faced a severe famine.  15 million people were affected and over a million lost their lives.   In order to prevent another occurrence with such dire effects, Project Mercy has instituted a food security program for the surrounding regions, an area about 30 miles wide encompassing over 200,000 households.   With an average of 5 individuals per household, there are well over a million people living in this district.  The food security program includes several components, one being the fruit tree importation.   The goal with these fruit trees is to propagate them here at the Project Mercy compound and then distribute them in the community.  Our goal is for each household to have 3 trees planted in their backyard.   The varieties may vary, but the main types will be mango, avocado and papaya.  It will take several years to propagate a supply large enough to provide for all 200,000 households.   We also need to see what varieties do well in this high elevation, and what trees people are accepting of.

The other component of the project is vegetable gardens.  Project Mercy would like each household to have a drip irrigation system, similar to the type we used in Burkina with a bucket that feeds into the dripline.   This requires a significant financial input to buy the drip kits and ship them here for distribution, as well as training on correct usage of it.  The rainy season is very similar to Burkina, with the summer months bringing rain, and the rest of the year being quite dry. However, due to the high elevation, the temperatures are much cooler.   It does not often get above 80 degrees, and falls to around 40 degrees at night in the coolest months.  Our water comes from a spring in the mountain, but May and June water must be conserved because those are the last months of the dry season.  

This is a brief sketch of my purpose for being here.  I will help the staff establish a nursery and teach them how to propagate the trees, whether by grafting, cuttings, seeds, etc.   We will research other areas in the region to see what is growing and what other potential crops could be introduced. 

 

Then God said, "Let the land sprout with vegetation – every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit.   These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.   ~ Genesis 1:11