Getahun is a farmer who lives in Galo Janja, a rural kebele (community) in Ethiopia. For his entire adult life, Getahun depended on cultivating cereal crops to feed and support his family. Unfortunately, as the years rolled on, the productivity of his farm steadily declined until he reached a point where he could no longer provide for his wife and children through farming. The future looked bleak.
Then along came a very small package. What spilled out of it? Tiny, precious, life-changing seeds.
They were pressed into his eager hands at the close of FH’s vegetable production workshop series last year (2019). Getahun was excited to try something new. He faithfully planted the seeds and applied the techniques he learned at FH. And they worked!
“In this first harvesting season we consumed vegetables to be estimated at 2500 Birr (nearly $100 CAD). I could also sell 10,000 Birr (nearly $400 CAD) [of vegetables],” Getahun excitedly recounts. “I could feed my family a balanced diet. My family enjoyed eating a variety of fresh vegetables. With the income I got from the sales, I bought 14 traditional beehives and am working on honey production. For the future, I have planned to extensively work on both vegetable and honey production to boost my income and give my family a better life.”
Getahun is just getting started and we can’t wait to see where he goes from here!
Help another farmer get a fresh start from a
tiny package.
