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| Hambisa and his family showing off their coffee harvest. |
Story collected by Bedilu Asmare
Hambisa is married with three sons and one daughter. To make a living, he farmed as well as collected and sold firewood, but it wasn’t sufficient to support his family. Hambisa struggled to make his land productive. Land degradation and high soil acidity prevented most farmers like him in Sasiga from growing enough food.
Because of the family’s material poverty, they didn’t socialize much. Hambisa struggled to provide food and clothing for his family and send his children to school. “When I faced these problems, I felt sad and hopeless. I was [too] discouraged to work hard in order to change our life,” Hambisa shares.
In 2017, however, Hambisa decided to participate in FH activities. Through regenerative agriculture practices, water conservation, and reforestation, FH worked with farmers to restore the fertility of the soil. Hambisa took training in coffee farm management, vegetable production, and private plant nursery development.
“I have learned from being part of the program,” Hambisa says. “I have acquired more knowledge on modern agricultural practice, especially on coffee production and management and access to different types [of] improved variety of seed and tools from the program.”
Hambisa’s living conditions dramatically improved as he developed his coffee farm and vegetable garden. His coffee production tripled!
“Previously, I harvested 1 kilogram of coffee per tree; now, that’s increased to 3 kilograms of coffee beans per tree! In addition to cash crops, I got knowledge of agricultural diversification such as vegetable and fruit production. As a result, my entire family feels happy, physically strong, and has good health from eating fresh vegetables and fruit in their daily meals. Their spiritual and social bonds are stronger than before.”
Hambisa’s entire community has transformed over the past decade. Families have access to clean water close to home; farmers apply regenerative agricultural practices; a new school was built; and children are getting a better education.
“The changes in my personal life and community life makes me happy because the changes observed in the community were multidimensional,” Hambisa says.
