RELIEF FUND: avoiding starvation for 110000 people

Despite the conflict continuing in Tigray, by August an incredible 604000kg of wheat and 101200kg of barley had been delivered to the 23,000 families in the 13 villages we’re working with north of Mekelle. By September security had improved, making transport safer, although access to fuel, electricity, cash and banking services and communication was still a challenge.

In November, the WeForest Ethiopia team visited the villages to meet the farmers and check on progress. To everyone’s delight, they saw that the barley had grown well and the farmers had begun to reap their harvests. The wheat fields, too, were also almost ripe for harvesting.

Hagosa G. and her family in the village of Golgol-naele received 25kg of wheat seeds at the beginning of August. “Thank you, WeForest, for reaching us at this bad time,” she told us, while weeding her farm. “If you hadn’t seen us, we would have had no harvest this year.”

Alemat B. is a forest guard from Hawille and local village administrator. “WeForest didn’t leave us during these bad times,” he said. “WeForest gave us hope, food and strength. We know we can count on you no matter what – and you can count on us to continue planting the trees.”

Gitet D., 70, owns a quarter of a hectare of land and is supported by her children and grandchildren to cultivate it. She received 50kg of barley and told our team: “We had no food or seeds left, and without your help, my land would have been barren.” Her big smile said it all.

Thank you for your trust and for making this possible!

Great news: all 23 000 farmers will have received cereal seeds by mid-August!

15 686 families (69%) have already received and sown 1012 quintals of barley and 3791 quintals of wheat (with each family receiving 50kg or 25kg, depending on land and family size). 7250 families will receive 2249 quintals of wheat this week and next (weeks 32 and 33), with each family receiving 50kg or 25kg.

Approximately 4319 quintals of wheat remain in storage in Nazareth (north of Addis) and will be distributed when transit is possible again. These seeds will secure food until next year’s new harvest for 110 000 people in 13 villages across 4 districts in Tigray.

The war is far from over

• There are increasing concerns about Ethiopian unity as the nine-month-long war between Tigrayan rebel forces and the Ethiopian army and its allies escalates. The conflict has been mostly contained within northern Tigray, but is now spreading into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.
• We will wait until security issues improve at the Afar/Tigray border before transporting the last 10 trucks of wheat into Tigray. Temporary storage has been arranged for the remaining seeds. WeForest will need to pay extra storage costs if the seeds remain there for longer than three months.

The security situation around the Desa’a forest remains difficult

• All WeForest staff and project communities in Desa’a and Seret are OK.
• Internet and telecommunications are still not working.
• Utilities are partially working in Mekelle and other towns. The majority have start to use power generators.
• Within Tigray all roads are open, although access to Tigray from other regions is still blocked.
• Banks are still closed. WeForest is arranging cash delivery through banks and private companies in Addis that have branch offices in Mekelle.
• We are fortunate to have 10 000 litres of diesel fuel to run activities at our Desa’a and Seret projects and the Tigray Humanitarian Relief programme. In addition, the Bureau of Agriculture (TBoARD) is supporting us by providing fuel and trucks to transport seedlings to planting sites.

Next steps

Our ambition now is still to supply vegetable seeds to these farmers to help provide a more balanced diet, as well as tools for weeding and field work. 

Our costs  ($1 304 375) have exceeded our budget by 11%, mainly because of the price increases: 30% for barley and 11% for wheat. We are still searching for $106 535 for the cereal deficit, $372 893 for the tools and $323 144 for pulses and vegetables.

Our team is proud to have already achieved such progress in the face of extreme adversity and in such a short timeframe. 

Thank you for your trust and for making this possible!

Links:

• The conflict in Tigray