Three years in Ethiopia

Red Deporte y Cooperación (RDC) has been working in Ethiopia for over three years. In 2013, in spite of the current unfavorable context for international cooperation, we are still implementing projects in the country.

We are currently in three distinct phases for three different projects, all within the theme of rural development and food security, as recommended by the priorities of the Spanish Cooperation (AECID) for Ethiopia.

Firstly, in June 2012 we completed a project in the Tigray region (Mesanu), which has allowed us to reach more than 1,500 people. Through its activities we provided irrigation for 200 hectares of land, improving agricultural production and food security for the families.

Secondly, we are identifying a new project that aims to create new income-generating activities for 300 families. This would be done through training, equipment and input distribution for the production of temperate fruits (apple) as well as beekeeping activities for 50 mothers head of household. This project, still in its nascent stage, also aims to promote dialogue and coexistence between different Ethiopian regions, since the beneficiaries and partners belong to the bordering regions of Oromiya and Amhara.

Finally, RDC is implementing a food security project whose main activity - in which we are concentrating these last days - is the construction of a river diversion. This weir will divert river flow and bring irrigation water to 105 families in the municipalities of Mesanu, Agulae and Meheberewinie.

Within this current project we would like to highlight our gratitude for the close cooperation we have with our two partners, the School of Agriculture of Wukro - St. Mary's College and the local authorities of Kilte Wereda Awlaelo - Office of Water Resource. From the beginning, one of the most attractive aspects of our project for AECID was the challenge of working with two partners simultaneously. In RDC we accepted this challenge and couldn’t be more pleased with the good work and the good work and performance of our partners in the field.

An example of such collaboration and coordination is the site visit we carried out today, where the RDC engineer, Benito Lopez, along with three other local engineers, have made the first measurements in order to launch the constructions within a few weeks. Alongside the technical work, we must also emphasize on the presence of Ángel Olarán, director of the School of Agriculture as well as a priest with an admirable career in Africa within the order of the White Fathers, along with the program coordinator Gidey Efrem, the project coordinator, Mulu Haftu, and the RDC expatriate field coordinator.

But not all are technicians and engineers in our project. None of this would be possible were it not for the beneficiaries’ positive attitude and willingness to work. In Agulae, life revolves around the river, a precious commodity so scarce in the dry lands of Tigray. Children play in it, women wash their clothes (unfortunately we can’t say that men are involved in this aspect), animals drink from it and men use it for bathing after a hard day's work in the field.

Now, these same farmer families have a reason to work even harder. They know they’ll be given training, seedlings, and the opportunity to create a women's cooperative, and that the access to water will be improved thanks to the construction of irrigation canals to their fields. This has boosted the community, who have mobilized and organized themselves in an admirable way. They created a human chain to collect stones, which have been put aside for the constructor to then use for the retaining walls and foundations of the weir. This local contribution of inestimable value will be the basis for the construction of one kilometer of canal that will irrigate the fields of local farmers, eager to participate in their own development.  

This article is also a tribute to all those boys and girls, men and women, who contribute day by day to the functioning of RDC and who make international cooperation a sector to keeping fighting for, no matter what.

Marta is the RDC project coordinator in Ethiopia.