We couldn’t believe our eyes. So we had to pluck some corn for ourselves. What was once a desolate, dry wasteland now had thriving crops.
For three years in a row, the rains in Borena, Ethiopia, had failed. Some women we spoke with said they travelled up to 10km, each day, to collect water. It was the worst drought in a generation. And with it, came severe hunger.
Primarily pastoralists, people here live off their animals. But without any water, 85% of the animals died. At first, families sold some livestock to save others. But as the drought went on, they had no choice but to migrate to cities to survive. One place was the town of Moyale. That’s where we met Mr. Woko Wario.
Before the Drought, Mr. Woko tells us he had 32 cows, 4 camels and 1 acre of land. Aged 32, he and his wife and two children lived a decent life. But when we met him he only had two cows left. As a result, he and his family were forced to rely on emergency food, made possible by people like you.
In partnership with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Tearfund New Zealand, we were able to provide food to 13,000 people for 9 months. But that’s not all. Miraculously, the rains did eventually come. And Mr. Woko was given seeds and taught climate-smart agriculture practices. He put them into practice and couldn’t believe what he saw. The yield was beyond his imagination. Thanks to the training, Mr. Woko and his family are now expecting 15 bags (1,500kg) of maize and 8 bags of beans.
