Blossoming Harvests: Navigating Climate Challenges Towards Agricultural Triumph
Girma Abate, a dedicated farmer and father of four children, resides in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia.
A portion of Girma's land was prone to waterlogging, rendering it unusable to grow crops, regardless of the season. Fluctuating seasonal conditions, including moisture shortages, hindered Girma from being able to produce and attain the required yield to support his family. Due to his family’s struggles with food insecurity, Girma was selected two years ago to enrol in the Ethiopian Government's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), which aimed to provide his family with food assistance and livelihood services to help lift him out of poverty.
PSNP was the initial Ethiopian Government’s multi-billion-pound flagship social protection program which later birthed the Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience, also called the SPIR II Project, which is led by World Vision and has a consortium of partners whose main objective is to enhance livelihoods, increase resilience to shocks, and improve food security and nutrition for rural households vulnerable to food insecurity in Ethiopia.
As SPIR II project participants, Girma and his family’s agricultural fortunes have taken a turn for the better. Girma receives climate forecasts and begins to incorporate the insights he gleaned from the forecasts.
Previously, Girma was solely reliant on indigenous knowledge and was not accustomed to planting crops and vegetables adapted to the rapidly changing climate. He also did not use scientific forecasts to predict the timing of planting.
The introduction of a combined approach, involving both indigenous wisdom and modern forecasts, has proven to be transformative for farmers like Girma.
The SPIR II Project introduces climate advisories combining both indigenous and meteorological information, which is provided twice a year during the Belg season (the short rainy season, typically occurring between February and May in Ethiopia) and Meher season (the primary rainy season in Ethiopia, typically occurring from June to September). These climate advisories, which are multi-hazard and multi-sectoral, provide farmers with information to assist them in preparing for and making necessary decisions in their farming to mitigate risks and prevent potential climate-related disasters.
For example, farmers are advised to construct suitable soil and water conservation and water harvesting structures on their farmland to retain moisture, prevent floods, facilitate drainage, and minimise siltation. SPIR II Project works closely with the government and communities to deliver climate forecast information that integrates both indigenous and modern forecasts, enabling farmers to plant suitable crops for the forecasted climate conditions. If seasonal forecast advisory services show late-onset or early cessation of rainfall, farmers are advised to grow short-maturing crops. This holistic approach aims to increase farmer’s yields, enhance their resilience, and improve the overall sustainability of agricultural practices by retaining and improving soil quality.
"The development agent in our village encourages me to synchronise my planting and harvesting times with the climate forecast, integrating both indigenous and meteorological forecasting insights. This approach has proven more accurate, enabling me to anticipate the rains, and prepare drainage in ways so I can utilise my waterlog-prone land more effectively," shares Girma.
Embracing the newly gained information, Girma has been cultivating a diverse array of crops, including teff, black cumin, tomato, beetroot, sweet potato, and Ethiopian kale, all guided by the comprehensive climate forecast he receives. The forecast information helps him with land preparation, types of crops to be planted, and the time of sowing. He is optimistic about reaping more bountiful harvests soon.
In a nearby district of Oromia, another farmer named Kedir has planted his modest plot of land and is awaiting harvest. Just like Girma, Kedir’s life has been transformed through interventions made through the SPIR II Project.
"The greatest benefit I have gained from this combined approach is its’ accuracy, especially compared to our traditional forecasts. I have become more productive by aligning my planting and sowing with the climate forecast, saving me from the losses I experienced previously." shares Kedir.
Both Girma and Kedir aspire to build on the progress they have made, improving the resilience of their farming systems and contributing positively to their communities.
Since SPIR II launched, 105,840 people have received information to adapt to the effects of climate change in targeted districts of Oromia and Amhara regions. SPIR II supported 20,112 people to access climate information and implement risk-reducing actions. So far, 96% of SPIR II targeted Woredas (districts) have an Early Warning System with a strong shock-responsive system that responds to anticipated climate-related shocks, and 93% of SPIR II targeted Kebeles (villages) receive early warning information and weather forecasts on a monthly/bi-weekly basis.
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About SPIR II
Strengthen Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) Institutions and Resilience (SPIR) II is a five-year Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) implemented by a consortium of partners led by World Vision that includes CARE, ORDA, and learning partner IFPRI. It is powered by funding from the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), which focuses on enhancing livelihoods and resilience to shocks and improving food security and nutrition for rural households in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray regions through interventions aligned with the government’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP).
By Emnet Dereje, Communications Specialist, World Vision Ethiopia