Nuru Ethiopia has continued to support its farmers in achieving impact amid countless challenges, including a drought and other climate-related shocks, inflation, conflict, and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. As Nuru Ethiopia has scaled to new areas and grown to serve more farmers and their families–now serving over 100,000 people in total–it has been increasingly important to continue monitoring its impact on individual farmers.
Increased Crop Yields
With climate change, extreme weather events become increasingly common, including droughts like the one experienced in the Horn of Africa last year. Nuru Ethiopia is supporting farmers in increasing their crop yields through climate-smart regenerative agricultural practices. As an example of this, Nuru introduces drought-tolerant crops that support farmers to have a reliable crop that can still be harvested and sold when other staple food crops may fail. Read more about Nuru’s approach to climate change adaptation here.
For rural farmers fighting to overcome extreme poverty, increased crop yields are a necessity.
Harvested crops support food security for farmer families, and in fragile rural communities, they are vital to sustaining the local food system. Each year, Nuru Ethiopia sets a crop yield target for farmers based on both external research on sector best practices as well as years of experience. Nuru Ethiopia’s most recent impact report shows that farmers increased their crop yields by 72%. This yield increase is more than double the target set by Nuru Ethiopia. Once crops are harvested, they can not only be eaten, but sold through farmer-owned cooperatives for additional income.
Increased Income
In the vulnerable communities where Nuru Ethiopia works, increased income is equipping farmers to begin shifting out of survival mode. This income is used to purchase other food, pay children’s school fees, and cover unexpected medical expenses. With this money, families are also able to begin saving for the future and invest back into their farms.
Danashe Darza has been a member of the Nuru-supported Wuzete Primary Cooperative since 2017. Through Nuru Ethiopia’s support, the cooperative is providing women with access to economic resources, and small businesses and financial services. Danashe has been participating in saving and income-generating activities like sheep and goat fattening. In the last couple years, Danashe has been able to make a good return from her small goat business, allowing her to fully repay her business loan and make a profit. Danashe is now making plans for business expansion and able to access other loans for business development.
As Nuru Ethiopia focuses on building the resilience of farmers and their families, increased income is an important data point in tracking this resilience-building. Similarly to crop yields, Nuru Ethiopia establishes targets for increased income. The most recent impact report shows that farmers like Danashe saw a 73% increase in their combined income in one year, exceeding the 60% target.
Hear More from Nuru Ethiopia Managing Director
Nuru Ethiopia is targeting significant growth this year, but will continue to monitor income and crop yield increases for individual farmers, knowing that these are imperative to increasing resilience in vulnerable farmers. Hear directly from Nuru Ethiopia Managing Director Abiy Meshesha as he sits down to discuss impact in Ethiopia with Nuru International CEO Aerie Changala.