Our work in Ethiopia
Tearfund has maintained a presence in Ethiopia since the 1970s, working in partnership with institutional donors, religious institutions and local partner organisations to tackle extreme poverty and injustice.
Through partnerships with local development and relief organisations, Tearfund is currently active across six regions in Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Benishangul Gumuz, Somali and Afar).
Our focus is on providing relief and development programmes that are environmentally and economically sustainable. We work with churches in a process called Church and Community Transformation (CCT), by envisioning and equipping them to start development projects in their communities and to collaboratively address the root causes of conflict, poverty and injustice.
Tearfund’s work in Ethiopia includes:
- Supporting communities to access clean water and adequate sanitation
- Conflict resolution and peacebuilding
- Providing training and resources to help people increase their income
- Responding to disasters, crises and emergency needs
- Ensuring that people have enough nutritious food to eat all year round
- Advocating for government policies which create a fairer future for all, such as improved social services
Self-help groups
Self-help groups enable small groups of people to support each other, both financially and through mutual encouragement. Members begin by saving small amounts of money, which are used to start new businesses or to help when times are tough. This has proved to be an effective method for communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
More than 20,000 self-help groups have been set up around the country. The groups build up shared savings which they can then use to set up income-generating activities.
Adapting to climate change
We have been working with thousands of farmers to help them adapt to the changing weather patterns due to climate change. Over 2,000 farmers have adopted conservation farming practices and successfully improved their crop production.
Our projects contribute to the government of Ethiopia’s efforts to foster climate-sensitive economic development, improve resilience to climate change, and respond to emergency humanitarian needs.
