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io economist suntribune special report saturday may 18 2002 canadian funds help turn barren land into cropbearing earth fertile fields iir0tfwafis3 staff photovkathleen griffin rift valley childrens and womens development association program coordinator shambel gemechu shows the 5000 irrigation project paid for by the canada fund in this village by kathleen griffin staff writer their fields once little more than dust are now lush with growth the onions pep pers tomato kale and cabbage sprouting from the farm plots will not only feed these vil lagers in rift valley in the ziway region south of capital addis ababa they will be sold at market so people can afford health care livestock and school for their children a 5000 water pump used for this smallscale irrigation program has made a huge dif ference in the lives of the 47 farmers and their families who farm the 538 surrounding hectares we have a better life some income now said korsso edao a 39yearold farmer who has benefitted from the proj ect families get sick they can take them to hospital some even have nice houses in town we can buy livestock small sheep and goats i was a wage labourer when i came here not able to live or support my fami ly there are many many farm ers with no access to water this project was paid for by the canada fund a favourite program of canadian ambassador john schram the canada fund was created to help ethiopians in rural villages with small yet lifechanging improvements roads clean water irrigation schemes soil regeneration schools health posts it is administered through the canadian embassy not cida or the ethiopian government so red tape is cut to a mini mum more importantly canada fund projects rely on the vil lagers themselves they are paid usually food for work to build them they are responsible for maintaining them and they must do that cooperatively by committee if local communities want to do something to improve their situation they dont have to wait for the government they find a program like the canada fund and they can help themselves ambassador schram explained what canadian taxpayers are getting for their money is making a profound difference in peoples lives and this society at the grassroots level canada fund projects must support gender equality and human rights be environmen tally safe and be viable over the long term the fund supports a dozen projects a year these villagers have been taught how to organize into co operatives they share the extra work the pump creates they have been trained in the pumps maintenance and have benefitted from workshops on how to manage their finances before we organized into groups we were in poverty and werent able to ensure wed have food explained amane bedana 35 mother of seven now we are paid for our serv ice and there is a change in our life condition she told us her husband had recently taken on a sec- ond younger wife a common practice among ethiopias muslim population now i stay here and work and she the second wife car ries the water she said with the faintest glimmer of a smile they harvest three times a year yielding about 60000 ethiopian birr each harvest which translates into about 7500 canadian said kibru marhusha ethiopias canada fund coordinator money from the canada fund also helped establish a community cereal bank in rift valley that is very unusually run by women and supports 150 families for less than 20000 an almost economic and droughtproof system has been set up requiring mem bers to contribute 25 per cent of their crops to the bank but borrowing maize beans and other grains when needed the womens committee has set up a granary and mill and they work daily grinding corn into flour they are paid for their work either in cash or in food while the equipment is primitive at best supported by ladders and tables made from eucalyptus branches inside a small concrete building the job gets done the committee buys grain when its cheap and brings it here they sell it during the planting season when the price is rising for seed for crops or for food mr mamusha said we dont need to talk a mil lion dollarsor even a hundred thousand to make a significant difference ambassador schram said canadians have forgotten that message theres no sense saying its so difficult we should nt even start better to get start ed now encourage it and make these partnerships work staff photokathleen griffin members of the boricha commu nity care for more than 200000 seedlings that will be planted in an attempt to regenerate and reforest land in one of several canadian foodgrains bank projects in this area york region farmers help african nation by kathleen griffin staff writer even in bad times york region farm ers want to help despite the fact last year could not be considered a great growing year local farmers donated 12000 cash and 8000 worth of grain to feed people in developing nations including ethiopia although farmers had a hard time they still have that commitment they still want to help said terry oconnor head of the york region chapter of the canadian foodgrains bank that makes a difference with the canadian international development agency matching dona tions on a fourtoone basis to a 16 mil lion cap the total canadian contribution last year was worth close to 7 million and thats up 20 per cent from the year before famines have come and gone but ethiopians could always count on canadian support said sam vander ende the cfgb regional representative for east africa who is based in the ethiopian capital of addis ababa farmers have an affinity for hunger they know what they produce makes a difference in the world and thats immensely satisfying we hear that over and over again he said the cfgb is a christianbased food aid organization that collects donations of cash and grain for the hungry all over the world its made up of 13 church- based groups representing all major denominations which work with inter national partners to distribute and mon itor food security programs sometimes the aid is direct food relief in times of crisis sometimes it supports foodforwork projects aimed at reducing dependence on aid i saw one of those projects in the municiplaity of boricha near awassa about 150 miles south of capital addis ababa after distributing emergency food for more than 30000 people in 2001 cfgb partner meserete kristos church is paying villagers with food for work on soil conservation and reforestation including the care of 200000 seedlings growing at a nursery sam vander ende ethiopians can count on canada for support cida representative says mkc looked at this situation and saved the lives of these people said fayisa dasho member of the village council charged with involving villagers in the maintenance of the project mr dasho also used the opportunity to make a pitch for further help water last year with funds from another nongovernmental association workers dug a borehole to find water they went down 333 metres at a cost of 1000 a metre to no avail theres no water women here walk four hours a day to awassa lake to fill their jugs and four hours back this land has been in the vil lagers families for centuries and no one can convince them to move its their home its their cycle the plan is to help them not to go back to a relief situation mkc relief co ordinator sahlemarriam mennamo said were here to facilitate but we expect much from them nobody gets a free lunch thats what we always tell them added another aid worker in mr mennamos group in york region nine farms participate in the program donating cash or dedi cating a part of their land for cfgb grain we feel very priviledged to be involved with the program mr oconnor said we have so much com pared with people in developing nations