LOCAL PARTNER: Dere Integrated Development Action (DIDA)
Background and objective:
Enset is the staple crop for the Gamo indigenous community with high food security values and different non-food values, with every part of the enset crop used and nothing wasted. It is primarily produced in some areas of Ethiopia that are least developed and most difficult to access. Enset is relatively drought resistant and available for harvest all year long, however, the crop is now facing challenges mainly caused by bacterial wilt disease, loss of genetic diversity (enset has over 100 different varieties as well , enset processing by women has proved tedious and labor-intensive, and, as a result, many women are taking processing shortcuts, leading to a decline in its quality and taste and further discouraging the younger generation from valuing the crop. Enset is not viewed as an important food crop and does not offer high economic return hence has no support from agricultural extension service.
The project seeks to address the challenges through three components. The first one is supporting the women groups in breeding the seedlings of the Enset crop to help them to exchange the various varieties and through that get to improve farm level diversity and enable them to get income from the sale of the seedling and Enset processed food which has high market demand. The second is supporting the women to use tools that can save their time and energy in processing the Enset tree into food and supporting in production and marketing of quality Enset products. And thirdly, is strengthening the local efforts of preventing the bacterial wilt disease that threatens to wipe out this important crop by working with elders who have their own traditional treatment procedures
Local partner information:
Dere Integrate Development Action (DIDA) is an indigenous community-based organization operating in Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Addis Ababa city particularly with a migrant weaving community from Gamo highlands established in 2013 by young professionals from different field of studies and community elders. DIDA works to see Ethiopian urban and rural community live socio-economically decent lives in culturally and biologically diversified and healthy environments to the satisfaction of both present and future generations. Its organizational mission is to bring social and economic empowerment to women and youth and environmental development to communities by strengthening indigenous knowledge and supporting project interventions on sustainable development themes. The overall goal of the organization is to attain sustainable development and poverty alleviation by ensuring youths, women, and community participation. They accomplish this by promoting utilization of effective synergies and development approaches that integrate local knowledge with modern technology.
