Active Project: Jan 2025- June 2029

Title: Public Result Oriented Cooperation in Ethiopia for Effective Development (PROCEED) Initiative: Multi-practice, integrated support to foster scaling-up of proven solutions, and effective interventions in rural water service and agricultural sectors of Wolaita Zone, SER

Component: Agri- SWC and Fodder

Rationale: In the mountainous areas of Wolaita zone of South Ethiopia Region, where demographic overload (average population densities between 300 and 750 inhabitants / km2) and land fragmentation (average land holding less than 0.4 ha) affect the farms’ productivity and natural resources. The mixed farming systems (crop cultivation and animal breeding) in these mountainous area are highly exposed to strong climate and environmental constraints (abundant and irregular rainfall pattern on a declining topography which causes erosion and loss of soil fertility, soil carbon content and water infiltration capacities), and agro-economic constraints (declining crop yields on smaller cultivated land, price volatility). To cope with those uncontrolled evolutions and challenges, while reinforcing food security and preserving natural resources, local and rapid adaptations mechanism are needed. Those adaptations can be perceived as opportunities for farmers to diversify and increase their productions.

Strategy

RCBDIA with more than 15 years of experience in the region , has develop solutions that are now recognised by the local institutions as enabling effective and sustainable preservation of farms and water service. Combining fodder production with SWC intervention and creating durable access for potable water to the rural community has been promoted and well adopted by the rural community. During the past project period the feasibility of scaling out of this intervention piloted through public institution. Now under this project full pledged intervention will be implemented in the targeted Zone and Woredas through the government sector bureau while technically backed by RCBDIA Field team.

These solutions revolve around the creation of platforms that bring together elected official, civil servant and community representative to implement practical field solution such as the multiplication and diffusion of grass and its plantation on anti-erosive structure.

The aims of this project is to progressively transfer those know-how and approach to the relevant institutions (BoA, ZAD, WAO) through the redaction of precise methodologies, the organization of coaching, peer-to-peer transmission of experience, establishing clear and simple information flow enabling each level to have a precise vision of the situation in their area, field level and close support from RCBDIA staff to government experts.

Local institutions will be capacitated to:

• Create Operational Kebele Task Force (KTF) to produce and diffuse work and organize the protection of the farms in their Kebele
• Organize the capacitation of local actors, CBOs, men and women farmers’ through peer to peer companionship and training.
• Monitor precisely the activity and decide on effective corrective measures

While scaling out proven project interventions through government sector bureaus, RCBDIA will maintain the action research activities to verify the scalability potential and institutional feasibilities of various complementary project pilot activities.

The main project outputs are:

• The institutions of the targeted Woreda have the capacity to diffuse fodder grass and organize soil and water conservation intervention in their Kebele and to support and monitor the water service in their area, have a clear vision of the needs, have the capacity to design sustainable water scheme and have the skills to train Contractors and supervise their work.
• 134 Operational Kebele Task Forces are involved in the preservation of mountain watersheds
• 116 new kebeles where the farmers (46,200 in total) have access to fodder through  the establishment of a communal multiplication sites and the organisation of distribution targeting all farmers in the Kebele
• 14 Kebele are fully protected regarding the conservation of arable land within the farms for a total of 14,439 protected farms.

Component: Coffee Agroforestry and diversification

Rationale: Midlands of Wolaita farmers practice diversified cropping system near backyard and from these coffee has nearly 10% of plot share and it has higher economic benefit to producers, but currently the production of coffee tree and productivity of the plot is getting very low due to ageing and lack of proper tree and plot management.

 Strategy (Pilot)

Despites the limited surfaces dedicated to the coffee plantation (10% of the farm), the coffee ensure a substantial sources of incomes for most of the farmers. The coffee harvest occurs during the dried season, while the households face treasury shortages and finish their food stock. Therefore, this income is mobilized to purchase food, invest on the farm input, or capitalize on their production system (tools, animals)

The coffee plantation in Wolayita are getting aged, more than 20 years old, and has never been renewed (regular stumping in order to sustain the productive life of the trees). The absence of shade trees has negative effects on the production life of the trees and on the beans quality. Thus, the coffee productivity is highly variable and progressively declining in Wolayita.

In such a context, RCBDIA aims at reinforcing the households coffee production. To this end, RCBDIA has oriented the project on 4 main components:

• Integrate permanent legumes shade trees in the mono-cropped plantations.
• Diversify the production in and around the plot (banana, grafted trees, annual legumes crops).
• Rehabilitate the old and non-productive plantations through stumping and trees replacements.
• Train the producers on pruning in order to increase and sustain the coffee productivity

The objectives of coffee agroforestry and diversification component of this project are:

• Establish diversified agroforestry plots to set a model of coffee plot for midland in wolaita.
• Increase the coffee productivity and regenerate old non-productive coffee tree through adapted practices (pruning, stumping).

Main activities and steps involved to achieve the objectives are

• Train the producers on pruning, stumping and proper plot management practices.
• Improve the productivity of existing nonproductive old tree through pruning and stumping.
• Develop diversified coffee plot with papaya, banana and other suitable trees.

In addition to other technical measures and agronomic practices, establishment of well-arranged coffee based diversified agroforestry plot close to home garden is key measure to improve the livelihood of densely populated rural households. These designs include fruits, legume cereals, coffee and permanent shades. These model plot establishments have two main stages, in the first year, plantation of fruit trees in order to insure fast shade for coming young coffee and food and cash source for household and second coffee with permanent shade and these systems always allow farmers to grow short legume.

The expected output:

• 1707 families trained on coffee technical management and are able to prune and stump the coffee trees regularly.
• 934 families established are able to manage their diversified coffee plot