RELIEF FUND: avoiding starvation for 110000 people

April 26-30: Taskforces were established for seed procurement and delivery at the regional, district and village levels.

May 17-20: Seed quality, diversity and packaging were reviewed by experts.

May 22-26: Our senior team visited the field to demonstrate our support to the villagers.

May 26: Lists of households were validated for each village to establish cereal preferences - wheat or barley. Although the plan had been to distribute an equal amount of both, wheat was by far the preferred option, as it can grow everywhere, has more uses and has a higher yield. Of the several wheat varieties available, the preferred types among the farmers are kingbird and kekeba, which are both suitable for the area.

May 26 to June 2: Seed suppliers were selected and announced. 

May 26-June 6: Six central warehouses were prepared for storage and distribution. They will be managed by the district and village taskforces in collaboration with WeForest.

June 8: Transportation of barley seeds from local sources in the Tigray region began. 1012 quintals in total will be transported in trucks carrying 100 quintals each. So far, 172 quintals of barley have been transported to Hawile village and distributed to 334 households. 

June 11- 23: Wheat seeds were transported from central, east and south-eastern Ethiopia in batches of up to 2000 quintals. Each batch was split between 5 or 6 trucks, each with a 400-quintal limit in case of road blockages or attacks. In all, 26 trucks carried 5 batches (10359.5 quintals in total) over 2 or 3 days. During unloading, village taskforce members check each package and put them in the stores. 

June 15: The first 2000 quintals were delivered to Hawile and Dera warehouses. During distribution, the village taskforce cross-checks the beneficiary names on the list, and each beneficiary signs for their delivery. The signed document will be delivered to the WeForest office.

Mitigating risks during procurement and distribution:

1. The suppliers bear all responsibility for the transportation of the seeds. 
2. The seeds are transported in batches so that the entire supply will not be lost in case of road blockages or attacks. 
3. The seeds are stored in the warehouses for a maximum of two days before distribution.

Financial situation:

We will be spending $1,176,474 on cereals instead of the expected $1m and will borrow the rest from our restoration activities until we can find those additional funds. This was because: 

1. Wheat and barley prices were higher than expected because of the Tigray shortfall in production;
2. The remoteness of our areas and the risk of clashes with soldiers on the road meant that the insurance for transportation was very high;
3. The drivers, who came from central Ethiopia, had to be paid more to venture into the war-torn Tigray region.

We also plan to supply vegetable seeds to these farmers in order to help provide a more balanced diet, especially as, due to the shortfall in funds, we missed the window to plant pulses after prioritising the cereal procurement. However, vegetables can only be grown by families living near water (either a river or the water basins constructed as part of our project activities) - about 30% of the total households.   

Prioritising cereals also meant that there was no money left over for tools. However, we’d still like to provide these, as they are crucial for weeding and maintaining the cereals, as well as for those families who will receive vegetable seeds. 

Therefore we are urgently looking for an additional donation of $522,000 ($176,000 for the cereals deficit and $346,000 for the tools).

Testimonial:

Gebreyohanes Gebreeyesus (58) lives in Endamariam Kushet (Seret village), and is head of a family of seven. His livelihood mainly depends on farming his 0.5 ha of land. He lost part of his crop to locusts. “You bring hope to this village and the farmers,” Gebreyohanes told us as he ploughed his farm in readiness for the cereals. “We don’t have enough seeds to grow the next crop. Our children are desperate and fleeing to towns to seek refuge from the war. Thank you for the project and for giving us hope again.”

Watch a video of farmers ploughing their land in preparation for the WeForest seeds: https://youtu.be/-c6bcPGCjQU

More good news 

WeForest’s core activities are continuing: planting sites are being prepared, and livelihood and nursery activities are continuing, such as the small ruminant procurement in Atsbi village that started on May 22.   

Thank you for your trust and for making this possible!