Lifting women and young people out of extreme poverty with sustainable entrepreneurship

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With more than 112 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populated country in Africa. At the same time, Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries with a per capita income of 850 dollar, though its economy records the fastest growth in the region. Added to this is a strong dependence on climatic conditions, because in the rural areas, agriculture remains the main source of income for up to 80 per cent of the population.

The Oromia region records the lowest socio-economic values in the country in many spheres This includes gender equality, literacy rates, access to education, water and food security. The region is also greatly at risk from climatic changes. The patterns of precipitation are changing, and the drought periods are becoming more extreme. The present drought has already lasted four years and was further exacerbated by an invasion of locusts in 2019 which decimated the harvests and the pastureland. The grassland has been damaged so severely by the drought and by overuse that the soil can no longer absorb the rain. The majority of the inhabitants in the Oromia region are dependent on cattle breeding, so a sustainable use of resources and the development of new sources of income is essential in order to maintain a secure livelihood.

The women and young people who are particularly affected by poverty and the consequences of climate change will be lifted out of extreme poverty with newly created sources of income. With more detailed knowledge about how to protect their natural environment they can create a safe and sustainable livelihood for themselves and their families.

To counteract extreme poverty and the financial exclusion of women and young people in pastoral and agropastoral communities and strengthen climate resilience in the Oromia region, the project builds on the «Graduation Approach», adapted to the Ethiopian context, and focuses specifically on helping the communities to adapt to climate change and to create a good environment for sustainable resource management and climate-neutral micro enterprises. This includes, alongside the tried-and-tested steps of the «Graduation Approach», the development of competences in the field of natural resource management, measures to promote social cohesion and gender equality, improving the way conservation groups work and promoting the membership of women in leading roles, as well as developing ‘green’ value chains. The aim is to support the participants in creating a «green» livelihood, to use it to improve their environment and develop their enterprises, and finally make a long-term investment in ecological restoration and sustainable management in order to improve the sustainability, health and development of their community.

A similar project, which was implemented by the partner organisation The BOMA Project in Kenya shows very positive results; more than 60 per cent of the participants have turned to sustainable and resource-conserving entrepreneurship and are active in local conservation groups to protect their environment.

The current project operates under the two themes of «income» and «climate» and builds on the «green» graduation approach. The approach is a graduated, time-limited package of services for households, which combines social protection, income development and financial integration and supports the beneficiaries in adapting to climate change. It is a targeted intervention designed to lift households out of extreme poverty through a range of activities in different fields and to strengthen their resilience to extreme weather events. Graduation is located at the interface between humanitarian aid and development cooperation (HD Nexus). The beneficiaries of the project are selected and registered by means of a strictly defined selection procedure and by a committee specially set up for this purpose. The broad-based, active participation of the relevant government offices, financial institutions and private actors strengthens the longer-term impact of the intervention.