While 2.7m people in Ethiopia are facing crisis and emergency food security conditions, the World Council of Credit Unions has helped thousands of farmers enhance food security. Over 8,220 SACCOs in Ethiopia are serving 620,000 members.
Between 2009 and 2014 WOCCU has run a development programme across three regions of Ethiopia: Tigray, Oromia and Amhara. The project has helped 44,685 farmers produce higher crop yields and increase their income.
Through this programme, WOCCU has assisted rural savings and credit co-operatives (RuSACCOs) with expanding financing for agricultural production and mobilising savings. They also provided non-financial services, including farmer training and infrastructure investments, to improve farmers’ access to markets and increase commercial food production.
Producers got the chance to learn about soil and water conservation techniques, and 71.5% of those surveyed said this has helped them increase crop production. They have also received training on methods such as the proper use of fertilisers and better planting techniques. The support from WOCCU has also enabled them to introduce higher value and more nutritious crops and reduce risk.
Throughout the term of the project, farmers’ income has increased by 129% for primary crop production, and 150% for secondary crop production. As part of the programme, WOCCU has worked with 165 community-based RuSACCOs across the three regions to help strengthen them to meet farmers’ need for agricultural financial products.
To achieve this WOCCU has offered training to RuSACCO management to help improve their skills to better manage their credit unions. In total, 3,853 RuSACCO board members received training through this programme, while 13,846 farmers started using new techniques. Financial support was also provided through a revolving loan fund.
WOCCU’s development programme determined a dramatic increase in loans and savings per SACCO member. Savings per member increased at the end of the programme by 89% while loans increased by 167%.
WOCCU has implemented over 290 technical assistance programmes in 71 countries. The programme in Ethiopia was funded by the monetisation of 23,000 tons of wheat (selling of donated food) through the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food for Progress programme.
Photo: volunteers help build an improved river take off for better crop irrigation, a technique introduces by WOCCU’s programme to help farmers increase production (c) WOCCU
