Through USAID's AMAREW project in Ethiopia, people are working together to find ways to raise the standard of living at the same time as they reduce environmental degradation. Read these success stories to learn more.

1. Fuel-Efficient Stove Production in the Yeku Watershed
In the Yeku area of Sekota woreda (administrative district similar to a county), women are building fuel-efficient stoves. The production of these stoves not only creates extra income for the women, it also reduces drudgery caused by frequent wood collection, and it reduces the incidence of smoke-related eye problems.  Major environmental impacts from use of the stoves include the large reduction in pressure on woodland resources.

2. Water Point Development a Top Priority for the Yeku Community
A project in the Yeku community to develop a spring has produced great results. The Bambaw spring developed in 2005 has a sand filtering system, a separate water delivery point for humans and livestock, and a protected washing stand. The spring provides clean potable water for over 200 households and meets the water needs of more than 600 livestock animals per day.

3. Striga-Resistant Sorghum Varieties Improve Yields
AMAREW, in collaboration with local, regional and CRSP researchers, is promoting the wide dissemination of sorghum cultivars resistant to the devastating effects of striga, a parasitic weed. As a result, thousands of farmers are able to reclaim their striga-infested fields and double or triple their production of sorghum, a major staple crop in the area.

4. Gabion Wire Box Production Empowers Farmers Locally
In the Lenche Dima watershed area, soil erosion is a problem that threatens crops and thus farmer livelihoods. By jump-starting the local production of gabions (wire boxes that prevent erosion), AMAREW has helped farmers help themselves. One gabion-producing farmer can make as much cash in a month from fashioning gabions as he or she can make in a year from crop production.

5. Ato Dessalew: A Progressive and Early Adopter Farmer (pdf)

6. Degraded Gullies Can Be Made Productive (pdf)

7. Hillside Closure Speeds Up Environmental Rehabilitation (pdf)

8. Rope and Washer Pump Technology: A Supplement to the Water-Harvesting Schemes (pdf)

9. Low-Cost Gravity Drip Irrigation: Assisting Water-Harvesting Schemes (pdf)

10. Farmer Research Extension Group (FREG): Strengthening Linkages (pdf)

11. Vernonia: A Promising Industrial Oil Crop (pdf)

12. Long-Term Training Motivates Experienced Staff to Stay on the Job (pdf)

13. Inductive Training for the Novice Research Worker (pdf)

14. Experience Sharing Tours Useful for Technological Idea Shopping (pdf)