Tuesday 5 March 2019

Migbarey Senay Children & Family Support Organization/MSCFSO (February 5-6 2019 by Allan Sorflaten


Canadian Food Grains Bank Ethiopia
Project Tour
February 2, 2019


Migbarey Senay Children & Family Support Organization/MSCFSO (February 5-6 2019)
The MSCFSO project is in the final year of a three year food for work project In East Gojam of the Amhara Region. Land degradation here, like so many other areas of Ethiopia, has seriously affected soil fertility and availability of farmland and grazing land for households. This results in chronic shortfalls in food production at the household level, with households often facing up to a four month food gap each year. The Migbarey project addresses food security and food gap shortages using cash-for-work on watershed rehabilitation projects during food deficit periods. The work being done is transforming bare, deep gullies and hillsides into productive land with improved soil fertility levels.  These achievements have resulted in more successful harvests and improved food security in the affected areas. Working with nearly 2,400 farm households and nearly 900 landless youth, all at times participating in cash-for-work or food for work project related activities, the project overall stands to benefit more than 12,000 persons.



Our 2019 CFGB project tour group visited the central office and management staff of Migbarey Senay Children & Family Support Organization (MSCFSO) in Debre Marcos on late afternoon Feb 5th. The Migbarey organization is a Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC) partner in the project along with CFGB. CFGB’s ETH Regional Representative Sam Vander Ende formally introduced our group to the MSCFSO Program Manager Yihenew DeMessie, to the Organization’s Founder and Executive Director Mr. Meheretu and other staff members.  Mr. Yihenew then presented a power point describing various key aspects of this Migbarey Senay project. The points that he covered included the techniques being used in practicing conservation agriculture, particularly the use of green manure/ cover crops, minimum tillage practices in helping to restore soil fertility and the related application of agro-forestry, reforestation techniques and other measures being used for soil and water conservation and land restoration. All of these practices he said are central to the project and were viewed by our group on-site during morning and afternoon field visits the following day.
  
                                                                                                   
Below: Project Manager Yihenew Demessie Explains Key Components of the Migbarey Senay (MFCFSO)          




                                                                                                 
                                  

Mr. Meheretu is Founder and Executive  Director of Migbarey Senay Childrens Project                                                Family Support Organization (MSCFSO) pictured above with Allan and Lydia Sorflaten














As described by Sam Vander Ende of CFGB ETH, the problems of farmland productivity and food security in the Migbarey Senay/East Gojam area are largely associated with;
- land fragmentation and deforestation
- continual and sometimes erratic cultivation techniques
- the application of traditional farming practices that often are inadequate for the job
-  the prevalence of inadequate and unsafe water supplies   


 MSCFSO Project Manager Yihinew Demessie Discusses 
                         Teff Cropping Practicew with Dennis Reimer of Hudson Bay SK                                                                                                    
     
Teff is an annual grass native to the
                                                  northern highlands and the Teff seed                                                                         is a staple food crop for all Ethiopians.                   


                                                                               
          
As a consequence of the MSCFSO Project, issues of food security are being addressed by various activities to do with soil and water conservation, and by measures to control land degradation using reforestation activities that incorporate the use of tree seedling raised at on-site tree nurseries. In their application, cash for labor and food for labor options have had favorable impacts on the food security of participating households.

Results are being experienced as improved household incomes by participating families. Farmers now are finding that they are able to purchase some of their needed farm inputs, for instance through use of the revolving seed pools. As well, new crops are being recognized for their cash value in the market place, for instance sweet lupin seed. Women (farmers) are becoming socially and economically empowered through their abilities to become involved with and influential in the adoption of CA farming practices. Women farmers also are said to show better savings habits than the men. Farm Radio International increasingly has had an important influence on the rate of adoption of CA farming practices as more and more farmers throughout the East Gojam appear willing to give it a try.
                                       Several of the MSCFSO Project Participating Farmers

The project manager estimates that by next year there will be close to 6,000 participants using CA practices in Migbarey Senay. This represents an increase of about 50% from the 2,000 that were reported to be part of the original project in the year 2000. The average land holding he also said is about .72 ha or about 1 ½ acres.

MSCFSO Day Two Field Visit Showing Eucalyptus Hedgerow or
Bunde Plantings On the Contour for Watershed Erosion Control 

All of the above is not to say that gaining the needed further adoption is not without its challenges.
One such challenge is the existing lack of awareness about CA practices which is itself made that much more worse by the current mindset of non-participants who have the awareness but simply remain unconvinced. They are the potential late adopters. According to reports, some 14,000 overall have been reached with the message.

There are also other associated challenges. For instance, weed growth is probably one of the more major challenge in growing the crop using CA farming practices, particularly during the emergent stage.

Another challenge is associated with traditional cattle rearing practices that make it difficult at times to cultivate cropland, particularly if the cattle at times go untended. Some effort (intended or unintended) has been made to encourage ranging cattle to stay in certain pastured areas by constructing watering troughs at strategic locations separated from cropland areas. This is because leaches that often occur in traditional watering places can be a big (health) problem for the cattle. The permanent troughs if strategically placed can serve as an incentive to keep cattle away from the cropped areas.      
  
 MSCFSO Staff Honour CFGB Guests With Traditional Ethiopian Hospitality
                                                        at Debre Markos 





            

    
                                                

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