Description

Learn about how the Ethiopian government's initiative has turned barren land into fertile land.

Transcript

Turning Barren Land into Fertile Land in Ethiopia Male: But just as I’ve witnessed in China, there is hope that the situation here can be reversed. In just six years, Professor Legesse Nagash and local villagers have transformed a severely eroded terrain by planting indigenous trees and plants. Almost miraculously a clear flowing stream has emerged, where once there was a muddy trickle. John Liu: How is it that it’s possible for you to get the stream to flow throughout the year? Legesse Negash: It is because of the vegetation cover, which has been regenerating on this mountain. This water is maintaining the landscape because as soon as rain falls on the canopy of this vegetation, that rain then infiltrated gradually into the ground ending up with this steady flow of this river. Water is life. Without water nobody can do anything. About a thousand kilometers further north in village of Abraha Atsebaha, another near miraculous phenomenon is occurring. Farmers are finding water at the bottom of their wells, despite the poor rains this year. The famine of 1984, struck the people of this valley very hard. Many migrated, many died. But now the people are returning. The village chairman Gabre Giday remembers well how life used to be. Gadre Giday: Ten years ago, I’d say even five years ago, I’ll tell you what the situation was. It was absolutely terrible. The sun, the drought, the wind, it was all dry like the desert. There was refugee program for our village. So we had a choice, leave the valley or do something Male: With government support, they applied the same principles as the Chinese setting land aside for natural vegetation to return. In the ravines they built small dams, which are now fed by underground springs. And like Professor Legesse’s stream, rain that fell weeks ago now slowly seeps through the sub soil, replenishing the supply of water. Gadre Giday: The eroded land just became fertile. It’s changed for the better. In the drought our fruit trees dried up. Now they’re coming back, and now we’re growing even more varieties. These are the real benefits we’ve seen. We have food security and our children can go to school. Our lives have improved. We no longer need to beg the government for aid. Thanks to the changes that we’ve made. Even wild animals which disappeared are returning, even the leopards. Male: These villagers can now better withstand the impact of climate change. With international assistance, their achievement could be repeated across the country and the benefits would spread far beyond Ethiopia’s borders. Legesse Negash: Half of Ethiopia is mountain and this mountain system is degraded and this degradation of this huge landscape, huge mountain trail of Ethiopia is critical not only for Ethiopia but also for the entire region. Consider Egypt, look at the Sudan where 6% of the Nile flows to these countries. How can we support life in Egypt without restoring Ethiopia’s mountains? So this is regional, national and international.