Women Making a Difference

Growing Nutrition in Ethiopia

	Genet Bayesa Source: USAID Urban Gardens Program

USAID Urban Gardens Program

Two years ago, Genet Bayesa witnessed her family shrink and expand at the same time.

When her sister succumbed to HIV/AIDS, Genet lost a loved one and simultaneously became the default mother for her HIV-positive toddler niece, Aberresh. Genet not only faced raising her own two children, but also had to come up with the money for nutritiously rich food to keep the fragile body of little Aberresh alive.

At first, 30-year-old Genet worked hard to produce and sell tela, Ethiopian homemade barley brew. In addition, she and her husband both worked as daily laborers – the hard reality of the majority of Ethiopia’s poor – and each earned an average of US$1 per day.

Sending the children to school seemed impossible, and Genet had childhood flashbacks when her education was sacrificed in the name of survival. When her father died, she had to drop out of the sixth grade to work and help the family. “There was no choice in the matter. We couldn’t afford school for her,” Genet’s mother says.

Rufael Group Garden

In 2010, Genet finally found her place in a USAID Urban Gardens Program (USAID UGP) group garden in her hometown of Debre Zeit, two hours south of Addis Ababa. The Program focuses on the health of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS and trains Gardeners in growing vegetables, post-production, and marketing.

The Rufael Group Garden – 37 women and five men all affected by HIV/AIDS – elected Genet as its chief and under her leadership turned a dusty plot of land into a productive garden. After nine months of gardening experience and input from USAID UGP, Genet and the rest of her group graduated from the Program and took their garden into 2011 on their own.

The garden not only became a sustainable source of vegetables and income for the group’s members, but also was the neighborhood’s premier source of fresh vegetables, ranging from Swiss chard to carrots to cabbage, and the building block of a balanced diet, especially for those living with HIV/AIDS and undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

 “Before I joined the garden, we hardly ate any vegetables, mostly because we didn’t have the extra income,” she says. “Today, we have vegetables and can use the money from the sales to buy oil and teff (Ethiopian grain).”

The Mentor

Genet Bayesa Source: USAID Urban Gardens Program

As the group’s leader, Genet (meaning “heaven” in Amharic) organizes all work activities, crop selection, and product pricing. Each Gardener is responsible for her own plot, but the group works as an entity and meets for group discussions every Friday afternoon.
 
“Plus, we meet almost every night for watering and harvest twice a month,” she explains. Genet updates the group about the prices of vegetables on a chalk board hanging above the garden.

Genet and her colleagues also started a savings and loan group after receiving training from USAID UGP. Every week, each member pays 2 birr (US$0.12) into the fund, and when the funds are high enough, they make a group purchase.

“During our group discussions, every member has the chance to voice her opinion about what we should buy,” Genet says. Last month, the group spent nearly 1,500 birr (US$90) to provide every member with a kilogram of flour and a liter of vegetable oil.

“Genet is our group mentor and truly helps everybody in the garden. She makes sure everyone is watering their vegetables correctly,” says Tadelech Degafe, a Gardener who works alongside Genet.

In addition to constant access to green vegetables for her family, Genet and other members earn an average of 170 birr (US$10) per month. Genet dreams of creating a cooperative within her group garden and diversifying the agriculture portfolio by adding animals and a possible dairy farm.

“I don’t want my life to happen to my children. I want their life to be greater than mine. My niece, Aberresh, used to be weak and her eyesight was poor. Now that I can provide a balanced diet, she’s active and looks better,” Genet says.

Story provided by the USAID Urban Gardens Program

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