1. “Is there anything worse and disgraceful than poverty?” Farmer Gebyanesh Ambaw
By Esubalew Dires
The Organization for Rehabilitation & Development in Amhara (ORDA) is playing a significant
role for an overall development of the region. Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable
Development (GRAD) is one of the projects of ORDA which has been secured from USAID
through CARE Ethiopia with a total budget of the project that accounted about 72.2 Million Birr.
ORDA- GRAD: Brief Overview
Project Duration 1 Jan. 2012 to 30 Sept. 2016 = ( 5 years)
Target Woredas Lay Gayint and Libo Kemkem = 2
Target kebeles 39
Target Beneficiaries 18,012
Target VESAs 792
VESAs replicated 119
VESAs Members M= 13,411, F= 5,584, T= 18,995
Total project budget 72.2 Million Birr
Donor USAID through CARE Ethiopia
Implementer ORDA
ORDA- GRAD project has been carrying out activities to improve food security for chronically
and transitory food insecure households at Libo kemkem and Lay Gayint woredas. The project
has planned to target 18,012 PSNP households directly with 13,863 of them expected to increase
their incomes by $365 /annum and graduate from PSNP.

2. For the past five years, GRAD has been carrying out varied value chain and Income Generation
Activities (IGAs). In both ORDA intervention woredas, beneficiaries have been engaged in
livestock (shoat, cattle fattening, poultry), crop production (malt barley, haricot bean, potato and
onion), apiary, vegetables and fruits (mango, guava & papaya). As a result, beyond getting
nutritionally rich food, households have started generating a diversified income.
Trainings have also been given on a variety of commodities considering farmers interest/demand
driven/ before they got involved in value chains. GRAD excels better in livelihood improvement
of PSNPs than other projects in forming village-based economic and social associations
(VESAs). Hence, more than 900 VESAs were formed both in Libo Kemkem and Lay Gayint
woredas over 39 intervention kebeles.
Without exaggeration, GRAD played its best in changing the life of beneficiaries and absolutely
possible to deduce GRAD as the best project that has put remarkable/fruitful achievements in
those areas. This is especially true that many farmers who own land have got the capability to
produce their farmland instead of renting.
W/ro Gebyanesh Ambaw and Ato Adane Ayele, whose economic activities are highly relied on
agriculture, are a married and mummy and daddy of 6 children. They raised their children in
tough and challenging circumstances for many years.
The family started practicing gender equality & a balanced diet

3. Though this family owns 3/4th
hectare of land, they rented it for the rich farmer as the
incapability of the owners to produce crops. They earned half a production of their farm;
however, the production is used for a half year only. They are seriously hit by food insecurity
trouble. Immediately after they graduated from safety net, they started to involve at ORDA-
GRAD. The project strategically designed livelihood improvement techniques and formed
village-based economic and social associations. Farmers were also involved in trainings with
regard to saving and business management, production of crops, fruits and vegetables, livestock
development and gender which played a great deal for the betterment of life and social
transformation.
In the first round (2014), the project supplied seed for cabbage, tomato, spinach and carrot.
Different from family’s use for food, they earned a total of 7 thousand 5 hundred birr which they
never experienced it before.
In the 2nd
term (2015), the farmer gained a total of 6 thousand 8 hundred birr. The source of this
income was 3 thousand birr from cabbage, 7 hundred birr from salad, 6 hundred birr from carrot,
500 birr from papaya and 2 thousand birr from 10 quintals of improved potato seed.
They are producing tomato & potato using underground water

4. In the 3nd
term (2016), they expect over 12 thousand birr from onion, garlic, potato, tomato,
mango, papaya and orange productions. Moreover, the project provided them 4 hens and a cock
and the farmer get 1 thousand 8 hundred birr from egg selling.
We paused a quest whether their life is changed due to the intervention of the project. The farmer
exclaimed, “It was nice if I could show you my internal satisfaction and confidence I developed.
Is there anything worse and disgraceful than poverty? Currently, we ran away from aid. We have
achieved food security and overall progress. Thanks to ORDA-GRAD, we are now eating a
balanced diet. We also changed our small old hut to a new home from corrugated iron. We own
2 oxen from a single ox; send our children to school fulfilling educational tools; developed the
habit of saving and aware of gender equality.”
Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development (GRAD) has fruitfully changed
the livelihood of many farmers in those intervention kebeles. Hence, it is recommended for other
developmental projects of ORDA to share magnificent experiences of GRAD.
However, beneficiary farmers are still complaining about the weak market linkage for onion
production. A collaborative effort of concerned government bodies is highly required in order to
solve market problem.
Hard work always pays the best -take a look at this
happy family

5. Amharic Version
" EEEE AAAA AAAA ? "
አርሶአርሶአርሶአርሶ አደርአደርአደርአደር ገበያነሽገበያነሽገበያነሽገበያነሽ አምባውአምባውአምባውአምባው
በእሱባለውበእሱባለውበእሱባለውበእሱባለው ድረስድረስድረስድረስ
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10. No matter how dark the night is, the morning is sure to come!
By Esubalew Dires
The Organization for Rehabilitation & Development in Amhara (ORDA) strengthens its
developmental support in areas of food insecurity and extreme poverty. As a result, beneficiaries
started to earn a better living. In this case, the involvement of USAID, the strongest strategic
partner of ORDA, in many developmental projects is to be mentioned forefront in the region.
ORDAs Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development (GRAD) is also
funded by USAID through Care Ethiopia.
Gobgob, a small town which is 12 kilometers far from the capital of the district Nefas Mewucha,
is one of the 39 intervention kebeles of GRAD. W/ro Etayehu Golla, aged 40, is a resident of
this kebele since she was born. She has got three children. However, she was living under
poverty as her small income was generated by the time she worked as house maid. Though the
farmer has 3/4th
hectare of land, she had neither farming tools nor knowledge & labor.
Farmer Etayehu exclaimed “I never forget the adversity I passed. It was in 2008 while I was
aided by the Safety net in 2008. I was supposed to be at Nefas Mewuch to take my own
share/wheat/, but I didn’t have even a penny for transportation. In that time, I heard seeds of
eucalyptus tree could be sold at market. It was very disgusting that I couldn’t sell sacks of the
collected seeds. My son and I obliged to go back to our residence on foot carrying the wheat. We
were really tired and had nothing to eat. That was actually a nerve shattering experience which
made me hopeless.”
In 2013, farmer Etayehu became participant of GRAD. The project trained this poor widowed
woman in relation to saving, improved variety productions and technology uses and shoat rearing
& fattening. Immediately, she obtained a 5 thousand birr loan and engaged in sheep rearing &
fattening. Surprisingly, the farmer paid back her loan & earned 540 birr in short time. In the

11. second round, she earned and used 3 thousand birr for home expenditures. Currently, she owns
around 11 sheep which cost over 10 thousand birr.
W/ro Etayehu is also brave in poultry. She earned 600 birr for egg sale in 2015. Her first son
who has completed his 10th
grade is also involved in sheep rearing, poultry and crop production.
A 25 kg of malt barley was assisted by the project in 2013/2014 and earned 4 quintals which was
sold with 4 thousand and 60 birr. In 2014/2015, by producing 15 quintals of malt barley, the
farmer earned over 15 thousand birr. In the same year, she gained 4 thousand birr from potato
excluding what the family has used for food.
In 2015/2016, she has bought an ox with 8 thousand & 6 hundred birr and produced wheat and
barley expecting over 30 thousand birr income. She has also bought a donkey to transport crop
productions. The farmer is wonderfully changing out from a hand to mouth living. Her livelihood
is progressively changing due to saving and IGA mechanisms. She is member of “Abat Alem”
village-based economic and social associations that has saved over 6 thousand birr.
Eventually, farmer Etayehu used to rent her farmlands. Now, she has started to fully utilize and
made a better living. Basically, securing food, fulfilling clothes & educational materials, saving
40 birr monthly at ACSI and VESA are to be mentioned.

12. Amharic Version
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