Change and transformation in Ethiopia’s watersheds
In North Shewa, hundreds of kilometers to the north, farmers are waiting for the Belg (short) rains, this year disrupted by El Niño. The rains are already a month late.
A feeder road completed in the last four years cuts through barren fields, ploughed but still bone dry, where harsh winds carry away the fragile topsoil.
The road has opened up new markets for farmers, including dairy products. But it has also driven demand for kubet, round dung cakes produced by farmers using vital organic matter that would otherwise help bind the soils and increase moisture retention. At the same time they have value as a cooking fuel. A truck load can fetch $1,000. The irony is that farmers stack up piles of kubet for sale while at the same time purchase chemical fertilizers to maintain their crop yields.