Ethiopian farmers work to expand despite obstacles
BY SUSAN BLOWER Indiana Correspondent
ANDERSON, Ind. — While Kathleen Sprouse spoke to a group of Ethiopian farmers sitting in a mud hut, a cell phone would ring in class. The Purdue Extension educator from Madison County said it was not the only way the East African farmers reminded her of Hoosier growers during her trip with Farmer-to-Farmer, a U.S. government humanitarian program, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for three weeks in April. “I was taken aback by how entrepreneurial they were for how little they have. They have little access to education, resources or loans. But they are so positive and eager to improve their farms,” Sprouse said. One big difference from U.S. farmers is the lack of farm equipment and tools. When Sprouse passed out some donated John Deere hats, the locals wondered aloud who “John Deere” was. Sprouse’s dad, Loren Sprouse, a corn, soybeans and Angus cattle farmer in Missouri, also traveled to Ethiopia to share his knowledge with the Lume Adama Farmers Cooperative Union, which collects grain and distributes pesticides, insecticides, fertilizer and seed. “When I read the specifications sheet, I thought their warehouse would be more advanced. I wasn’t expecting a warehouse with no bulk handling, no forklifts, not even hand trucks. I saw men carrying 220 lb. bags on their back. I can’t imagine any American doing that,” Loren said. Loren was able to help the union, which has grown to 35,000 farmers in the past eight years, plan for future expansion and the addition of needed equipment. “I had some trepidations going into this, not knowing what to expect, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I was able to help clients quite a bit and improve their business processes,” said Loren, 63, also a former engineer. Loren said two of the biggest challenges were overcoming the language barrier and converting to the metric system used in that country. “I had an interpreter, who was 110 pounds (when) wet, and ran everywhere he went. He was in charge of maintenance of the flour mill,” Loren said. Loren and the maintenance man worked to solve an electrical short with the proofing machine in the union’s flour mill and bakery, which had been sending 220 volts into workers for years. “I rotated my hat and became an electrical engineer. We took it apart and, using a simple test kit and jumper wire, found the problem was in the building wiring. Fixing that probably saved somebody’s life down the road,” Loren said. Kathleen said Farmer-to-Farmer works to match U.S. farmers’ expertise with the needs of the communities in East Africa. Her specialty is in budgeting. While Loren worked in Modjo, Kathleen held classes in the small village of Dera, southeast of the Ethiopian capital. She said many of the farmers, half of whom were women, walked five miles each way to come to her class on business planning, cash flow and home budgeting. Cell phones notwithstanding, they were an attentive and inquisitive audience. “They are so hungry for knowledge. They listened, and they all asked good questions. The number one challenge for them is to save money for expansion. So we talked about cutting home expenses,” Kathleen said. Kathleen said the biggest indulgence for these farmers is coffee. Each family member drinks 6-9 cups a day. “The coffee is amazing, but I couldn’t drink that much. It’s so caffeinated it makes me hyper. It has a lot of sugar, as well,” she added. She said another budget allocation each person had was a gift fund. “As a society, they have no (official) support system. There are no food stamps or unemployment payments. So they have created their own social support system. They give each other gifts of food, oil, sugar or money when a family member dies or another emergency hits,” Kathleen said. The major crop for these farmers is teff, which is also the families’ main food staple. The teff is ground up and used to make injera, a crepe-like bread, which is then used as a plate or rolled up to serve as a utensil. “They eat it three times a day. They also use it to feed their livestock. It might be the next ‘super food.’ Farmers are growing it in Indiana and on research farms at Purdue University,” she said. The big obstacle to teff in the U.S. is that the seed is too small for large planters. Some Hoosier farmers are using a seed coating to make it bigger. Other types of ag businesses in Ethiopia are goats, chicken eggs, alcohol, vegetables, oxen, sheep and pony carts to transport people and goods. Kathleen saw some barley, wheat, corn and beans, too. While most farmers throw seed and harvest crops by hand, Kathleen saw a handful of combines and small tractors. Sometimes side by side with the small, dry, dusty farms were large, lush sugarcane operations with the latest equipment and irrigation. Kathleen said she didn’t know if those large sugarcane farms were foreign-owned, foreign-rented or simply larger native farms. Most of the land is owned by the Ethiopian government and rented by farmers, she said. It is hard for farmers to find new land to rent if they want to start out or expand their farms. Bank loans are offered at high interest rates so therefore hard to get and pay back, especially for new or young farmers, because they don’t have leverage, not unlike Hoosier farmers who are starting out, she said. Ethiopians, through CRS, however, have begun their own investment services. They each give of their savings to put into a safe with four locks, and when one of them requires a loan, they can get it at a small interest rate and pay it back within three months, Kathleen said. The Sprouses’ trip was funded by Farmer-to-Farmer, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, a partner of Purdue University. For more information, visit http://1.usa.gov/1Eo0ikz |
