Map of Ethiopia

Transforming Lives

In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, Mariye Amsalu stands in front of the bee colonies his youth group manages.

In Ethiopia, the 2015-2016 El Niño-induced drought and consecutive poor rainy seasons triggered the worst water shortage the highlands had seen in more than 50 years.

 A woman from Gelesha Kebele takes part in the participatory forest resources assessment.

As the fish cannot live without water, so can’t the Majang community without the forest.” This is a traditional saying of the Majang people of Ethiopia. Despite the intrinsic connection between the Godere forest and the people’s survival, their forest has been shrinking over the last several years.

Community Members Collect Water

Access to safe drinking water is critical to a community’s health and livelihood. But in rural Ethiopia, many communities lack such access. Even reaching a source of water can take several hours on foot. And these distant water sources often have to be shared with livestock, resulting in unsafe water.

A women’s care group gathers to discuss health and nutrition practices.

In the highlands of Ethiopia, malnutrition affects 44 percent of children under 5, and as many as 81 percent of all cases of child undernutrition go untreated.

USAID beneficiaries stand in front of a mango tree and sugarcane plants.

In the highlands of Amhara, Ethiopia, nearly 700 kilometers from the country’s capital, families often do not know where their next meal is coming from. In the drought-prone region of northeastern Amhara, households have difficulty accessing basic necessities of food and water due to extreme topography and scarce water resources.

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