With an estimated 52 million cattle, 36 million sheep, 35 million goats and 5 million camels in 2009, Ethiopia has Africa’s largest livestock population. Pastoralist communities are highly dependent on income from livestock to pay for food, health services and school fees. Since 2005, USAID has supported the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program to create a National Livestock Market Information System (NLMIS) in Ethiopia. The NLMIS helps Ethiopian pastoralists make better decisions on when to sell their livestock and earn increased income during times of economic hardship.
Tariku Midergo started a coffee processing project with family support in 1998 near Yeragalem town in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities People’s (SNNP) Region. While establishing his business, Midergo heard about a new USAID-sponsored loan program and approached one of USAID’s partner banks, the Bank of Abyssinia, participating in the Development Credit Authority program, to get capital to establish and expand his business. Midergo praises USAID Ethiopia’s loan guarantee program because simple and straightforward procedures make loans accessible to small entrepreneurs like him.
In recognition of USAID’s 50th Anniversary, USAID co-sponsored the EVERY ONE half-marathon in Awassa, Ethiopia, along with Save the Children and the Great Ethiopian Run, a local NGO founded by world marathon record-holder Haile Gebreselassie. The event sought to raise awareness about efforts to reduce maternal, newborn, and child deaths.
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