Skip to main content
Emergency Trust Fund for Africa
News article25 April 2018

Growing quinoa in Ethiopia

Ayale Ejigu in her field of quinoa - @European Union
Ayale Ejigu in her field of quinoa - @European Union

There was a shortage of rain this year. I sowed barley, sorghum, haricot bean and quinoa and it was from the quinoa harvest that I got a better yield,” explains Ayale Ejigu, a 50-year-old farmer living in a small village in Dehana, Amhara region.

Four years ago Danish Church Aid introduced quinoa to Ethiopia, with the aim of addressing two big challenges: malnutrition and drought. The crop known in the world as the ‘super food’ contains all the essential food items that are important for growth. Furthermore, it only requires a small amount of rainfall to grow, which strengthens its prospects in Ethiopia.

From a handful of quinoa seeds (0.2kg) received from the EU Resilience Building and Creation of Economic Opportunities in Ethiopia (RESET II) project a year ago, Ayale has collected about 80 kg of quinoa on her first harvest. This is a great success for her and for the community.

Ayale is among the 600 farmers who will benefit from the programme. During the first year of the project, 200 farmers were provided with 0.2kg each of quinoa (40 kg in total) and trained on how to grow and harvest it. In the second phase, the project will buy back the seeds harvested; which will then be distributed as revolving seeds to the remaining 400 targeted farmers.

Details

Publication date
25 April 2018
Region and Country
Ethiopia
Thematic
Greater economic and employment opportunities
Partner
Oxford Committee for Famine ReliefSave the Children

Programmes in the region