Innovative investment transforms lives in Ethiopia

A new approach by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the IKEA Foundation, and Ethiopian authorities is empowering thousands of refugees and local residents like Ibrahim, devastated by successive droughts, in Ethiopia’s remote Somali region.

Together people are regaining their independence. Under the five-year partnership, some 20,000 metres of irrigation canals have been built turning a desert into valuable agricultural land.

The irrigation scheme was built two years ago. The water comes from the river through the canals and flows into the farms. Everyone has their own canal so the water gets to everyone.

Using the same seeds, tools, and training, Somali refugees and locals are working the land together.

The programme illustrates a wider response to refugee movements known as the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, or CRRF, which calls for a greater emphasis on refugee self-reliance and support to host communities, alongside stronger partnerships and a broader range of actors involved. The approach underpins a new global compact on refugees which is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly by the end of 2018.

Thanks to the project, farmers grow 13 different crops – ranging from tomatoes to onions – which are sold in markets across the country, improving the lives of refugees and local residents alike, says Host Community Chairman Mohamed Kulow Hassan.

Original source: UNHCR
Published on 27 September 2018