Ethiopia
Veterinary Clinics
In rural Ethiopia, few people have access to farm machinery of any kind so animals play a key role in any agricultural enterprise.
Projects funded: 31
Oxen take the place of tractors while donkeys serve as pickup trucks hauling everything from people to produce.
With a new oxen costing more than most farmers make in a year, replacing one that falls ill or dies is beyond the reach of the average family.
According to Tameru Abasaba, A Glimmer of Hope’s country representative, the loss of one of these animals can have a devastating effect on a family that is dependent on subsistence farming as a means of survival.
“If a farmer sells off his annual produce to pay more than Birr 1,200 (US$140) for an ox and he loses it to sleeping sickness, anthrax or black leg, he has lost both his previous year’s production [to buy the ox] and the ox itself,” Tameru said.
“In the worst cases, families lose all their livestock and fall into a cycle of absolute poverty that they can not break out of.”
It is no accident that much of the world’s most acute poverty exists in regions of Africa that are infested with the tsetse fly that carries sleeping sickness. In Ethiopia, sleeping sickness is the leading cause of death among farm animals.
Each year, Africa loses an estimated $4 billion in crop production because of the insect’s impact on animals used in farming and this staggering number does not even take into account losses in areas such as dairy and beef production.
Situated high above sea level in an isolated corner of southwestern Ethiopia, Aba Jara receives plenty of rainfall and the area is lush, green and fertile. Its farmers have never had any serious problems getting their crops to grow but keeping their oxen, horses, goats and donkeys alive has always been a different story.
Today, thousands of rural families are benefiting from A Glimmer of Hope’s investment in veterinary clinics which are staffed by trained veterinarians and stock with the medicines need to combat sleeping sickness and other major diseases.
As a direct result of the animals receiving the treatment they need when they need it, their owners are benefiting from their continued good health. In addition to producing more meat to eat, more milk to drink and more hides to sell, they are in turn producing more healthy animals which contribute towards an increase in overall agricultural production.
Improved survival rates are also resulting in surpluses that the farmers are able to drive to market and sell for additional income.
