Nourishing Lives - Winter 2019

Nourishing Lives - Winter 2019

Final Impact Report prepared for the Sprott Foundation Winter, 2019 Nourishing Lives

Table of Contents

04 A note from our founders 06 The global impact of nutritious food 08 Spotlight on Kenya 10 Growing food security 12 Supporting farmers in Rongena 13 The impact of beekeeping in Kenya 14 Bernard’s Buzzing Business 16 Improving the nutrition of students 17 Fueling the next generation 18 Spotlight on Ecuador

20 Increasing capacity of cacao farmers 22 A cacao graveyard comes back to life 24 Promoting happy, healthy students 25 Building healthy communities 28 Supporting the needs of farmers 30 Promoting healthy households 31 Harvesting hope 32 Growing new opportunities

26 Spotlight on India

34 Spotlight on Ethiopia 36 Growing our impact 38 Thank you

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A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDERS Dear members of the Sprott Foundation,

We are incredibly grateful to the Sprott Foundation for your steadfast commitment to WE.

In 2016 we set out with a bold vision to tackle food insecurity in rural communities across Kenya, India, Ecuador and Ethiopia. Our goal was to do more than just feed families, but to empower communities with the resources to feed themselves. Through the establishment of robust training programs, and large-scale and community farms, we would enable over 1 billion nutritious meals in the next 25 years, transforming the landscape of food security. It is truly inspiring to see all that has happened in just three short years, thanks to your vision and unwavering commitment to

a food secure world. In this report, we are excited to reflect on the amazing accomplishments that we have achieved together. Thank you for your heartfelt belief in our work together, and most of all, for your incredible friendship. Warmest, Carig, Marc and the WE Team

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SPOTLIGHT ON YOUR IMPACT The global impact of nutritious food

The United Nations estimates that 815 million people around the world suffer from chronic undernourishment. A lack of access to adequate nutrition results in serious health consequences, especially for children. We set out to transform the landscape of food security by working to empower community members throughout Kenya, India, Ecuador and Ethiopia with the knowledge and skills to improve their agricultural pursuits. Through the dedication and commitment of the Sprott Foundation, we have made significant steps towards creating a more food secure world. The six key outcomes created from your investment include: Diversify the food available to families and increase the knowledge on how to cook new foods. Catalyze the production of billions of meals across tens of thousands of community members over the next 25 years.

Dramatically increase health rates, focusing on decreasing stunting, malnourishment and deaths of children under 5.

Stabilize school attendance rates among primary school-aged children.

Increase graduation rates for both boys and girls.

Equip the next generation with the tools and skills necessary to ensure their families will never know the feeling of food insecurity.

We are excited to share that in just three short year, we are already seeing progress and success in all areas. The following pages highlight many of the success stories that you have helped to create.

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Kenya

Your incredible dedication to our food programming in Kenya is empowering community members to build a better and healthier future.

One of the most prominent issues in Kenya is the challenge of food insecurity. This instability has created many negative health outcomes, including chronic malnutrition and child stunting, effecting a overall quality of life for community members. It is estimated that more than 10 million Kenyans experience chronic hunger, demonstrating the strong need for improved food security in the country. With environmental changes, such as increased desertification and shifting weather patterns, farmers in our partner communities consistently suffered fromcrop failure, leaving families vulnerable to high rates of malnutrition and starvation. ​ This became more evident in 2011 when Kenya suffered its worst drought in 60 years, affecting more than 3.7 million people. The drought had devastating

effects on the country such as escalating malnutrition rates, desiccating crops, rising food prices, decimating livestock populations and forcing many families to remove their children from school to migrate in search of water. ​Examining the drastic effects the drought had on families in Kenya, we realized the importance of developing a proactive and holistic stance to improve food security. ​ With your generous gift towards our Food Pillar of Impact, we are working with the government and communities to implement school nutrition programs, school gardens, community farms and agricultural trainings. Through these robust programs, we are providing holistic and sustainable solutions to support the needs of parents, students, farmers and community members across our partner communities in Kenya.

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OUTCOMES OF WE’S FOOD PROGRAMMING IN KENYA

+282,900 Kilograms of fresh

produce was harvested from open field farms across our partner communities.

+95,800 Kilograms of fresh produce was harvested

from greenhouses across our partner communities.

+59,700 Liters of milk were produced from community animal farms.

+460 Trainings were delivered to farmers across community farms in Kenya.

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SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY FARMS Growing food security

By supporting community farms, you are providing farmers with the resources to improve food security right in their own communities.

Approximately 90% of the Kenyan population living in rural areas depends on agriculture for their household income. The majority of these farmers cultivate small fragments of land utilizing traditional farming techniques. With limited knowledge on modern agricultural farming methods, many farmers cannot grow enough food to feed their families and suffer from a lack of food security, which has a direct impact on a community’s access to education, quality of health, livelihoods and overall quality of life. To improve food security in our partner communities, we have established community farms to provide local farmers with essential trainings on modern agricultural techniques such as inter-cropping, pesticide use, post-harvest storage, livestock management and nutrition. These trainings teach participants about the entire farming process, from

preparing the fields to planting, nurturing, harvesting, storing and preparing the food to eat. This farm-to-table approach ensures that participants have a holistic view of food production so they can implement the lessons on their own farms and make the best choices to ensure their families have the proper nutrition. Utilizing the skills learned from the agricultural trainings, farmers can increase their crop yields, providing them with more food to feed their families and surplus food to sell at local markets. The money earned from selling crops can also be used to reinvest in their farms and purchase additional food to feed their families, diversifying diets and reducing the rates of micro-nutrient deficiencies. With increased access to a variety of nutritious foods, we are empowering families with improved nutrition and food security, ensuring they can live healthy and productive lives.

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SPOTLIGHT COMMUNITY FARMS Supporting farmers in Rongena

Many farmers in Rongena cultivate small fragments of land utilizing traditional farming techniques. With limited knowledge on modern agricultural farming methods, these farmers cannot grow enough food to feed their families and suffer from a lack of food security, directly impacting the community’s quality of life.

To improve food security in Rongena, we have established a Community Farm that provides local farmers with essential trainings onmodern agricultural techniques such as intercropping, pesticide use, post-harvest storage, livestock management and nutrition. For local farmers like Leonard, the Community Farm has been an invaluable resource to improving his farming outputs. “The farm has been a great place for community members to come and learn,” Leonard says. “Most of us only grow maize and beans, but at the Community Farmwe grow different types of vegetables that thrive in this region.” Community members are taking the knowledge and skills and using them to grow these

vegetables at their homes.” By growing a variety of crops, farmers are diversifying the diets of their families, reducing malnutrition rates and ensuring they have the necessary vitamins and nutrients to grow strong. Furthermore, by utilizing the skills learned at the Community Farm, farmers can improve their crops yields, providing them with more food to feed their families and surplus food to sell at local markets. For Leonard, he has already begun growing kale and tomatoes at his home garden to help improve his family’s diet and has participated in trainings on irrigation methods and fertilizer use. He is looking forward, to applying more of the skills learned on his own farm and engaging in more trainings to build a better future for his family.

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SPOTLIGHT ON BEEKEEPING The Impact of Beekeeping in Kenya

Over the last decade there has been a serious decline in pollinators such as bees, which has created an increased demand for pollinator- related products. Nearly 75% of the world’s crop species depend in part on bees and other pollinators for sustained production, yield and quality. With your incredible gift, we established the beekeeping program in Kenya to meet this demand by supporting bee populations while providing a sustainable livelihood for families. The program provides local community members with beehives and capacity-building trainings to produce and sell honey, allowing them to earn a consistent source of income. Through the sale of honey-based products, families will have the income to send their children to school, access health care, purchase nutritious food and improve their standard of living.

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Beehives have been distributed, and we are on track to distribute another 230. Beneficiaries from across ten different community groups have participated in the beekeeping program. Kilograms of honey and beeswax has been harvested.

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SPOTLIGHT ON BEEKEEPING Bernard’s Buzzing Business

Bernard works as a farmer, growing maize and raising livestock to provide for his wife and six children. However, often Bernard struggled to earn enough to support his family. As a result, Bernard joined the Sukutek Men’s Group to try to improve his household income. When the Sukutek Men’s Group joined the beekeeping program, Bernard was eager to begin. As he explains, “Although beekeeping is traditional, it was not a common practice in our community and that’s why after we received a training on apiculture, we saw an opportunity and chose to give it a try.” WE worked with the group providing

capacity-building trainings on topics such as apiary management, beekeeping safety and beehive colonization, ensuring the group’s success managing their ten beehives. Since receiving the beehives, the group has had several successful harvests, selling the honey at local markets and reinvesting the profits back into other income-generating activities, such as livestock and crop farming. Looking to the future, Bernard is hopeful. “We wish to expand the project so that we can increase the production and revenue,” Bernard says. “We hope to use the funds we get from the honey to boost our crop and livestock farming.”

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM Improving the nutrition of students

To help support the nutrition needs of students, we work in close partnership with communities to build kitchens, dining halls and gardens at the local schools. These spaces provide students with adequate shelter from extreme weather, and a hygienic place for community members to cook healthy meals. Using the fruits and vegetables grown at the school garden, students receive nutritious meals throughout their school day to ensure they have enough energy to focus in class. With the sustainability of these projects in mind, we also provide trainings on topics such as food preparation and kitchen sanitation, nutrition and hygiene. Gardens also provide a central location for students and community members to practice with new tools and partake in agricultural trainings. By implementing programming at the school level, we are ensuring that students are receiving the nutrition they need to actively participate in their classes and get the education of their dreams.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM Fueling the next generation

Hillary Korir has been a teacher at Kipsongol Primary School since 2015. During his four years as a teacher, Hillary has witnessed the challenges students face accessing meals throughout the day. “Most students usually have early breakfasts at home before going to school while others don’t get breakfast at home and came to school on an empty stomach,” he explains. “They usually had to wait until late in the day to have another meal and as a result, by the time it was mid- morning and early afternoon they were too hungry to focus.” This had a negative impact on the quality of education students were receiving as many had difficulty concentrate during class and couldn’t retain their lessons.

However, since partnered with the community and implemented the School Nutrition Program, Hillary has seen a drastic change in his students. “The program has been beneficial to our students. We have been offering porridge twice a day and this has ensured that students aren’t hungry and remain alert in class,” shares Hillary. “It has also been helpful for parents who can’t always afford to provide a big breakfast for their children.” Now, thanks to your support students at Kipsongol Primary School are receiving the meals they need to make the most of their education and build a brighter future.

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Ecuador

It is because of your amazing commitment, that we are empowering farmers in Ecuador with the resources to engage in successful farming activities that will increase their productivity and create a sustainable source of income.

In Ecuador, farmers have relied on traditional methods of farming for generations. However, these methods often do not provide farmers with a stable source of food and income to support their families. Additionally, many families in Ecuador have limited knowledge of nutritionwhich leads to uninformed decisions regarding food choices and as a result, one in four children under the age of five suffers from stunting. To tackle unhealthy eating habits and improve food security, we

work with communities in the Amazon and Chimborazo regions of Ecuador to construct school kitchens, dining halls, community gardens and greenhouses, as well as teaching community members about the nutritional value of eating well. These projects, in addition to the WE Agricultural Learning Centre, a robust farm and training centre in the Amazon, is providing long-term sustainable solutions that will impact the health and well being of families for generations to come.

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OUTCOMES OF WE’S FOOD PROGRAMMING IN ECUADOR

+16,500 Kilograms of cacao was produced at the WE ALC and school gardens.

+620 Trainings have been delivered to farmers at the WE ALC.

+460 Kilograms of tilapia were harvested at the WE ALC fish farm.

+160 Agricultural trainings have been delivered to students at across our partner communities.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE WE AGRICULTURAL LEARNING CENTRE Increasing the capacity of cacao farmers

The WE Agricultural Learning Centre is training farmers on modern farming techniques to revive failing crops and create a sustainable future.

Ecuador was once the world’s largest cacao exporter, until colonists brought plant diseases and foreign crops. Centuries of colonial rule have isolated rural and Indigenous families from plots with the best soil, market access and formal agricultural training, leaving farmers with an abundance of cacao trees that they don’t understand. To support the needs of these cacao farmers, we have established the WE Agricultural Learning Centre(WE ALC) in the Amazon region of Ecuador. This 170+ acre farm, has become a foundational resource for farmers across the region. Since its opening in 2017, theWE ALC has facilitated educational workshops on topics including crop spacing, pruning, irrigation and proper ratios of shade to sunlight. Farmers from our partner communities have had the opportunity to get hands- on experience in our flourishing cacao fields. Within the last six months, the demonstration farm

has produced over 1,200 pounds of cacao and the team has planted 300 additional cacao plants. Currently the team is working on grafting buds from the adult plants to the young plants, a process that ensures the new plants replicate the healthy characteristics of the adult. The team is planning on grafting 1,500 plants with different cacao species to support the sustainability of the farm. We have been working to expand our programming to include animal husbandry and fish farming. The farm currently has established tilapia ponds and has recently acquired coops for a poultry farm. Once fully established we will incorporate these practices into our farmer training workshops, giving local farmers the skills, they need to raise their own livestock. This will provide them with an additional source of income to better their farming outputs and support their families.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE WE AGRICULTURAL LEARNING CENTRE A cacao graveyard comes back to life

Melquiades Coello, head instructor at the WE Agricultural Learning Centre talks about cacao farming with all the drama and intrigue of a soap opera. “When you meet a new lover,” he says, meaning a cacao plant, “you have to get to know them before you fall in love.”

His audience, a group of small-scale farmers fromEcuador’s Amazon basin, chuckles audibly. They’re gathered for the inaugural cacao training at the WE ALC because their fields are full of distant lovers that need more attention. One of these farmers is Flora Andy, who abandoned her cacao crop when it failed to produce enough fruit and has since taken out a loan to start again but doesn’t have the tools to care for it. During the six-month course, Andy and nearly 100 other farmers will soak up Coello’s wisdom in a fight to save their crops, which are dying without proper care. “This is an opportunity that they’ve never had in their lives,” Coello says. He and theWE ALC team have been working since 2017, constructing a state-of- the-art classroom and building trust with local farmers to give them a chance to cultivate their skills and improve their lives. The 43-year-old has been raising the country’s cacao since he was a boy, when his father gave him 300 plants and told him to use money from the harvest to put himself through school. Now he’s passing on that tough love. That afternoon, the group departs the classroom for the practice plot, 170 acres of farmland along the Napo riverbank. Trimming is the first practical lesson on the syllabus. Farmers line up to borrowhand-held pruners, the hardware-store

variety easily obtained by suburban gardeners with rose bushes. Many, despite having cacao in their families for generations, have never even held the tool. Instead, the farmers allowMother Nature to take over, watching as branches flex to the sky and leaves crowd each other. “This is one of their biggest mistakes”, says Coello. Traipsing through the jungle, the farmers come to a halt at the first sight of the demonstration plot. In the coming months, the farmers will practice new techniques on these prototypes without risking their own harvests. Coello and the entire WE ALC team have spent the last two years clearing land for its classrooms, cultivating the practice field, seeding the idea of a training program with locals and crafting a curriculum, all to help these farmers improve their quality of life. He hopes the WE ALC will spark new traditions, starting with rumors about a training program that can revive failing crops and rekindle the country’s old romance with cacao. With the first hundred farmers in training, harvests will improve, and word will spread. Like his students, Coello must be patient while he slowly, painstakingly changes their protocols, all the while knowing what’s at stake if they succeed. He seems to repeat his mantra for his own sake as much as for the farmers. “Everything we do, we do with love and faith.”

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SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOL KITCHENS AND GARDENS Promoting happy, healthy students To improve the nutrition and overall health of students, we work in close partnership with communities to build kitchens, dining halls and gardens at the local schools. These spaces provide students with a safe place for meals and snacks to be prepared and eaten. The mothers in the community participate in a kitchen committee that takes turns cooking meals using the outputs of the school gardens. WE also hosts capacity building workshops for the women on food preparation, nutrition and the importance of hygiene and sanitary practices during food preparation. The school gardens provide fruits and vegetable that ensure student lunches contain the sustenance and nutrition they require to stay focused on their education. Gardens also act as a central location for students and community members to practice with new tools and partake in advanced agricultural techniques and training. To date, we have built school gardens, kitchens and dining halls in nearly all of our partner communities. We are pleased to share that in the upcoming years, we will be constructing greenhouses at schools across our partner communities in the Chimborazo region. Typically, this area suffers from extreme weather conditions due to its elevation levels and these greenhouses will ensure that communities have access to nutritious foods throughout the year.

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SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOL KITCHENS AND GARDENS Building healthy communities

Saúl Aguindaworks as a farmer in the community of Bellavista and spends his days in the jungle tending to his crops. Despite the long hours, Saúl finds fulfillment in his work.“My favorite activity is working in my fields; I enjoy the time in nature.” His job provides enough income for him to support his family and send both of his children to the local primary school. For him, it is important that his children receive a quality education. “I want to see kids improving their education and becoming professionals. I want to see my daughter becoming a teacher and having her own students” When he heard thatWEwas going to be working to build a new kitchen and dining hall at the local primary school, he was eager to lend his support. Over the past six months, Saúl and 19 other community members have participated in

community coordinated mingas (an Ecuadorian tradition where community members come together to work on a project for the greater good) to provide support in the construction of the kitchen and dining hall. Once completed, the dining hall will provide a place for over 50 students to enjoy healthy lunches during the school day. The kitchen will be used by parents and teachers to prepare nutritious meals using the fruits and vegetables grown in the school garden. “Students used to eat their meals under a shaded place however the roof is now damaged, and students are forced to eat their meals on the sidewalks. This new space will be more comfortable for them”, Saúl explains. “It’s a great help having been able to work withWE.”

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India

By addressing the need for improved food security in India, together we are empowering families with the resources to break the cycle of poverty.

Food security and malnutrition are two of the key challenges for families in India. Half of all women and children in Rajasthan are malnourished. The greatest barrier in overcoming these challenges are the extended periods of drought that impede the growth of crops. Rural communities suffer from low rainfall and ground water levels, own poor-quality livestock and rely on outdated farming techniques and tools. As many families source their food and income from their farms, low yields can force farmers to look for short term manual labor to supplement their income in order to feed their families all year. When the community has access to sustainable and nutritious food sources, their overall quality of life, including access to education and health are improved. With access to irrigation during the

dry season for agriculture and animal husbandry activities, families have better agricultural outcomes and will not need to search elsewhere for a stable source of food and income. This makes it more likely that families will send their children to school rather than keep them at home to help with the farm. In addition, the availability of nutritious lunches provides an incentive for students to attend school and they have better educational outcomes as they are more attentive in class and able to better process what they are learning. Through food security programming, such as agricultural training and distribution of agriculture resources, families are learning techniques to improve the yields of their farms and to grow more diverse and nutritious foods. This is allowing families to be self- sufficient now and in the future.

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OUTCOMES OF WE’S FOOD PROGRAMMING IN INDIA

+160 Trainings were delivered to farmers.

+1,000 Kilograms of corn was harvested at the WE Farm.

950 Kilograms of improved wheat was harvested at the WE Farm.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE WE FARM Supporting the needs of farmers

With your support, the WE Farm is empowering farmers in India with the tools and knowledge to keep their families food secure.

The WE Farm is fully operational and providing training to farmers across our partner communities. The one-acre property has a demonstration farm, goat farm, irrigation system and training centre. These all work together to provide farmers in our partner communities the opportunity to learn improved farming practices and techniques that they can implement on their own farms. This empowers them with the knowledge, skills and tools to improve their farm’s productivity allowing them to grow a brighter future for them and their families. Thanks to your support, the WE Farm has already expanded its programming to more farmers across our partner communities. The WE Farm hosted over 160 training sessions. These trainings

included the use of improved crop seeds, pest control, pasture development, use of fertilizer, row planting, intercropping, care of Sirohi goats and post-harvest storage practices. In support of local schools and aganwadi in our partner communities, the WE Farm harvested and distributed summer green gram from their crops at the end of the summer agriculture season. With monsoon season beginning, the WE Farm planted Kharif crop which can weather the increased precipitation alongside improved variety of corn, soya and vegetable seeds. These provide a good demonstration to farmers visiting the WE Farm, the types and variety of foods that they can grow in their own farms.

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SPOTLIGHT ON AGRICULTURAL TRAINING Promoting healthy households

To address the need for improved food security at the household level, we are continuing to educate community members on the benefits of growing vegetable gardens at their homes. Home gardens are an effective method to add essential vitamins and protein to the household diet, improving health while educating community members on the importance of nutrition. With your support, we are conducting trainings with community members where they learn proper agronomic practices to improve crop productivity. Some of the topics include: use of improved seeds, fertilizer use, post-harvest storage, pasture development, water access and management, and use of improved agricultural tools and techniques. To further support the agricultural outputs of households, we distribute agricultural inputs such as seeds fertilizer and tools. All inputs are acquired locally and provide an opportunity for community members to practice their learnings on their own family farms and gardens.

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SPOTLIGHT ON AGRICULTURAL TRAINING Harvesting Hope

Hirki Bai lives with her husband in the community of Antri. She loves to cook, farm and raise her cattle which serves as a vital source of food for the household. The challenges faced by Hirki are common among many farmers in India. There have been times where she found it difficult to grow and sell enough crops. “We used to go out for work so that we can have more grains for the family while also relying on government assistance.” In addition to this barrier, Hirki and her husband have a difficult time buying quality seeds and other materials needed to ensure they grow healthy crops. She explains, “I couldn’t buy the fertilizers or medicine needed for the crops due to a lack of funds which led us to relying on manure. Since the introduction of WE’s Agriculture program, Hriki’s life has changed dramatically.

She has been attending training sessions with her husband to learn about maintaining and improving their crops. The result of these workshops has been essential in allowing Hriki to grow corn, wheat, soya beans and more. It has also led to them learning about using new tools and methods of cropping. She explains that, “Intercropping has been very beneficial for our farming needs.” By introducing these new practices, Hriki is seeing an increase in the quantity of harvest which makes her financially independent. Hriki is tremendously happy with these positive changes. Her greatest wish is to lead a healthy life without facing any troubles and wishes for her community to experience a prosperous future, that would lift them out of the cycle of poverty.

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SPOTLIGHT ON AGRICULTURAL TRAINING Growing new opportunities

Prem raj Bhil is 63 years-old and lives in the community of Kalinjar with his wife. Together, they raised eight children. With six of their children living and raising their own families they now live with their daughter-in-law and two sons.

Prem raj works at the local school to earn an income and when he’s not there, he’s working on his farm to provide food for his family. Raising a large family provided many challenges, the biggest was providing food for them daily. Every year Prem raj faced difficulties harvesting enough food from his farm to feed his family. “I had old tools, poor quality crop seeds and no knowledge of good agricultural practices.” He spent more money on local seeds due to poor germination and low yields. He could not even consider growing a second crop as their farm did not have enough water available for it. Every year Prem raj faced the difficulty of producing enough food for his family. With not enough to harvest from his own farm, Prem raj had to purchase grains and other produce from the market which are much more costly. Prem raj’s daughters helped on the farm while he, his wife and sons took on additional labour work to earn supplemental income in order to make these purchases. “I always regret that because of the challenges of obtaining enough food for the family, I was not able to educate my daughters.” Since the introduction of WE into the community of Kalinjar, Prem raj has participated in all the agriculture programs provided. This includes training on intercropping corn and soya beans, growing a vegetable garden, using new tools,

and post-harvest management. From the various trainings, Prem raj was able to prepare his fields with a plough, use fertilizer to aid crop growth and use improved seed plantation methods. All of this alongside rehabilitation of the local well has increased his farm’s production of corn drastically. For the first time, Prem raj was able to plant two crops in one year, corn and wheat. With the increased well capacity, he’s even looking towards adding summer green gram as a third crop on his farm. His family also grows a vegetable garden providing more variety to their food. “The vegetables we eat are much healthier and have more protein than before. Now, my family has enough food for the whole year.” Prem raj no longer needs to worry about how to earn additional income to purchase food for his family as he’s able to provide healthy meals from his farm. He’s constantly using the knowledge from the trainings and looking to the future. He’s now working on a kitchen garden that will grow six different kinds of vegetables and maximizing the output fromhis current crops. Prem raj is happy to see the changes that have come to his community since WE was introduced. “I am very sure that my sons and their family will never be hungry. I believe that every child in the community will be happy, go to school and live a healthy life.”

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Ethiopia

Together, we are providing communities in Ethiopia with sustainable solutions to create lasting impacts that will support the nutrition and health of families for generations to come.

The devastating famine in Ethiopia in 1984 caught the world’s attention, with images of starving children, dry grass and poor infrastructure. Since the drought, these images are still strong, but it’s time our perceptions catch up with reality. Ethiopia’s economy has grown significantly every year and investments in sectors such as education and health have more than doubled the country’s literacy rates, especially among women. However, Ethiopia still faces significant challenges in other areas such as food insecurity. Ethiopia has diverse barriers for agriculture and food security, and specific obstacles in the northern region of Tigray. Ranking 98th on the food security index, Ethiopia faces existing challenges such as lack of dietary diversity and new

ones, such as climate change. Agriculture is the main economic activity in Tigray and thus, a significant and indispensable contribution to food security for community members. The majority of production is small- holder mixed crop and livestock farming which are currently struggling due to drought and climate change. National chronic malnutrition rates are high with many children under five years of age stunted and affected by acute malnutrition. Similar rates are found in Tigray where we work. By empowering people with the tools and knowledge they need to grow drought-resistant and nutrient dense crops, as well as supplementing school nutrition programs, we can achieve significant, lasting food security impacts.

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“This new food program at the WE farm has brought hope for my future. I am applying what I learned from the training and I can’t wait to see what comes in the future” -Birhane Abrha, agricultural training participant.

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SPOTLIGHT ON AGRICULTURAL TRAININGS Growing our impact

The WE farm is providing valuable trainings to build the capacity of local farmers and increase their food security.

In order to address the issues around malnutrition and food insecurity in Ethiopia, we have created a program that aims to solve many of the food security challenges in our partner communities including: introduce nutrient rich plants such as Moringa, increased awareness of irrigation methods to offset effects of drought, trainings focused on fruits and vegetable plantation, poultry production and management, and financial literacy and t school nutrition programs. The agricultural training sessions enable all community members the opportunity to practice and

become familiar with new foods and preparation techniques. With a focus on both theoretical and practical trainings, participants are equipped with the skills and confidence necessary to implement the interventions on their own farms, improving their agricultural productivity. Furthermore, the trainings empower farmers to become knowledge-keepers in their communities. Farmers are then able to share the skills they learned with other community members, greatly increasing the impact they are able to create.

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Thank you

Wearetrulygrateful foryourunwavering generosity and support. It is incredible to see what we have accomplished together over the past three years. Your commitment has allowed us to be at the forefront of food security programming and has built a strong foundation that will continue to transform communities for years to come. On behalf of the families around the world...

Asante sane. Gracias. Dhanyawad. Ameseginalehu. Thank you.

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Together We Can Change the World

For more information please contact: Kim Plewes E: [email protected] P: 1.647.462.2741