Adaba district is located in West Arsi zone of Oromia regional state, and adjacent to Bale Mountains National Park. MELCA-Ethiopia implemented the “Sustainable improvement of the living conditions of small scale famer families in Ethiopia.” project starting from 01-12-2017. Adaba project Project funded by Karl Kubel Stiftung Foundation (KKS).

The direct target group are 1.560 smallholder farmer households (around 12.400 persons) living in the border zones of the Bale Mountains-National park in Adaba District. The selected people are living under the poverty line. Men as well as women will be included in the project. The information and awareness campaigns about health and reproductive health are targeting all 3.600 households in the 4 communities, especially adolescence girls and boys.

The main problems of the target group are identified as follows: limited income opportunities, missing land titles for community members, self-sufficiency in food is not guaranteed for the whole year, malnutrition, depletion of the natural resources (wood and grazing land), limited access to health and education services, less knowledge about reproductive health and family planning. The significant growth of population leads to a raise of livestock and an overuse of the grazes and shortages in animal feed.

The aim of the project is the promotion of income-generating measures and a climate-adapted and sustainable land-use for 3.600 families (around 28.600 persons) from 4 communities in Adaba District. This will be achieved through an integrated approach comprised of the following components: establishment of self-help structures, beekeeping and honey production, animal husbandry and breeding, improved stoves, crop production and family planning.

Due to the support of the communities, the income-generating measures and appropriate land use, small farmers are enabled to feed their families and to be resilient to the consequences of climate change. Through networking with governmental institutions and other NGOs, the sustainability and longevity of the project will be ensured. The project activities will contribute to an improvement of food security and to an increased climate resilience of small-scale farmer families in Ethiopia.

The overall project objective of the project is to Contribute to Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Reduction in the project area. The proposed project has dual outcomes of improving community’s livelihoods, whilst also reducing threats to the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP).

More specifically, the project aims to improve the living conditions of smallholder farmers while contributing to sustainable use of natural resources.