Story summary

50-year-old Fetwo Gebre Egziabher, a single mother of four kids, lives in Ethiopia's Central Tigray region. On the land they owned, Ms. Fetwo and her family used to support themselves by subsistence farming. She used the land she owned in the Likenaye Kebelle to raise her four children by growing crops. Ms. Fetwo's three other children have all married and moved away to live on their own, so she currently resides with her eldest son, 20-year-old Abreha*.

Fetwo's home, Likenaye Kebelle, was among the locations badly impacted by the two-year-long Northern conflict. All of the productive crops grown on her farm and the items kept in storage in her house were taken during the initial round of fighting in October 2020. She planted some seedlings by stealing them and was about to harvest when another fierce conflict broke out in her neighbourhood, setting fire to all the fields in an effort to keep going.

Fetwo had nothing left, so she fled her house and spent hours walking on foot in an attempt to save her own and her son's life. They fled the conflict in their neighbourhood and lived elsewhere for several months. They are in dire need of humanitarian aid, and their situation has not improved much in the year since the Pretoria peace accord.

Fetwo's family was given new hope for a better life when the last July rainy season arrived and Save the Children provided help for improved teff and chickpea seedlings. She planted the plants in collaboration with her neighbors.  Ms. Fetwo's farm has attained very high productivity after three months of nonstop, conscientious work without the use of additional fertilizers or agricultural inputs.

The armed conflict in the northern region significantly impacted Ms. Fetwo's and her family life, causing her much hardship in her recovery. However, the Save the Children's livelihood project provided hope as she worked to rebuild her livelihood after enduring significant losses.

While crop yields this season are favorable, Ms. Fetwo's journey to recovery is not yet complete. Despite a fruitful farm, Ms. Fetwo needs to maintain her health and strength to continue harvesting and supporting herself. However, they still do not have enough food for their daily sustenance and healthy living.

Today, Fetwa and her neighbours require ongoing access to clean water, food, and medical care in their remote area as local water sources and health facilities were completely destroyed during the conflict.

Strong quotes: 

Fetwo’s story in her own words (Quotes): 

“I am Fetwo, a mother of four children - three daughters who now live independently after marriage. Previously, my family relied solely on agriculture for our livelihood, as I raised my younger children through farming. However, the prolonged conflict in Northern Ethiopia upended our lives and left us with nothing.”

“When I returned home with my son to start over, we faced significant challenges. Beginning anew from nothing in a place where we had witnessed the deaths of neighbors and thousands of soldiers was difficult and required resilience.”

“It was during this time Save the Children came to my house help, providing improved teff seedlings for my farm and encouragement to plant despite mine and my son empty stomachs. The consistent support I received empowered me to persevere through hardship and work toward a better future.

Conditions here remain harsh, as we lack access to safe water after intentional destruction of local ponds. We also have no means to maintain basic hygiene, further impacting our health in addition to ongoing hunger.

My son and I remain eternally grateful for the assistance of Save the Children that brought hope during our darkest moments. We pray for continued health and strength to withstand hunger until our harvest, with support from neighbors, allows us to sustain ourselves through farming once more.

Background / Project information 

Save the Children has been providing humanitarian assistance in the Tigray region since the breakup of the Northern Conflict. Taking the leading role in providing cash transfers for the IDP, NFI kits, medicine and mobile health clinic services, including child vaccinations, and the provision of inclusive education for children in the IDP centers, Save has been there with its uninterrupted support to communities affected by conflict.

With the provision of continuous support and follow-ups in collaboration with the regional bureau of agriculture and Zonal as well as Woreda agriculture experts and Development Agents (DA), there has been change among the residents while they started to see the results of their three months efforts. This project benefited more than 1024 household farmers (close to 5000 family members) in two Woredas and four Kebeles with Teff and Chickpea improved seeds provisions. This project of resilience has been funded by the Swedish Solidarity.