WEBVTT

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There\'s haunting images from 1984
of a population gripped by famine,

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but still how most people
imagine Ethiopia today.

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Vast areas of dry-land scenery, full of thin crops
struggling to survive in an exhausted Earth.

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[sil.]

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This is Konso in the far south of Ethiopia.
It is also a dry land

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and yet it is and always has been one of the
countries more productive agricultural areas.

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All too often dry lands are dismissed

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as unproductive regions with agriculture
collapsing in the face of desertification.

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But this need not be so.
With good farming practice,

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arid and semi-arid lands like Konso can
be great resources for food production.

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Many of the world\'s most
famous breadbaskets,

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including the Americ. an prairies and the
Russian steps, are in semi-arid areas.

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And yet they flourish, and provide
large quantities of food.

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Konso has an average rainfall
of 720 millimeters per year,

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distributed over two rainy seasons and is subject to
twice the evaporation rate of countries in Europe.

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Droughts are common,
particularly in recent years.

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But despite the problems, food
production here remains high entirely

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because of the way this land is farmed.

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Constant attention by the
Konso farmers keeps the soil

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in good condition,
well-conserved, and fertilized.

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The whole community works hard to manage
their soil and limited water resources.

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[non-English narration]

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The village of Gaho in the Konso
islands, people have been living here

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for the past 400 years. Today, it
has a population of just over 1500.

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The entire community along
with their livestock live

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within the village walls,
a closely knit society

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with agriculture as its
sole means of support.

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In this mountainous setting, there
is a real danger of soil erosion.

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No more graphically illustrated than
at the edge of this village near Gaho

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where a potential catastrophe is dramatically unfolding.
The local people call these skyscrapers of Earth New York.

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Progressive erosion continues
to threaten the future

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of the settlement as dried out soil is simply
washed away by the rains when they come.

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[non-English narration]

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Here the constant challenge
is both to protect the soil

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and at the same time retain the
meager rainfall on the farmland.

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Through the generations,

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the Konso farmers have developed their own
individual way of achieving this difficult goal.

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[non-English narration]

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They are well-known throughout
Ethiopia for their hard work

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and unique farming techniques. Their fame
lies in meticulously designed and built

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stone terraces and tie
ridges, squares of Earth

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protected on all four sides that can
serve both the topsoil and water.

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[sil.]

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Farming in Konso is very
much a communal affair.

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The individual farmers all have their own
plots of land, but they farm them as a group,

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weeding and repairing one farmer\'s terraces
before moving on to the next plot.

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There is also a communal area of land that
belongs to the village. The yield from this plot

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goes into a store in the village to help either
individuals or the community when a crop fails.

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The people here

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are fortunate in having good terrace
building materials all around them,

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but it is their care and attention to
detail that makes their work so successful.

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Farmers are normally work in groups

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because if they work individually,
they they work they cannot work fast

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and they can, um, they
couldn\'t do much work.

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But if they are in group,
uh, they couldn\'t get tired

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and they can work for much fields.

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For example, for today they work
from for one person\'s field,

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next for another, and they
can just continue like this.

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Terraces protect the sides of the Konso hills, but
the farmers have developed an alternative method

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of water and soil conservation
on the flatter summits.

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All the hills are covered with these tie ridges,
squares of soil surrounded by an Earth embankment

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designed to protect the soil and crops
in side and to keep water there

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rather than allowing it to run off
down the slopes. The tie ridges

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need regular attention and repair.

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[non-English narration]

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By combining terraces and tie ridges, the Konso farmers
have enjoyed success in their dry environment.

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What is the principle
source of fuel in Konso?

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Well, the farmers here are conscious that
trees have equally important other uses.

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By being planted amongst the terraces,
they are also used as an additional means

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to secure the soil and water on the slopes.
Here they are also carefully pruned

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and covered to provide building materials.

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[sil.]

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Unlike most regions of Ethiopia,
animal dung and household scraps

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are not burned as fuel in Konso.

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The farming community here

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recognizes the value of soil fertilization.
So each family

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creates its own individual compost heap along
the outside of the village wall and later,

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this rich resource is gathered to be spread on the
fields adding to the soil\'s fertility and structure.

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[sil.]

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Weeds and leaves are also fully utilized.

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Terraces and tie ridges secure the land.
But the crop yield

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and quality are enhanced by constant weeding,
more akin to gardening than farming.

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One could be forgiven for thinking that amongst the
Konso people, weeding has become an obsession.

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Everywhere you go, the fields are full of
small groups of people digging up weeds

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and gathering in excess plant growth.
It\'s as if the very presence of a weed

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is an affront to the Konso farmer.

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[non-English narration]

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Unless we weed our fields we
will get no yield from our crops

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after the weeding we collect all the
stalks and leaves as well as the weeds

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and we take it all back to the
village to feed to our cattle.

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We have to keep our cattle in the Village

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Because there is no spare
land around here for pasture

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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There are many crops
grown in, in the field.

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Uh, some, some of them are late maturing

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and some of them are earlier maturing
to minimize risk. So if there is, uh,

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rain stress of rain, they get, uh, uh,

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some for their subsistence.

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In this field alone, there are over
13 different crops including sorghum,

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sunflowers, rapeseed,

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flacks, castor bean,

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coffee leaves, cotton, cassava,

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pigeonpea, yarn,

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and Lablab the leaves of
which are eaten by animals

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and the seeds by humans. In spite
of this large range of crops,

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the farmers hoping to maximize the output of their land are
currently testing new varieties of their main crop sorghum.

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Farm Africa is an agency specializing
in agricultural development work,

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specifically in partnership
with local people. They along

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with the Konso Bureau of Agriculture and the
villages have set up a test field to analyze

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the different yields. Although they
farm using traditional practices,

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they have to be prepared to diversify to
maintain and increase food production.

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Experiences thought the Konso farmers

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that rest periods are needed in order
for the soil to be rejuvenated.

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To prevent erosion during this period, fellow
fields are sown with grass for a three-year period.

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This in turn can be harvested for thatching. Due
to their success, the farming methods of Konso

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was starting to be spread to
other Ethiopian dry lands.

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An adapted version

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of the Konso tie ridge is also being
successfully used in nearby Gidole.

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Here they used the discarded
stalks of the sorghum crop.

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These are piled up in rigids like small fortress
walls to prevent soil and water running off

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from this fertile plain. The
sorghum stalks have been cut back

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in order that new shoots can give a second
retune harvest from the same roots.

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The area is famed for the quality and quantity
of its produce. Like other parts of Ethiopia,

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however, Konso can suffer from
food deficits. At first glance,

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the land may look green and flourishing. But this
can be highly deceptive for unless the rains

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and Sun come at the appropriate time, crops can
fail leaving an expense of unripe and greenery,

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a condition known as a Green Famine.

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To try to protect against drought,
water is harvested. This pond

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is being built to catch and store the flow of a small
river that only appears during the rainy season.

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[sil.]

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The stone walling upstream of the
pond is designed to filter water

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with the dual purpose of
making it cleaner for drinking

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and at the same time preventing the pond from filling up
with (inaudible). Although most Konso farmers concentrate

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on their crops, it is important for them to
diversify to insure against poor harvests.

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Gaho has a new goat and sheeping
pleasure supported by Farm Africa

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who are helping to build
up the quality of the herd

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by introducing new more productive breeding
stock like this Anglo-Nubian buck.

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As well as providing an
alternative food source,

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this also offers potential extra
income for the women of the village

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through the sale of livestock at market.

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The highest spot of any
farming community\'s week

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is market day.

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What\'s on sale here shows not only
the diversity of the food grain,

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but also the quality that successful
dryland farming can produce.

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[sil.]

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The people of Konso do not live
in a marginal area of Ethiopia.

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They have not been forced onto these dry
lands by war or famine. Rather they

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are continuing to adapt land management
techniques learned from their ancestors.

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Around the world, over 1 billion
people live in dry lands.

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With effective soil and water conservation,
these dry lands can be a valuable resource.

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For the people of Konso, their land is their
strength, a fragile with rich resource,

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which can be conserved
for generations to come.

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[non-English narration]

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]