PELUM Ethiopia Consortium

21/03/2026

ኸአእምሮ የማይጠፋው እረፍት አልባው ጀግናችን ያረፈው መቼ ነበር ታስታውሳላችሁ?

21/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/100069655729635/posts/1266417032356809/

22/02/2026

On February 21, 2026, PELUM Ethiopia, in collaboration with various member and partner organizations, held a one-day event in Wolaita S**o titled “Strengthening Agroecology Forum in Enset and Root Crop Areas through Recognizing and Valuing our Traditional Food and Seeds.” The event attracted participants from government bodies, including the Horticulture Development Directorate and the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, as well as member organizations, farmers, and local officials. The agenda included welcoming remarks by Dr. Hailu Araya from PELUM Ethiopia, keynote speeches from several government representatives, and an engaging discussion about the significance of preserving genetic diversity in enset and root crops for food security, amidst challenges posed by climate change and modernization.

The event culminated in a "BIG EVENT" featuring an exhibition of traditional foods and planting materials related to enset and root crops, showcasing the rich agricultural heritage of Southern Ethiopia. The highlights included a blessing prayer by Priest Alemayehu, and the participation of various stakeholders who emphasized the need to establish an Agroecology Forum for the Enset and Root Crop area. The forum aims to enhance collaboration among local farmers, government offices, and research institutions. Additionally, participants agreed to celebrate an annual “Enset Week” to coincide with critical agricultural events such as plantation and processing, with plans to elevate this observance to a national scale. The day concluded with a vibrant exhibition of traditional dishes, prepared by local women, reflecting the rich cultural and culinary diversity of the region.

16/02/2026

Today (16 February 2026) a consultativeWorkshop on "Strategic Partnership Building for Participatory Infigenous Chicken Conservation and Development Program in Tigray) at Northern Start Hotel (Mekele). It is organized by College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (CVAS), Faculty of Animals Sciences, Mekele University (MU) in collaboration with PELUM Ethiopia.

The consultative workshop was started by welcoming speech by Dr Nigus Abebe(CVAS Dean); Opening speech by Dr Eyasu Yazew (MU Vice President). Keynote speech was resumed by Dr Eyasu Abreha and Dr Hailu Araya of ATI/ Advksor to the Regional President and Director of PELUM Ethiopia respectively.
The following papers were delivered. These are:
1. Status and overview of Indigenous Chicken Improvement project in Mekele University (Tetemke Kidane)
2. Ethiopian Chicken breeding strategy and Directions (Dr Wendimeneh Esatu (ILRI)
3. Egg Weight, fertility, hatchability and chicken quality (Gebremedhn Beyene)
4. Morphometric Characterization of the Indigenous chicken ecotypes (Biruh Asmelash).

The discussion was with good participation of the participation ... it includes full of Q and A, and reflections.

Among the discussion participants mentioned they want to
1. buy that the s*x determination through egg shape.
2. They also appreciated the restoration of local chicken through PELUM Ethiopia.
3. The project of the MU want to collaborate with PELUM Ethiopia in introducing to local communities
4. Conduct farmer-led research on socio economics and egg laying extent

16/02/2026

Yesterday 15 February 2026 we had an exchange visit with policy makers on Beles restoration and cochineal management by farmers in Gomka area of Tigray. In addition to the visit we had tjree programs. These are:
1. We acknowleged the district (Esra Adii Wejerat) Farmer managed Beles Restoration Excellence center
2. We identified Beles week tge last week of July
3. We acknowleged best pest performer farmers as Ambassadors of Beles
There were more than 120 participants. They walked more than ten kms one way. I am one of them.

ትማሊ ዕለት 8 የካቲት 2018 ዓ.ም ውዕሎና ኣብ ጣብያ ጎንካ ወረዳ ዒስራ ዓዲ እዩ ነይሩ። ኣብቲ ዑደት ናይ ማሕበረሰብ ምክንኻን በለስን ምክልኻል ሓሰኻ ኩችኔልን እዩ ነይሩ። ኩችኔል ይሰዓር እዩ ዘሎ። ሓዱሽ በለስ ምትካል'ውን ፅቡቅ እዩ ዘሎ።
መናእሰይ ብጣዕሚ ይሰርሑ እዮም ዘለው። ብዙሕ በለስ ዘድሓኑ መናእሰይን ገዛታትን ጎብኒና።
ካብዙይ ዑደት ብተወሳኺ ሰለስተ ጉዳያት ተፈፂሙ
ቀዳማይ ወረዳ ዒስራ ዓዲ ወጀራት ኣብ ክልልና ዘሎ ናይ በለስ ካብ ምጥፋእ ናብ ምምላስ ዝግበር ቃልሲ ኣብነት መርኣያ (ልህቀት) ተባሂላ ኣላ። ካብዙይ ንደሓር ንቅድሚት ብምስራሕ ናይ ልህቀትነት (Beles Restoration Exellence Center) ደረጃኣ ኣብ ምጥንኻር ምስራሕ።

ካልኣይ ስለ ምክልኻልን; ምስፋሕን ምምኽኻርን ጉዳይ በለስ ምስቱ ዝሰርሕ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኮይንና ንዝትየሉ ዓመታዊ ፕሮግራም ወይም ናይ በለስ ሰሙን ዓመት ዓመት ኣብ መወዳእታ ሓምለ ንክኸውን ወሲና።

ሳልሳይ ካብ ክልልና ኣብ ምክንኻን በለስን ምክልኻል ሓሰኻ ኩችኔልን ኣብ ናይ ባዕሎም መሬትን ካሊእ ስድራን ክጋፋሕ ኣብ ምግባር በርቲዖም ዝሰርሑ ሓረስቶት ኣብነት ብምዃኖምን ካልኦት'ውን ንክስዕቡዎምን ኣምባሳደራት በለስ ተባሂሎም ኣፍልጦ ተዋሂብዎም። እዙ ምብርትታዕ እዙይ በቢዓመቱ ይቅፅል።

ተሳተፍቲ ካብ 120 ዝበዝሕ ሰብ እዩ ነይሩ። ካብ ተሳተፍቲ ምክትል ቢሮ ሕርሻን ሃ/ተፈጥሮን ኣይተ ተክላይ; ዋና ኣማሓዳሪ ወረዳ ዕስራ ዓዲ መምህር ስልጣን ወዘተ ነይሮም።
ዝበዝሕ ሰብ ካብ ባሕሪ ፀባ ናብ ጎንካ ዝነበረ ርሕቀት 11-12 ኪ/ሜ ንመኪና ስለዘየመቹ ብእግሪ እዩ ተጓዒዙ። በፂሕካ ምምላሰ'ውን ዝኸዱ አለው። ዝተወሰና'ውን ተሓዊስናላ ኢና።

10/02/2026

Today (10 February 2026), PELUM Ethiopia Consortium together with the Office of Urban Agriculture of Wereda 10, Yeka Subcity of Addis Ababa organized an experience sharing program.
Participants are from urban community, schools, youth groups, etc working in urban waste management snd urban agriculture. They have visited an exemplery home-garden owned by Ato Andargachew and the visit continued at Addis Ababa Model Nursery owned by AA Urban Agriculture Commission.
It was followed by an experience sharing program by Eskendeer Mulugeta, Food Secured School Africa, presented his experience in Addis Ababa.
We had organic lunch produced by the model fruit nursery.

08/02/2026

We use farming comminities organized into Community Learning Groups (CLGs). They learn from each other without depending on decissions by external bodies.

08/02/2026

08/02/2026

Restoring our cactus locally called beles is our top priority. It is drought resistance. It is good human food up six months and year round feed for our animals even during droughts.

Cochineal insect has destroyed it in almost half og the Tigray Region. The challenge is beyond we can imagine that all its benefits for faming families are gone.
However, now farmers are motivated to control cochineal through different mechanisms.

18/12/2025

Today (18 December 2025) a launching workshop on "Community Seed Bank Network" is going on at Yaden Hotel and Spa, Bishoftu. The meeting was organized by Environment, Biodiversity and Climate Change Forum (EBCCF) with the financial support by Development Fund.
The welcome and opening were made by Dr Karta Kaske, Director General of Ethiopian
Biodiversity Institute. He mentioned about the importance of Genetic resources and community seed banks (CSBs). There are over 53 CSBs in
Ethiopia. Community representatives from different regions are participating in this networking meeting. The aim of the network is to link communities working in seed saving and sharing good practices.
The keynote speech was made by Dr Girma Balcha, CEO of the EBCCF. He touched a lot of things about seed conservation, utilization, sharing, etc but after 1990s it became a problem while share because they not only make it seed as a business but also they are changing and patenting our seed resources.
The program convened by presentations. These are:
1. Ethiopian Community Seed Banks: Achievements, Challenges, and Re-envisioning their role by Nesru Temam - push monoculture
2. Stakeholders Role and Responsibilities in Community Seed Bank Systems by Wubshet Teshome
3. The success story: Chafe Donsa Community Seed Bank by Farmer Kebede Shaye

Additional presentation was Ethiopian Community Seed Bank Network Bylaws by Dr Girma Eshetu, NBSAP Assistance Coordinator, EBI.
The discussion on the establishment of the Network was chaired by Dr Karta Kaske and Dr Girma Balcha. The network was approved by the General Assembly with a chairship by the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute. PELUM Ethiopia is elected as one of the founding and board members. Ste by step Regional nodes will be established.

23/07/2025

PELUM Ethiopia hosted a two day agroecology exchange visit at Gardebusa village in Huruta town for delagates from African countries:
21 July 2025 for over 10 delagates from four African countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). They are actors in agroecology in their respective countries.
22 July 2025 ... this was organized for 17 delagates from ten African countries (Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Togo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). They are journalists focusing in agroecology, climate change, food system, etc in their respective countries.
Both visitors visited agroecology based home gardens guided by farmers. These farmers are organized into community learning groups (CLG). The CLGs are self organized and lead community based agroecology through regular visiting, consultation and evaluation.