USAID / Eritrea - Success Stories

In 2001, a $350,000 OFDA grant to CARE achieved impressive results in food crop production for participating farmers in the Northern Red Sea zone. The selected areas had been affected by a three-year drought and farmers no longer had adequate seed or money to pay for plowing services from the Ministry of Agriculture.

CARE worked in close partnership with an Eritrean NGO, Vision Eritrea, and the Ministry of Agriculture to identify participating farmers, distribute the seeds and plow the land in time for the planting season. An unusually good rainy season provided the climatic conditions for a successful crop production.

Under the NGO project, the average yield per hectare was 0.92 MT compared to a low 0.23 MT in the previous year. Eighty percent of the food needs for the participating farmers was covered compared to only 11 percent in 2000. Thirty-four percent of the farmers were able to produce enough food to last for the entire year.

This excellent result, however, must be viewed in light of the recurrent need for assistance. Although these farmers were able to cover many of their needs for the current year, their economic situation has not improved to the point that they could cover the costs of improved seeds and tractor plowing. The Ministry of Agriculture subsidizes these services at 70 percent, a level of investment that the government is not likely to sustain over the long term. Much development investment is needed to create an environment in which the farmer has access to production loans to pay for the necessary inputs and repay them with his profit at harvest time. The success with the emergency project is encouraging and development is being considered for this area.

USAID/ Eritrea- Success Stories