Childhood friends find new vocations in southern Ethiopia

Yohanes Alembirhan was doing it tough. Despite having a university degree, he’d recently become unemployed and unable to find work in his southern Ethiopian village. With few job opportunities in his rural community, the 24-year-old figured he’d have to start his own business. But without a vocation, he knew he’d struggle to make a good living. Along with four childhood friends, all in their 20s, Yohanes took part in a 45-day metalwork training program organized by iDE. “It was like a mixture,” says Yohanes, describing the training. “Practice and theory together.” Equipped with newfound skills, the friends established a welding shop in their village, Turmi, in the Omo Valley, in the country’s south. Despite a shortage of equipment, and shared access to the only welding machine in the town, the young men managed to attract enough clients to start building their business. “Before, we had no work," says Yohanes. “Now we have work. We have money. And slowly, slowly, we’re helping to change our economy.”

A lifeline for young Ethiopians and minority communities 

In 2020, iDE launched the $4.3 million Resilience in Pastoral Areas (RIPA) project, designed to improve the livelihoods of pastoralist communities in the southern lowlands of Ethiopia. Resource scarcity, extreme vulnerability to drought and the impacts of climate change have exacerbated recent conflicts between pastoralist communities in the area, while forcing some rural groups like the Hamar and Daasanach people to relocate to other parts of the valley to survive. Despite these challenges, the RIPA program aimed to offer farming communities alternative income sources by boosting livestock and crop production and providing technical and vocational training, including skills like welding.

For many young men like Yohanes and his friends, who were supporting their families, RIPA provided not just an alternative income source but a crucial lifeline. As university graduates, the group formed part of Ethiopia's growing youth population of 70 percent without work. With the agricultural sector struggling and widespread unemployment, many were driven to unstable livelihoods and forced to migrate to the capital Addis Ababa for low paying work. 

Before launching the program, iDE’s RIPA team conducted a human-centered design deep dive to assess the needs of pastoralist youths in finding employment. Through this process, they identified a gap between the skills the young people possessed and those demanded by the job market. Agreements were then made with technical and vocational education training (TVET) centers to enhance the job readiness skills of more than 1,000 young men and women across the district. Among them were Yohanes and his friends, who enrolled in a 45-day practical and classroom-based training program focusing on developing skills including  construction, metalwork, beauty, and domestic work. 

In just two months, Yohanes acquired the essential skills to launch his metalworking business. He also participated in iDE-facilitated and government-run market linkage programs, which provided his group with a community welding machine and connections to local business contracts. “Before, we had no work," says Yohanes. “Now we have work. We have money. And slowly, slowly, we’re helping to change our economy.” 

Farmers diversify income streams to fight climate change

Tadele Lolo, 62, has been working with iDE for more than a decade as a trained Pastoral Farmer Business Advisor (PFBA), who supply goods, services and training to other farmers. Located in South Omo, he became a recent participant in the RIPA program after flooding devastated crops on his land and in neighboring communities in 2022 and 2023. With a large and growing family of 14 to support, he needed to find an additional source of income and joined a RIPA training program focused on  beekeeping and honey production skills. 

For subsistence farmers like Tadele, beekeeping is a sustainable, low-cost activity that supports biodiversity, boosts crop yields, and provides additional income through non-timber forest products. And in South Omo, where cultural stigmas discourage certain minority groups and many pastoralists from pursuing honey production, the RIPA program made Taledele feel more comfortable about the work and gave him a chance to start a new business.

“I began by teaching honey production and agricultural skills at a school, and now I offer advisory services, helping communities interested in starting their own honey production businesses by selling them beehives and related tools,” Tadele told iDE. 

Every week now, Tadele travels up to five hours by bus along dirt roads to Kenya's border to sell his honey for a high price . "I started with a small amount of land, and using water, we started to produce," he told iDE. “My business management skills have improved, so my productivity has increased, and so have my savings.”

Under RIPA, iDE-trained PFBAs are selected to provide training, support, and services to surrounding pastoral communities. Some 194 PFBAs are active in the South Omo valley, including Tadele, who provide assistance in critical services ranging from livestock fattening to business development to more than 4,200 people across the region. 

As PFBA, Tadele shares his year of iDE training in vegetable production, livestock management, and honey production with neighboring communities. His land supports a variety of crops, including bananas, maize, and over 350 other plants, while also providing employment for 15 people. As he plans to buy a solar pump and expand his business, he's proud to have worked hard to provide for his family. "I started with a small amount of land, and using water, we started to produce," he said. “My business management skills have improved, so my productivity has increased, and so have my savings.”