Woman from Farm Africa project dazzles UN women's conference

20 March 2012

An Ethiopian woman recently electrified the audience at a UN conference when she was asked to describe to assembled UN and African Union officials, donors and ambassadors how her life had been turned round thanks to a Farm Africa project in a remote region of Ethiopia.

The UN event had been arranged to celebrate International Women’s Day. Senior delegates were asked to share stories and experiences of how their work was empowering rural women to end poverty and hunger in their communities. The meeting was drawing to a close when Etenesh Daniel was asked to offer her own experiences as a woman whose life had been transformed thanks to empowerment work.

Delegates were visibly inspired by Etenesh who had them standing on their feet in a spontaneous round of applause after she explained without the slightest sign of nerves how learning to build savings had changed her life. A UN press release described Etenesh’s passionate address as “the highlight of the symposium”.

Excerpt from Etenesh’s testimony:

“After training by Farm Africa I started to envision viable economic options. With only two goats provided by the project, which then gave birth to more goats, I increased my income and simultaneously engaged in additional business activities with the loan from FARM’s Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA). In the beginning, my husband opposed my involvement but after observing the change brought to our family he decided to join VSLA himself and now we compete with one another to see who saves more. We brought our income together and managed to buy an ox and a cow and planted ginger, which will hopefully boost my income even more as we harvest. There is enough food in my family and I can afford to buy clothes for my children as needed.”