Mulunesh Ana is a resident of the Gamo Zone of SNNP State. She is one among many women who first engaged in silkworm production. In the beginning, some women were used to run away in fear of observing the silkworm due to poor knowledge about its benefits, she recalled. During the time, she did not take time to approach herself with silkworm and engaged in the business on her own.
Mulunesh has been lobbying women to engage in silkworm production and started jobs after the training received about the job. Again the group she lobbied had been approached to leave the job due to the absence of market; she still did not give up though many people advised and discouraged her to do so.
Thanks to the effort by a non-government organization, Mulunesh and her workmates had been getting benefits for some time. However, again members of the association did not sustain the benefit they earned from silkworm especially at times of Ethiopian summer due to shortage of sunlight to dry the boiled silkworm. Considering the problem of women farmers, Youth Entrepreneur on Silk and Honey Project (YESHI) Office brought a dry machine to make the task easier. Now, Mulunesh’s Team and other groups in six different woredas contentiously benefit from silkworm production.
Dr Sifa Balo is working in the International Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Institute. Youth Entrepreneur on Silk and Honey Project (YESHI) is one of the projects led by this institute. According to him, the project was commenced in the Gamo Zone of South Nations Nationalities and People’s State five years ago. Specifically, the silkworm development is being carried out in Ugayo Kebele. These days, Young men and women are highly involved in the project. Of the total number of youth, 70 per cent are women.
As the task can be done in the house without leaving home, high numbers of rural women are involved in the silkworm production. Thus, one can boldly say that the task is more comfortable for women than men. Silkworm farm requires serious attention like a child, this may be another factor. The silkworm which has five development stages becomes a source of income for women. Depending on the supply of input; they can easily develop it seven times within a year.
According to Sifa, the project was commenced in 2015/16 with a vision of creating jobs for over 12,500 youths found in SNNP and Amhara states. Some 2500 youths are engaged in silkworm production and the rest 10,000 youths are participating in beekeeping tasks with a total capital of 10 million USD which was gained from the MasterCard Foundation based in Canada.
For the realization of the project, three or four inputs are highly needed. One is knowledge- the project offers training for the beneficiaries to build their capacity towards production. The project also facilitates conditions for beneficiaries to acquire all the necessary inputs and make available locally prepared trays that are helpful to feed silkworms.
Then after they add value to the produced silkworm and sell it using the market linkage which is arranged by the project. As they come from the destitute section of the society, the project facilitates condition to beneficiaries to get seed money in the form of allowance while they are receiving capacity building training and encourage them to save it in a bid to enhance financial capacity via getting a loan from financial sources.
Accordingly, an association with ten members can save Birr 4500 in their account right after attending the training offered. The project then linked them with a financial institution to get loan access. Apart from this, the beneficiaries are also participating in other income-generating activities. Upon the agreement signed with Kebele officials, the project arranges some plot of land for beneficiaries and provides all the necessary inputs to produce plants decisive for silkworm production in their green gardening.
After the launch of the project, various changes have been observed. Knowledge transfer is one among many changes observed in the area. After passing hurdles, the women and youth in the zone engaged intensively and gained sustainable income. Within 55 days, they can produce 50 to 1000 quintals of silkworm as per their capacity producing foods for silkworm and the wide space for the production.
The hard task was, raising the awareness of the people and magnetizing them towards silkworm production. Due to the wrong perception of the society towards worms, they discouraged themselves from involvement in silkworm production. It is very hard to convince the community about the advantage of silkworm as society gives a deaf ear to the issue. Shortage of space, vegetables and climate change impact are some of the challenges raised by society in connection with silkworm production.
“Members of the community, who were not involved in silkworm production, are now demanding to engage in the project which is beyond our capacity,” Sifa said.At this moment, the women engaged in the production of silkworm have now stood by their own feet and can sustain the production without the assistance of anybody.
The women who engaged in the project are now adding value to the silkworm produced by newcomers and selling it at a better price. The project has been implemented in seven Woredas of SNPs state. The project hit the target set by making 2400 people beneficial though there are some dropouts due to marriage, education and other hindering factors.
Dr Abayneh Keda is Animal and Fish Resource Director of Gamo Zone. He said the landscape and topography of the zone are preferable to engage in any agricultural activities. Here, we are producing silkworm as an input for the production of fabric cotton.
The silkworm project has been implemented in the zone for about 13 years. The zone helps to showcase silkworm production and replicate best practices to other states in the nearby areas. The projects first cover two woredas and later on, it appends additional four districts.
Much of the end products of silkworm are exported to China, India, Japan and contribute a share to earn additional foreign currency. If proper support is offered it is possible to scale up the sector to huge industry and production. The results obtained from these areas also implied the existence of huge sericulture potential areas and conditions in Ethiopia.
However, there are many challenges or problems related to sericulture activity in Ethiopia. Among the lack of capital, lack of necessary facilities and inputs, lack of skill and knowledge, attitude problem, absence of necessary support from government and others, lack of various linkages, etc. The zone has been making efforts to address the aforesaid challenges.
On the other hand, even though various challenges exist, sericulture plays enormous beneficial roles from individual income generation to country development via job creation, biodiversity conservation, and others. Therefore, the sector requires due attention via proper management practices, continuous follow-up and holistic support as needed to enhance the quality and production scales for a better future on citizens’ livelihood, he said.
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
The Ethiopian Herald May 4/2021
