Urban farming is becoming both a fashion and an additional investment for urban dwellers in addition to their normal business in Ethiopia. Urban agriculture is introducing new and easy technologies and modern farming activities with limited place and resource. Especially, the farming system in vegetable and fruit farming, urban agriculture is contributing crucial role both in producing household and market oriented fresh products at the same time contributes for producing fresh air in the polluting towns.
Two years ago, the Addis Ababa City Municipality has started new campaign to promote the urban dwellers to start producing of urban agricultural products in their surroundings, in their garden and in riverside’s individually and organized. Though, the practice was there with unorganized manner by different households, following the city’s campaign, a lot of households has started the farming mainly in producing vegetables for household consumption within limited land. In addition, organized people mainly under the Safety Net Program have started investments by taking land from their local administrations which currently is showing significant progress.
Endale Getachew is a resident of Yeka Sub City of Addis Ababa. Since 2013 he was engaged in commercial urban farming. Speaking to Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Endale said that his integrated farming investment rests over 800 Square meters of land. He is producing spinach, salad, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables in one side and dairy farming, animal fattening and fishery.
According to Endale he started the farming with cows to produce milk for household consumption, mainly for his children. Through process, he upgraded his business to integrated commercial agriculture. His urban farming incorporates vertical farming to produce vegetables, hydroponic system to produce vegetables without soil where the water is used to produce fish, dairy cows and poultry.
For him, his integrated farming system is providing different agricultural products to the market and provides products for over 20 thousand households. “To produce agricultural products mainly vegetables for household purpose, it does not require wide space and resources. It only needs wise management using different mechanisms, even it helps to use water that is wasted unnecessarily for this purpose,” he said.
“Properly managed urban farming is a beauty for the garden in addition to its benefit for the household consumption and generating income” Endale said adding “it helps to have green garden and fresh air in our home” Hence, he said, there should not be any land that is wasted calling to every house hold to apply garden vegetable farming parallel to their normal business.
Garden farming in urban areas helps citizens to fulfill their consumption needs mainly in vegetable sector. In addition to that, it helps households to greening their compound and motivates them to develop habit of physical exercise during their care to the products.
Endale reiterated that now his integrated farming is upgrading to a higher level and growing from time to time and widening its farming fields. “Currently, over 20 thousand households are using our products like milk, vegetables, egg, fish, and chicken” he noted adding “we are working to reach more people in the city and in the long run to produce for export purpose”
Meanwhile, Eshetu Molla, a resident of Akaki-Kaliti Sub-City of Addis Ababa City is among those people who started urban agriculture after the Addis Ababa’s campaign in 2020. He said that he started the farming with his friends who were beneficiaries of the city’s Safety Net Program. After they took a small land near a school, they started vertical farming and other farming activities focusing on producing vegetables and fish from small manmade watersport.
Currently, they are producing salad, carrot, beetroot, fish and other fast growing vegetables. Eshetu said that their farming is now becoming source of their income for the team and producing fresh products to dwellers of the area with affordable price. “The area is densely populated due to the existence of residential condominium houses in the surrounding which is far from the main vegetable market centers”
Eshetu said adding “people of the area now are coming to the farm and collect fresh vegetables daily.”
Speaking to local media house, Addis Ababa Farming and Urban Agriculture Deputy head Mohamed Legani said that so far urban agriculture in main urban centers is limited and the expansion of urban centers has affected the agricultural activities in the urban surroundings. Due to this reason, farmers in the surroundings of Addis Ababa were forced to take their lands for the urbanization and stopped their agricultural practices. This affects the livelihood and income of the farmers and plays significant role in agricultural products provision to the city.
Considering this in mind, Addis Ababa City Administration started two years ago to give due attention by establishing the commission to give due attention for the development of urban agriculture and to help the farmers around the borders of the city to continue their farming activities. Over 20 thousand farmers are living in the surroundings of the capital investing on different agricultural activities; he said adding these farmers are blessings for the agricultural market of the metropolis.
For the Deputy Commissioner, by supporting the farmers surrounding the capital by introducing new technologies and protecting them from the effects of expansion of the city, the administration aims to protect both the livelihood of the farmers and promote them to provide their agricultural products to the capital’s market directly. In addition to that, the city is investing on urban agriculture focusing on limited available space using easy and modern technologies.
According to him the new initiative in urban farming is expanding highly. Households are producing vegetables in their gardens and even in their roofs using easily available materials and using extra water. The development of urban agriculture is playing significant role in many households to fulfill their vegetable needs from their backyards. Various associations have also started earning income by supplying their products to the market.
In addition to the income generating and for the household consumption, the implementation of urban agriculture is changing dramatically different spaces that were used as garbage sites in different parts of the city mainly riversides. The groups that started investing on urban farming are changing these areas to green and productive. This plays its role in keeping the hygiene of the area and at the same time protect toxic gases from the garbage areas.
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD DECEMBER 14/2021
