We've listened - you want to know more about our four-year project in Ethiopia and what your fundraising is doing! Over the following weeks we'll be blogging about The Who, What, Why, Where and How of our project in Ethiopia.
The challenge
As a dry country, which is vulnerable to climate change, there are many challenges in Ethiopia to getting clean water to the poorest people. Ethiopia has a population of 99 million, and four in ten do not have access to clean water. Additionally, over 92 million people don’t have access to a decent toilet. As a result of dirty water and poor toilets, over 8,500 children under five die each year from diarrhoea in Ethiopia. With WaterAid’s support, we will make a lasting difference in Ethiopia, helping to reach over 10,000 people with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is considered the biological and cultural home of coffee. Coffee farming alone provides a livelihood for approximately 15 million Ethiopians (16% of the population). Coffee provides Ethiopia with its most important agricultural commodity, contributing one quarter of its total export earnings.
Ethiopia is unique among the world’s coffee producing countries in that around 50% of the coffee it produces stays within the domestic market, for consumption by Ethiopians. Coffee drinking is not just part of everyday life, but is also deeply embedded within Ethiopian culture. Apart from the well-known Ethiopian coffee ceremony, coffee is used at major events such as marriage and birth, regional-specific celebrations, and as a medium to build and sustain relationships between family, friends and community.
Only 39% of the population in Ethiopia have access to basic safe water.
Photo: WaterAid
Coffee is the livelihood for 38% of Jabi Tehnan’s population.
Photo: WaterAid
Just 7% of Ethiopia’s population have access to basic sanitation.
Photo: WaterAid
Find out more about Jabi Tehnan in the next issue of our ‘Transforming the lives of coffee producers in Ethiopia’ series.
