10 March 2010
A combination of failed rains and rising prices led to food shortages across Ethiopia in 2008.
In the worst hit parts of the country, children suffered from malnutrition. But in eight regions, a DFID-funded programme ensured that the most vulnerable people have been able to survive.
The programme operates by paying at-risk households in food and money for their work improving public facilities.
Aster Kurma has been working for the programme on soil conservation and tree planting projects, helping to turn the parched land around her home in the district of Kedida Gamela about 350 kilometres south of Addis Ababa.
Payment comes in the form of food or money, but for Aster the best kind of payment is the kind that will feed her family directly. "I prefer to be paid in food," she says.
"Food is better than money - we have a shortage of cereal because the rains never came, and so prices have gone up." This means that she gets less and less to eat for her cash.
Aster's work is demanding, but she believes that the benefits make it all worthwhile. "I've been able to move from food aid and from living hand to mouth," she says, adding that her family of eight now has two meals a day she can sedn them to school as well.
